Taking place in the tunnels beneath London’s Waterloo Station, the annual VAULT Festival has again been supplied with lighting, power, rigging and even apprentices by White Light.
Renowned for showcasing emerging talent across all art forms, the festival features theatre, dance, cabaret, live art, installations, puppetry and much more.
VAULT Festival is now in its fourth year and with more than 200 shows in 2016, it is expected that up to 40,000 people will be in attendance.
Andy George, Festival Director and Production Manager for VAULT Festival, commented: “VAULT was founded by myself, Tim Wilson and Mat Burt with one purpose: to provide a fair and equal platform for emerging artists to showcase interesting and risky work.
“A lot of what we programme would not normally be staged so the festival provides emerging artists with the vital opportunity of having their work showcased.”
VAULT Festival is one of the few festivals which makes the staging of new work financially viable. George added: “With the shows we produce, there is very little financial risk involved and the artists receive as much support as possible. That said, having such a fair ethos means working with companies that fully understand our passion and aims. I’m delighted to say that White Light is one of these.”
Having worked on every single VAULT Festival, WL is returning once again this year where it will provide the lighting to the main infrastructure along with the power and rigging.
George commented: “VAULT Festival is a really unique event, not only due to its underground location but the fact that it all takes place, essentially, under one roof. Along with the eight performance spaces, there are also three bars and a restaurant. Supporting them all requires a considerable amount of work yet WL has managed to deliver every time.”
WL not only supplies its state-of-the-art lighting equipment to VAULT Festival but also the services of its apprentices. Bryan Raven, WL’s Managing Director, said: “We run a very successful, recognised apprenticeship scheme at WL and one of the reasons for its continued success is the hands-on experience our apprentices receive.
“By having them work at VAULT Festival, they get to experience everything from installing fixtures to cabling to rigging. Not only that but it is done so in an interesting and unique space; something that will pay in dividends for their future careers.”
George added: “VAULT Festival is all about supporting emerging talent and harnessing skills and the WL apprentices play a vital role in this. It’s fantastic to see them evolve over the three weeks they spend with us on-site and we really appreciate this additional support.”
With this year’s VAULT Festival being the biggest one yet, it appears that the event will simply continue to grow. George concluded: “It’s unbelievable to think about how exponentially VAULT Festival has developed in such a short space of time. In 2012, the festival ran for three weeks and we had 9,000 visitors. Compare that to what is expected this year and it just goes to show how VAULT is now a fully-established, recognised festival.
“What’s great about WL is their continued support and how, regardless of our size, they have always been in a position to provide us with exactly what we required.”
