A castell is a human tower built traditionally at festivals throughout Catalonia and the region of Valencia. Castells were first documented in 1712 and originated within Valls, Catalonia, near the city of Tarragona. Interest in castells grew in the 1960s and 1970s and in 2010, castells were declared a masterpiece of human heritage by UNESCO. In 2015 a festival hosted 99 groups of castellers, at which the tallest human tower was erected and safely dismantled, having 10 levels with four people in each level.

Every 10 years the municipality of Echallens in Switzerland stages Fête du Blé et du Pain (The Festival of Wheat and Bread), a 12 day cultural event which celebrates the traditions and history of the region. This year the centrepiece was Solstices, a spectacular open air musical production, performed by 8,000 volunteers, attracting 40,000 spectators and using five Yamaha digital mixing consoles.

Taking place in the heart of northern France every summer for almost 50 years, the Festival Interceltique attracts crowds of more than three quarters of a million over ten days, and is a huge celebration dedicated to the cultural and musical traditions of the Celtic nations. This year saw Wales as the country of honour, and headlining the closing night was legendary Welsh rock band, the Manic Street Preachers. 

AURUS platinum, the flagship of Berlin-based manufacturer Stage Tec, made its debut as a FOH console in China. At the end of July, a cross-over concert with music by Zhang Hong Guang, one of China's most popular composers, was performed in front of an audience of 18,000 at the Cadillac Arena in Beijing. The AURUS platinum was equipped with 32 faders and integrated into a NEXUS network with six Base Devices and a STAR router. CCTV, China's national state broadcaster, recorded the event, which aired on the CCTV-3 music and entertainment channel. IFTT was the technical service provider.

It’s a July 4th tradition: the “Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular” at the Edward A. Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade along the banks of the Charles River in Boston.  The celebrated orchestra, under the direction of Conductor Keith Lockhart, is one of the biggest annual outdoor concerts in the world.  This year Michael Berger of LA-based Full Flood, Inc., utilized Claypaky Scenius Unico and Mythos 2 fixtures, supplied by 4Wall, to support the production.  ACT Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Claypaky in North America.
 

One of the biggest festivals in France, and unrivalled in its setting, Festival de Carcassonne attracts crowds of more than 200,000 every year. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, La Cité de Carcassonne, is a spectacle of its own accord, but throw in 120 different shows throughout the month of July, including many national and international artists, and you’ll find this event is like no other.

A highlight of this year’s FestspieleZürich was the 150th anniversary concert of the city’s famous Tonhalle Orchestra, performed as a thank you to its faithful concertgoers. Swiss event technology company Hyposound AG chose L‑ISA’s Hyperreal Sound technology to deliver an exceptional experience for this very special occasion which featured guest pianist Yuja Wang. L-ISA is a multidimensional, object-based mixing and sound reinforcement technology and toolchain that achieves extremely clear and natural results with accurate localization of sound sources.

AWS Elemental, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) company, today announced that the fifth annual 4K 4Charity Fun Run at IBC Show will take place at 7:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, Sept. 15 at Amstelpark in Amsterdam. Registration is open at https://4k4charity.com/ibc.

All of France marks the beginning of the modern French Nation each year on 14 July, with events taking place all over the country. As in previous years, Lawo mixing consoles provided the highest possible audio quality for more than 500,000 Concert de Paris spectators at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

The National Theatre's River Stage Festival is in full swing, bringing a dazzling array of acts to London’s Southbank with on-the-fly lighting by Chief LD Huw Llewellyn on an Avolites Arena.

iLight is a busy and dynamic Hong Kong based rental company which specialises in supplying lighting design, equipment and expertise to a diverse range of theatrical, cultural, performance and events projects.

“Mirror-Mirror” is a dynamic kinetic installation created by German lighting / visual artist and imagineer Christopher Bauder from WHITEvoid, featuring contemporary dancer and crossover artist Qiu Jirong … and one of seven provocative stand-alone segments making up Apologue 2047/2, directed by Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor - and former cinematographer - Zhang Yimou.

The Classic Open Air Festival at the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin has been a good tradition for 27 years. But making it happen presents a new challenge every year. Classical music in the open air is demanding in terms of acoustics and requires a special sound reinforcement system. The critical audience is accustomed to perfect concert hall sound. This year, for the first time Berlin-based manufacturer Stage Tec  also contributed to ensuring the audience could enjoy the five festival concert evenings in the finest audio quality.

The video projection and sound installation was commissioned by the York Minster Fund as the culmination of ‘The Northern Lights Dinner’ fundraiser. This was held as part of a four- year campaign to build an ongoing endowment for the protection and restoration of the Minster’s priceless historic glass. This involved illuminating the vault of the nave and famous Great West Window, known as ‘The Heart of Yorkshire’.

The IBC Conference is committed to exploring the changing world of today and analysing the future of the industry. Monday 17 September, the final day of the conference, has an overarching focus on what is next for media, entertainment, technology and all related verticals.