UK - Following a highly competitive tender process, VisitBlackpool has appointed Richmond Event Management (REM) to undertake the event and site management for the Blackpool Illumination Switch-On Festival Weekend, 2-4 September, 2016. The three-day festival weekend will take place on The Blackpool Tower Festival Headland.

Last year's Switch-On Festival attracted around 30,000 people to the arena across four events, including two music concerts, a comedy roadshow and a live CBBC broadcast, as well as Hollywood film director Tim Burton turning on the famous Illuminations display.

Details of this year's line-up are beginning to be announced, with special guest performers and the switch on star set to be unveiled in the coming weeks, while global TV channel Nickelodeon have already signed up to deliver a host entertainment across the resort during the weekend.

As well as

USA - Over 80 of the award-winning Chroma-Q Inspire colour-changing LED house light fixture have been installed at the First Assembly Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, to provide an immersive worship experience.

The Church is an Assemblies of God organisation that stresses the importance of godly living, Christian service and personal salvation. It recently relocated to an extensively renovated, 58,000 sq. ft. former industrial facility.

The Church's executive pastor, Danny Collins, approached Douglas Hood, president of Indiana-based CSD Group, to supply a lighting solution for the new building.

"Versatility was a recurring theme in our design meetings, with the hope of creating an environment where we could blur the lines between stage and seating using lighting," says Danny. "Therefore, we required colour-capable, fully-dimmable lighting which could be controlled fr

UK - At Glastonbury 2016's WOW! Stage and Circus Big Top, Fineline Lighting complemented some traditional effects with a variety of dynamic new looks from Chauvet Professional's Rogue R1-FX-B and Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures.

Fineline specified 16 Rogue R1 FX-B blade-style fixtures for the WOW! Stage, which was located in Glastonbury's Silver Hayes area and featured EDM and DJ artists. The company used 10 Maverick MK2 Spots at The Circus Big Top, where concert music gave way to stage performances by Pirates of the Carabina, Yvette Dusol, Eric McGill, plus many other acts.

Although the two stages featured very different forms of entertainment, Fineline Lighting was committed to giving each a fresh new look. "We have been working at Glastonbury for many years; it's the largest green field festival in the world and has always been a very diverse festival in terms of both the ac

Europe/USA - Manufacturer and distributor of lighting control products, ENTTEC has announced the appointments of Chelsie Chinnick, marketing executive; Brandon Mitchell, technical sales & support, and Roz Dahlie, training and education coordinator.

"The world of marketing and technology continues to transform rapidly. To keep up with these changes, we've identified three key areas where our staff numbers needed to grow, and so we are thrilled to welcome Chelsie, Brandon and Roz aboard during this exciting period of growth here at ENTTEC," says Jeremy Kumin, general manager of ENTTEC Americas.

Kumin adds, "By fortifying and extending our team and resources, ENTTEC is showing commitment to the future growth and demand for products. We are developing and continuing to maintain our reputation as a leading player in the industry and it is a very exciting time for our new employ

World - Following six months of feature development and feedback from an intensive beta testing period, CAST Software has announced wysiwyg Release 37. This major update delivers many impactful features to complement the very successful R36 that introduced a major change on User Interface with a new design, look and feel.

Release 37 includes new features and enhancements that improve the work flow of wysiwyg, and that deliver useful tools for everyday design needs, says the company.

"As always, our team continues to build on our previous versions, delivering on our goal to build new tools that will help our users," says Dino Mazza, wysiwyg product manager.

"We worked closely with our Beta users, who offer us feedback and assisted our development with input on feature designs and on identifying changes that will make a big difference to their user experience. It's a gre

UK - Utopium was called upon to light up Bristol Summer Series as it returned for four nights of live music, set against the backdrop of Bristol's Harbourside, 22-25 June.

Bristol Summer Series welcomed a host of international acts including headliners Catfish and The Bottlemen, Sigur R

UK - Robert Arnall is just one year into a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Production Arts course at York College. He has already made his mark at college by being a member of the winning team at the 2015 Lighting the Locomotives Competition that took place at the National Railway Museum sponsored jointly by Ambersphere Solutions and Pulsar Lighting. The team's imaginative lighting of the steam locomotive that became famous in the film The Railway Children was programmed and controlled by a dot2 console from MA Lighting and provided to all the teams by Ambersphere Solutions.

Outside of his college obligations, Arnall has been busy building his own business along with his partner, Owen Price who is also at York College. "It was Owen who really got me into sound and lighting in the first place. We started out DJ-ing about four years ago but with very minimal equipment and cer

UK - Lighting and visuals production and rental company HSL supplied lighting kit to a new version of the tense musical drama Parade, staged at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, featuring an inventive lighting scheme designed by Aaron J. Dootson.

Aaron's lighting was a crucial element in creating the emotion, raw anxiety and political and moral issues of this incisive piece of theatre by Jason Robert Brown, which dramatizes the 1913 trail of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank for the murder and rape of 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan in Atlanta, Georgia.

HSL first met Aaron through their work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year where he had a production of Molly by company Squint. When this production took shape, and he needed support for the show, HSL's MD Simon Stuart was delighted to get involved.

"Aaron is a highly talented LD with a real passion f

USA - RTS equipped six IMSP (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions) trucks, two NEP (North Eastern Production) vehicles, and several smaller video and RF hub trucks in the communications compound to live broadcast the 100th Indy 500.

All race day communications relating to the actual production (camera cues, commercial breaks, specific camera shots, commentator comments) were supported on an RTS ADAM intercom.

Six KP-5032 keypanels were located around the track in various camera and shot spotter locations, with two located in the track/event control room to enable seamless communications for a successful production of the anniversary event.

This was the first live demonstration of the new, soon-to-be-released RVON software package designed for the KP-5032s. In the past, implementing RVON required buying hardware daughter cards, pulling the keypanel out of service, in

UK - Aurora Lighting has been supporting lighting director Gurdip Mahal, keeping a watchful eye over the latest series of live evictions at the Big Brother House.

Having been given a major overhaul for the 2016 season, the new look BB set at Elstree Studios hosts each of the live evictions as a full on 'rock and roll' event, complete with vast wrap around video screens, plenty of automated lighting and a curved 'catwalk' at its centre.

Working closely with gaffer Richard Shout, Aurora hassupplied the crew with a variety of heads including the versatile Clay Paky Mythos with its impressive spot and beam abilities providing precise colour and movement across the exterior of the set. For extra punch, powerful Novalight Super Novas have also been sited over the stage to deliver stunning aerial effects above the action.

A mix of MAC Auras and Rush PARs have been incorporate

USA - With his distinctive heartfelt vocals, Tyler Farr sounds like he was born to be a country singer, but the popular star's career path started out on a far different track. Long before he reached the top of the country charts last year with his single A Guy Walks Into A Bar, the Missouri-born crooner was classically trained as an opera singer. Like the multi-talented Farr, the Nexus 4x4 fixtures on his current touring rig also are exhibiting a wide range of capabilities.

Lighting designer Larry Foote rented 24 of the Chauvet Professional LED panels from 4Wall Entertainment for his Farr tour rig. Drawing on the versatility of his pixel mapped Nexus units, Foote has been able to create an impressive variety of looks for his client, while still meeting the objective of keeping his rig simple and flexible.

"We're playing a lot of festivals and venues of very differe

Czech Republic - Robe was a sponsor of the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Nové M?sto na Morav?, Czech Republic. It continued Robe's 2016 Working with Winners initiative which has also included sponsorship of the Czech Fed Cup Tennis team, supporting the Quantum Racing team in the 2016 P1 UK SuperStock powerboat racing championship and British Touring Car Championship driver Jack Goff in the current BTCC season.

Robe partnered with leading Slovakian rental company Q-99 for the 2016 Championships to supply over 100 of the latest Robe moving lights - Squares, BMFL Blades and BMFL WashBeams, Pointes and ColorStrobes - to the event's entertainment stage which was used for the Opening Ceremony, nightly concerts, featuring some of the most popular Czech artists, as well as for medal ceremonies throughout the prestigious and highly successful five-day event.

World - Internationally acclaimed a capella group Pentatonix, who have been putting the harmonic sounds of a cappella music on the pop chart map the past few years, are playing to enthusiastic crowds on a 2016 world tour. Production designer for the tour is Sooner Routhier of SRae Productions who wanted a large amount of fixtures to help paint a background for the Grammy-winning group and turned to Elation Professional's compact ACL 360i beam effect light to create the look.

"Because Pentatonix is an a capella group, we had to make sure there was some sort of scenic and lighting," Sooner explains of her design and the ACL 360i's role in it. "We use the fixtures as a lighting backdrop for effects and lighting scenic. We use every feature in the light to help with the poppy effects programming for songs like the Daft Punk and Bieber medleys. At the same time, we can make them so

UK - Described as a "festival within a festival", The Field of Avalon at Glastonbury has built a passionately loyal following with its comfortable soul nourishing mix of folk/ roots music, wholesome food and communal vibes. This year, that welcoming atmosphere was enhanced by warm and engaging lighting, thanks to a carefully crafted kit by GLS Lighting that utilised a collection of Rogue and STRIKE 4 fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

"As the Avalon Stage is a key focal point not just within the Field of Avalon, but also within the Glastonbury festival itself, we felt it our duty to create huge engaging looks for the performers on stage," commented Ian Turner, project manager of GLS Lighting. "With our selection of Chauvet fixtures, we were able to combine big looks and versatility in one complete package for some big bands such as The Feeling, Will Young and KT Tunstall, whi

UK - With the festival season under way, the team at PRG XL Video is in full swing supplying a wide variety of festivals with event technology. Continuing its long-term relationship with live event production company LarMac Live, with whom it also works on the country's largest EDM event, Creamfields, PRG XL Video supplied live video technology including outdoor LED screens and camera system for Field Day.

The two-day event takes place at Victoria Park in East London, and featured an eclectic line-up including Air, John Grant, Anna Meredith, The Avalanches, and headliners James Blake and PJ Harvey.

To ensure the capacity audience of 30,000 had the best view of the main stage, PRG XL Video were called in to supply an IMAG package which consisted of three HD cameras and Panasonic AVHS-450- based PPU system, together with two high resolution LED side screens each measuring 5.

Australia - Every year for the past seven years, Sydney's streets and skyline have come alight with the beautiful, inspiring, interactive festival that is Vivid Sydney. The lights and installations of Vivid Sydney illuminate some of Sydney's most iconic landmarks, including the Sydney Opera House, Customs House, Maritime Museum and The Star casino.

For Vivid Sydney 2015, The Star temporarily installed 44 Clay Paky Sharpys and 10 Mythos fixtures onto their roof as part of an installation entitled Mission Control. The resulting light display was so stunning and popular, the venue realized there was potential beyond Vivid Sydney.

To celebrate VIVID 2016 a total of 36 Clay Paky Supersharpys were chosen for their enhanced optical design.

"We chose Clay Paky due to past positive experiences with the brand," commented Bruce Dwyer, head of lighting at The Star. "We did look at

UK - Another wave of thought-provoking seminar sessions have been launched in the run up to PLASA Show 2016 (18-20 September, London Olympia). The latest offering includes sessions focussed on 'Broadcast Meets Live Sound'; the Rio Olympics; 'Sadler's Wells: New Technology for the Stage'; and a production masterclass from the team behind the Eurovision Song Contest.

Innovation and collaboration is at the heart of the entertainment technology industry, and is therefore a hugely important element of the PLASA Show. 'Sadlers Wells: New Technology for the Stage', on Tuesday 20 September at 1pm, is a great example of this, highlighting significant improvements of the theatre's systems through technical innovation and collaboration. This session will be presented by Emma Wilson, Sadlers Wells' director of technical production and Christian Wallace, technical manager.

Wilson says:

Europe - SGM has announced the appointment of David Keighley as new executive vice president of SGM, effective 1 July. Keighley has an impressive track record in the lighting industry both as a lighting designer, tour manager and production manager and as executive vice president and chief of operations of Syncrolite, managing director and CEO of PRG Europe and managing director of Light and Sound Design.

Keighley has been involved with the Olympic Games (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2012) and worked with artists such as Madonna, Rolling Stones, Spice Girls, Billy Joel, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple.

Keighley's primary area of responsibility will be to work with and support designers and architects to ensure the right equipment for the job. He will be based in the UK, but will be travelling to oversee global activities for SGM.

Keighley said, "I am excited to be joining SGM

Europe - Ayrton constantly works to extend the scope of lighting designers' palette by maximising the features and characteristics offered by its products. As part of the raft of new products released for 2016, Ayrton has launched the MagicDot-SX as the next in its new SX range.

MagicDot-SX is a compact, hybrid version of Ayrton's MagicDot-R, which was awarded LDI Product of the Year 2016 in the Effects category. MagicDot-SX combines the qualities of its award-winning cousin with the added features of a zoom capability and Lumen Radio wireless connectivity.

Its newly-developed, revolutionary 8:1 optical zoom has a fixed transmitting lens, no visible moving parts, and delivers an incredible zoom range of 5° to 40°. With its 94 mm diameter collimator positioned close to the transmitting lens, MagicDot-SX delivers a tight beam with up to 75% optical efficiency, while

USA - Chroma-Q has won the Lighting Award category for its new Space Force LED fixture at the 2016 Cine Gear Expo Technical Awards, held in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

The list of award-winners, which were selected by a panel of industry experts with an eye toward the latest in technology, were chosen after reviewing and evaluating nearly 100 of the newest technologies submitted and presented at this year's Cine Gear Expo.

Receiving its US West Coast debut at the exhibition, the Space Force is a variable white LED Space Light that is a modern replacement for conventional space lights or soft light sources commonly used in film and TV studios around the world.

Drawing upon Chroma-Q's decade of experience designing and building premium performance LED solutions to exacting standards in North America, the fixture utilises advanced technologies in every area of its

UK - Based in North London, Fourth Monkey Theatre Company offers innovative and inspired actor training for the contemporary world of performance. It is also a repertory theatre company, with productions being performed throughout the UK and overseas. Its original and alternative approach to teaching drama has made it one of the most reputable drama schools in the UK. Last year, the company set up its own premises in Finsbury Park to house both its training and productions. They recently approached White Light who worked with them to supply a range of state-of-the-art lighting equipment.

Fourth Monkey has been running for six years and was formed by current artistic director Steve Green. He comments, "With Fourth Monkey, I really wanted to create an alternative approach to actor training. As a student myself, I found that traditional acting methods were missing something. Ever

USA - No sooner had Fresno's Live Light, Inc. taken delivery of 50 new Clay Paky Mythos fixtures than the company was sending them out the door to the 2016 California State Future Farmers of America (FFA) Leadership Conference. Mythos played a key role in the entertainment component of the annual conference where they upped the excitement quotient for more than 6,000 high school agriculture students attending the event.

Live Light, Inc. offers a full line of equipment sales and rental services as well as complete range of entertainment production services. It has a long history with Clay Paky products and acquired 50 Mythos hybrid spot and beam lights for its rental inventory.

"Mythos is very versatile, and rental inventories have to be somewhat timeless and cover all the basics of lighting," notes Live Light CEO/president, Reggie Rush. "Mythos is a pretty darn good little

Portugal - The creative manager of the agency Newtonlab, Lucio Ferreira, designed and developed the creative idea/guidelines for the world launch of the Pirelli's new high performance tyre range, on the roads of Portugal and at the historic Estoril racing circuit.

Newtonlab developed all the architectural solutions needed to organize the interior spaces together with its creative manager: the reception, meeting, conference, lounge, exhibition and product presentation show areas. It was a début in grand style, which required much technical effort.

Newtonlab gave the task of illuminating the various areas assigned to guests and international press representatives to lighting designer Giovanni Pinna, who also designed the lighting for the show. Clay Paky's Sharpy lights performed like true stars on this occasion.

"The audience arrived, aboard three helicopters, at

UK - Philips Lighting reports that Peterborough's Key Theatre has replaced its existing tungsten Fresnels with 36 energy-efficient Philips Selecon RAMA LED Fresnel luminaires to save on power and breathe new life into the popular venue's lighting system.

The new fixtures were supplied and fitted by entertainment technical specialist Stage Electrics, with whom the Key Theatre has a long standing relationship. Stage Electrics' technical sales consultant Andy Elsegood recommended the RAMA LED Fresnels as a crisp, white LED solution for the theatre's range of stage lighting requirements.

"We specifically wanted LED Fresnels with a clear white light," explains the Key Theatre's technical manager Gary Linley. "The Philips Selecon RAMA LED Fresnel seemed to be the only luminaire on the market specifically designed for that purpose."

The majority of the RAMA LED Fresnel fixtur

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