EV at the Binnenhof Festival

16 December 2003

The Netherlands - At the end of August, over 3,500 visitors attended the Binnenhof Festival in The Hague, which is fast becoming one of Europe's cultural highlights. As in previous years, the organizers of this multi-cultural event chose to rely upon respected local sound company and EV Europool member, Aveq Show & Theatre Facilities, to provide the sound, and Robert van Aalst, Aveq's sound engineer, once again put his faith in an X-Array from Electro-Voice.

The Binnenhof, which is ringed by masterpieces of Dutch 12th and 13th century architecture such as the Ridderzaal, may be one of the most beautiful squares in all Europe, but it also has a reputation for being an extremely problematic venue acoustically. Axel Nagtegaal, head of EVI's Dutch partner, Electric Audio BV, is intimately acquainted with the Binnenhof's quirks, having worked on many different productions there: "The risk of feedback is immense. You have to be incredibly careful with the sound or you end up with pea soup," he says.

Aveq Show & Theatre Facilities was able to overcome these problems and deliver high quality, transparent sound, thanks not only to their expertise but also to their choice of equipment: the trickiest of venues hold no terrors for Electro-Voice's X-Array.

(Lee Baldock)