A large array of Ayrton fixtures featured prominently in the lighting design by André Beekmans for Stage 2, Cosmic Meadow, at the 2023 EDC Las Vegas. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.
The world-renowned Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) is an electronic dance music festival whose annual three-day flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Currently the largest electronic dance music festival in North America, EDC Las Vegas also offers a host of environments, interactive art installations, and carnival performers and rides to event attendees.
Beekmans, with Netherlands-based The Art of Light, served as the Lighting Designer for Cosmic Meadow and handled light programming and operation during the shows with Fabian Fisniku. Beekmans worked closely with set designer Mees Bouman of TwofiftyK to create a lighting design that extended the vision of the stage and ensured that all its scenic components were visible in the dark. The lighting designer has partnered with TwofiftyK on the Cosmic Meadow stage since 2016.
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My company and I have used Ayrton fixtures for years on shows and even in a club installation in China that features only Ayrton fixtures. Ayrton fixtures really are revolutionary. What I tried to achieve with them for Cosmic Meadow was a lighting design that highlighted the stage itself and was also user friendly for all the guest lighting designers, says Beekmans.
For this year’s EDC Las Vegas he chose 58 Perseo Profiles, 64 Zonda 9 FX, 90 Magic Panels and six Dominos. Matthew Brotz and Nick Maty of LEC Event Technology in Downers Grove, Illinois supplied the Ayrton fixtures and supported Beekmans and Fisniku on site.
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The Magic Panels had the perfect shape to fill a certain area of the stage, and their high light output, narrow beam and individual pixels were ideal for this stage. The Zonda 9 FX fixtures we used as a powerful wash, and the Perseo Profiles served as a kind of workhorse taking on the role of a powerful spot and effects light, Beekmans explains.
The Ayrton fixtures performed very well and offered peace of mind to Beekmans during the three-day outdoor event. “Due to the fact they’re IP65 rated we didn’t run any risk for rain, but for this show in the desert of Las Vegas it meant the fixtures were well protected against dust and sand”, he points out.
Beekmans notes that Bas Feuler of Ampco Flashlight Sales in the Netherlands provided him with a Zonda 9 FX fixture to test in his studio before leaving home for Las Vegas, which made him feel “well prepared” prior to deploying the fixtures at EDC. Beekmans subsequently visited the Ayrton office in Paris and was further impressed by what he saw and plans to continue using Ayrton fixtures in the future.
