The annual New Year's Eve show on broadcaster ZDF (Silvestershow) is a fixture of the German TV calendar. Moderator duo Andrea Kiewel and Johannes B. Kerner welcomed the New Year with numerous musical guests, yet this year everything was different. Instead of the traditional fireworks display, a stage light show with no audience took place. As technical service provider for the event, AMBION GmbH was faced with the challenge of setting up and dismantling an open-air TV show in the cold, wet December weather. The show took place in the middle of the capital under the strictest hygiene regulations and used over 800 lighting fixtures. Some 130 weatherproof moving lights from Elation’s market-leading Proteus™ series were an essential part of the solution, supplied by Motion Rental

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA), known on campus as the creative lab, encompasses the University of California Irvine’s drama, dance, art and music programs. The School’s mission—to present the arts as the essence of human experience and expression—was challenged by the shelter-in-place restrictions that halted their ability to safely showcase live performances. Luckily, after a  meeting with Clear-Com® at the (virtual) Stage Manager’s Symposium in May 2020, CTSA decided to add Clear-Com’s LQ® IP Interfaces and Agent-IC® Mobile App, which both complemented their existing system and provided a new learning opportunity for students.

Creative lighting and multimedia design specialist Painting with Light (PWL) was commissioned by the city of Leuven in Belgium to imagine and realise an eye-catching, living, breathing light artwork to tie in with popular Belgian Radio station StuBru (Studio Brussel)’s 2020 De Warmste Week (Music for Life). Usually a highly visible charity fundraising extravaganza, this year’s De Warmste Week concept was reinvented and presented in a more subtle format due to pandemic restrictions. While the city of Leuven broadcast StuBru from 20 ‘warm places’ around the town for this week, the light art display became a visual focal point that tied in with this action.

“Dubai is open for business” – a very clear message from the Government, as the UAE celebrated its 49th National Day in style. Eclipse Staging Services LLC were proud to support its long-term partner, People, with one of the most visually spectacular installations in recent years. Museum of the Future, a 255ft architectural masterpiece, set to open in 2021, was activated for the National Day celebrations with the temporary installation of 49 Clay Paky Mythos within its central void.

The Live Events industry is thrilled to announce the launch of COV-AID, an effort to assist with increasing the speed and efficiency of vaccine inoculations for COVID-19 in the United States. In a letter sent to President Biden January 26^th, industry giants formally offered their venues, staff, and expertise to the COVID-19 vaccination effort.

Over 150 theatrical venues, concert halls, music clubs and sport arenas across the whole of Israel – in cities and communities large and small – were lit up in red on 26^th December 2020 in a ‘Red Alert evening of action’ designed to highlight culture and the arts and the immense amount of enjoyment, entertainment and value that it brings to all. The spontaneous event – that began like so many of these organic movements as an animated conversation – was organised by multidisciplinary artist, musician and lighting designer Nadav Barnea, together with lighting designer Baruch Shpigelman, and it energised and united engineers, technicians, designers and directors working in every discipline in the sector - lighting, sound, video, staging, rigging, visual, scenic, cameras & broadcast, etc.

The Konzert Theater Bern is the largest concert theater in the Bern-Mittelland area. Last summer, the house underwent a technical upgrade. Stage Tec, the Berlin-based manufacturer of professional audio technology, replaced the AURUS Platinum consoles installed in 2017 with the latest generation of digital mixing consoles, the AVATUS.

GlasGLOW3 was a truly magical illuminated trail event, full of fun and fantasy, conceived and produced by event specialist itison and staged at Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It ran for two and a half weeks in October and November featuring a fully Covid-compliant 1.5 kilometre socially distanced walking trail featuring numerous highly imaginative lighting works, installations, and adventures! Lighting designer Grant Anderson was one of a core creative team comprising itison’s Oli Norman, set designer Kenneth Macleod and composer Kevin Murray who wrote and compiled a unique soundscape for this unique and invigorating project that captured the hearts and minds of the city during very challenging times.

British Drive In (TGBDI) at stately home, Sandon Hall. Starting at the beginning of July, TGBDI ran every day until the latest lockdown in November. TGBDI was started by two friends, Coalition Event Services and Funicular Productions Founder, Craig Wilkinson, and tech event specialist, Ed Myhill, who brought in Graymatter and staging company, NoNonsense.

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, The Belonging Co. (TBCo) is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing and most culture-shaping churches in the USA:  its congregation has increased from just seven at its outset to many thousands in only six years. Along with weekly worship services, the church also includes a worship collective comprising a number of well-known Nashville-based artists who call the church home, an annual conference, and even a college. With such a strong reputation for the quality of its live services, TBCo has always prioritised excellent live production that amplifies its mission and DNA to create an experience where people can connect with God without distraction. With a recent video system installation by integrator Diversified, in partnership with THOR AV, developer of LED video walls and headset microphones, TBCo now has a beautiful LED video wall to match, driven by Brompton Technology’s Tessera S8 LED processor.

Pärnu Concert Hall in Estonia’s fourth-largest city is internationally renowned for its performance programme and has just taken delivery of new Robe moving light fixtures – eight T1 Profiles, six Tetra2 LED battens and four LEDWash 800s – which have been supplied through Tallinn-based Estonian distributor, E&T. The striking modernist Concert Hall building constructed in 2002 and designed by architects K. Koov, K. Nõmm, H. Grossscmidth, offers two flexible halls – a main hall and a chamber hall – and a diverse concert schedule including - in normal times - a prestigious line up of visiting artists. It is also home to the Pärnu Music School and the Pärnu City Orchestra as well as hosting special events, civic celebrations, etc. in this seaside resort in southwestern Estonia.

The unexplainable visual phenomenon known as the Marfa Lights have entranced people in the night sky above Texas for 137 years with acclaimed American photographer Dustin Snipes reinterpreting the marvel with the help of the Red Bull Air Force. Some people believe they are spirits of fallen warriors or paranormal phenomena like ghosts, UFOs and will-o'-the-wisp, while scientists see them as either natural gases emitted from the earth's core or atmospheric reflections of vehicle headlights and campfires.

DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the United States, recently presented its 14th annual “Christmas at DePaul” holiday celebration as a virtual event. Long before the semester began, the school’s administration knew it would need to make some big changes if the Christmas show was to safely go on during these unprecedented times. With some ingenuity and an assist from DPA Microphones, the school found a way to host the event virtually.

The year 2020 will be remembered as one of the most difficult years for everyone working in the entertainment and events sector. In the effort to focus on keeping up the spirit of the people affected by the current crisis and to close this terrible year with a positive hope, Claypaky created “Shine a Light.” A song dedicated to everyone in the entertainment industry.  It is written by Claypaky Product specialist and musician, Manuel Hahn, together with US based Claypaky Product Specialist George Masek.

The exterior of the Southampton Mayflower Theatre brings an extra dazzle of warmth and vitality to a usually busy city centre (at time of writing we are in the UK’s second Covid lockdown) illuminated with an Anolis – a Robe business – lighting scheme which was installed by Lighting Technology Projects (LTP). Built in 1928, the venue is a Grade II listed building with a prominent central location and seating capacity of 2300, making it the largest theatre in the South of England.