Rhythm & Alps leads music festival technology

Rhythm & Alps festival goers are set to be treated to an incredible experience of sound, light, optical illusion and art, thanks to world-leading stage technology.

The highly-anticipated New Year’s party and music festival, held next week from 29th to 31st December at Robrosa Station near Wanaka, has already achieved an outstanding international reputation for producing innovative stages.

This year’s event will see the bar raised even higher, with three epic platforms featuring a technical mix of state-of-the-art video projection mapping, LED screens and lighting, high-spec audio and bespoke visuals.

Designed by Rhythm & Alps festival experts in conjunction with Queenstown event production company TomTom Productions, the stages are set to captivate and engage the senses of the 7,000-strong crowd expected to attend the event.

Rhythm & Alps (R&A) Festival Director Alex Turnbull explains “R&A is recognised around the world for its legendary stages - particularly the Where the Wild Things Are stage.

“The technical elements of LED screens, video mapping and audio technology are combined to provide the ultimate experience for party-goers.”

The Alpine Arena main stage - set to host acclaimed acts such as Six60, Pitch Black and Devilskin - is approximately 20 metres wide and 12 metres high and will feature LED screens, which come alive at night in a spectacle of colour and illusion.

The legendary Cabin stage - sourced from the set of Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake drama series - will house a light sculpture from Queenstown’s hugely successful LUMA Southern Light Project, which took place in June this year.

Ribera, Sinclair and Mandela are some of the top acts scheduled for the Cabin.

High-spec video mapping will transform the 20-metre-wide Where the Wild Thing Are stage - assigned to drawcards such as Opiuo, Baynk and Young Tapz - into three pyramids. The pyramid video mapping will run all throughout the nights of 30th and 31st December.

Turnbulll adds “we will video map fur, leopard skins, electricity … it will all be artistically interesting and provide another facet to the whole music festival experience.

“We have collaborated closely with TomTom over the years and for every event they always over-deliver, which is awesome.”

TomTom Productions Director Tom Lynch states “since R&A moved to the Cardrona Valley, we've pushed for an abstract stage design for the DJ stage each year.

“From giant Buddhas to spider structures, we've done some crazy stuff.

“This year is no different with inspiration taken from pyramids for the design. We'll be throwing some world-class video projection and lighting gear at it to once again to warp people's minds and transport them to an alternate reality.”

Rhythm & Alps is the South Island’s biggest annual New Year’s party and music festival with about 7,000 people -  including 4,000 campers and 3,000 non-camping ticket holders  - expected to converge in Wanaka’s spectacular Cardrona Valley for the 2016 event.

For more information go to www.rhythmandalps.co.nz

Images:Rhythm & Alps' Alpine Arena stage (top) and Where The Wild Things Are stage (below).

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