Ales Pirman is a man who puts his money where his mouth is… 

He runs a very successful lighting rental company – Intralite – in Slovenia, has always loved music and in 2018 decided to promote his own event – Castle – Kolpa Music Festival- staged over four days at a beautiful site near the Kolpa River, close to the Croatian border.

Around 12,000 people enjoyed an international line-up of over 25 artists including Swedish / Norwegian rap metal band Clawfinger, darlings of the avant-garde Laibach, singer songwriter Magnifico, Serbian alt rockers S.A.R.S., Bosnian pop rockers Plavi Orkestar, Slovenian rock band Big Foot Mama and many others … and to ensure that they and all the other artists enjoyed the best possible lightshow and production values, over 100 Robe moving lights graced the main stage.

This included Intralite’s newest Robe purchase, 20 x MegaPointes, which joined the inventory earlier this year.

Ales had dreamed about running his own music event since he was a child, so this was a huge moment. He booked all the bands and amassed a team to help design, source and install the full festival site infrastructure including camping and glamping grounds – all of which was a major challenge; especially with it being the first time he’d organised a festival!

Naturally Intralite supplied the full technical production package, and being a leading rental company, it was an ideal opportunity to show off their creative and technical capabilities.

LD Klemen Krajnc was asked to create a production lighting design that would work for all artists.

The performance action took place over two stages – the main stage, a full 18 by 16 metre structure with 12 metres of headroom, also supplied by Intralite, plus a smaller second stage that was operational during the day.

The production lighting needed to be as dynamic and flexible as possible to ensure all the artists playing could receive an equally impressive lightshow. With the 20 a MegaPointes on the rig, plus 30 x Robe Spiider LED wash beams as well as ColorSpot 1200E ATs MMX WashBeams and 600E Beams … there were multiple options.

Using MegaPointes at the hub of the rig to create these major changes in look and style for the different sets really “illustrated first-hand the versatility and power” of this fixture, commented Ales.

He and Klemen looked through all the band riders they received … and every lighting designer involved with an artist was happy to accept the Robes. “The MegaPointe in particular … it is THE fixture that everyone is demanding” he confirms.

From a rental company standpoint, MegaPointe is an ideal fixture to cover all bases. The fact it can be a spot, beam and a wash fixture – equally well – and its reliability are also essential. Intralite’s MegaPointes have been out on over 40 shows and events over the year.

Other fixtures on the festival rig included blinders, Sunstrips and 2K fresnels for white light and filler for the cameras.

Intralite has invested steadily in Robe’s newest technologies over the last five years and they have over 200 fixtures in their inventory, all of which have been supplied by Slovenian distributor MK Light Sound.

The Castle – Kolpa Music Festival was a great success, and the 2019 dates have already been announced with Ales intending to enlarge the site and accommodate more music fans for a great weekend of rock ‘n’ roll.

All Photos: Intralite

Paul Allott
Author: Paul Allott

Paul Allott is a director and co-founder of Event Industry News, Event Tech Live and the Event Technology Awards.