ddNew Underwater Spotlights Bring to Life Breathtaking Stage Sets on World's Largest Lake Stage

	Specified for water scenes, Aqua Drum fixtures are high-output submersible heads suitable for use in all aquatic locations down to a depth of 20' (6m).

The Bregenz performing arts festival, located in the westernmost Austrian province of Vorarlberg, has been attracting an international audience since it first opened in 1946, less than a year after the end of World War II. To be ready in time for the tight deadline of opening day that year, the first festival was performed on two floating barges.

Since then, the event has grown tremendously. Today, the performances are done on the world's largest lake stage, which measures 71m at its widest point and 14m at its highest point and can be viewed from shore by up to 7,000 spectators at one time. Held every July and August, the Bregenz Festival has attracted as many as 400,000 viewers during a single five-week season.

The floating stage with larger-than-life stage sets has become a destination point for tourists from around the globe. It has been featured in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace and used at the 2008 European Football Championship as the European Championship Studio for daily reporting. Legendary operas, as well as orchestral concerts, ballets, poetry readings, and children's programs, are regularly performed against the beautiful natural backdrop of Lake Constance and accompanied by the timeless music of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to the stunning backdrop, the breathtakingly large stage sets are responsible for sweeping audiences into the magic of storytelling, along with the crisp sound made possible by leading-edge directional sound technology. The directional sound system, also known as the moving system, provides pinpoint audio as performers move between sound areas.

With the goal of making every performance more spectacular for guests than the last, Festival management turned its attention to the lighting. Specifically, the team wanted to add underwater lighting for water basin scenes around the lake stage to create another perspective. Previously, the lake stage had various LED lights, including spotlights, wash lights, and moving lights. The thought was that underwater lighting would provide an additional dramatic element to enhance the performance.

Markus Holdermann, technical supervisor from Bregenzer Festspiele GmbH, says, "We wanted the underwater lighting to give our audiences a unique perspective of the performers. As a result, our biggest challenge was to find a spotlight that has an RGB color mix, minimum 3000 lumens, low voltage range maximum 24V and is 100-percent waterproof."

During the investigation, Guido Nallinger from Showtime Bonn visited the Acclaim Lighting showroom in Kerkrade with Fabian Nallinger, light operator responsible for the buildup, decoration and operation of the local production, and Flo Schmitt from Showtime Design. They witnessed several different Aqua Drum models (EO-SO-HO) in an aquarium and became convinced of the quality of the product.

Specified for water scenes, Aqua Drum fixtures are high-output submersible heads suitable for use in all aquatic locations down to a depth of 20' (6m). The fixtures provide a range of emitter types, multiple lens options, and full UL676 pool and spa certification, making them perfectly suited for exterior façade washing, fountain, pond, and landscape applications.

Aqua Drum is available in three sizes, each with differing head diameters and emitter counts, to ensure a fixture for every available space and throw distance. Optional in-grade housings are also available for each Aqua Drum size to enable fully sealed walk-over installations.

Holderman says, "The Aqua Drum series met all of our requirements. We were impressed by the fixture's high-quality design and easy installation. Plus, we could easily control the light color and shading with 0 to 100 percent dimming through DMX with Aqua Driver."

In total, 30 Aqua Drum HO RGBW and eight Aqua Drum EO RGBW spotlights were installed at 40-degrees in the lagoon area of the water basin where the water ballet scenes take place, delivering precise and dramatic lighting that sets the mood and highlights the performance of the actors. The Festival used seven Aqua Driver 400 fixtures to control the fixtures and a constant current dimming driver for 24VDC-based fixtures. Smooth dimming is provided for up to eight RGBW/A, Dynamic White, or Fixed White fixtures under DMX control. Static colors and adjustable chases can also be configured when independent operation is required. The internal auto-switching power supply can operate from main inputs ranging from 100-277VAC to 50/60Hz, and a total of 400W of output can be supplied across its eight ports.

"The Festival and its guests are very satisfied with the results of the lighting," adds Holdermann. "Our guests benefit from an experience that's beyond imagination, and we have a controllable system that was easy to install and which works well with our other operating systems."

Check out highlights from the show here: youtu.be/b-b9H1ZOUWo?si=cP0V0oYLyIXuqddz.