Stuart WoodTomorrowland festival, which concluded this past July, occurred simultaneously in eight different countries around the world, all connected via live satellite feeds.
The EDM festival took place in Abu Dhabi, Belgium, Italy, Malta, Spain, Taiwan, Mexico and Lebanon, bringing together over 400,000 people across the planet.
The Abu Dhabi arm of the event was organised by DCT Abu Dhabi and Envie Events. It saw party-goers in du Forum, Yas Island celebrating from 2pm-2am.
It featured live local and international DJs including the duo Lucas & Steve, SmokinGroove, Marcus Santoro, Regi, Barry Fore, Omar Basaad, D.O.D and Ummet Ozcan.
Headliners Lucas & Steve commented: “We noticed immediately the huge energy that everybody was giving during the show. We heard a lot of stories about the Middle East and it’s really growing music-wise. EDM is becoming the next big thing and that’s what we saw.”
Dazzling special effects in du Forum were synchronised with the show in Belgium to create an exciting atmosphere which highlighted the unique global connection. Party-goers got the opportunity to dance in real time to the tunes of renowned international DJ’s including Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Dmitri Vegas and Like Mike via the live satellite connection.
This also involved remote control of lighting to ensure each of the 7 venues shared an almost identical visual as well as audio experience.
Audio, lighting, video, scenic, staging and rigging solutions were delivered by Protec, who successfully delivered the technical production for the festival held in Dubai in 2017.
Reflecting on a successful show, Protec’s project manager Pieter Smuts said: “The show in Abu Dhabi was almost a breeze – which was fantastic because the heat of the UAE summer can really put a lot of pressure on the crew as temperatures hover in the high 40s.”