COLOURS OF OSTRAVA
COLOURS OF OSTRAVA During its peak summer season, DiGiCo links up with Czech-based distributor Pro Music for one of the biggest music events in central Europe.
Held every summer since 2002 in the north-eastern Czech city of Ostrava, the Colours of Ostrava festival features 22 stages and countless performers from all corners of the world. A regular fixture in the Czech music calander, Pro Music’s co-operation with the festival came as a result of its partnership with technical producer, Smart Production and main stage audio supplier, High Lite Touring. In 2012 the festival moved to a new site in the area of a former ironworks in Ostrava city centre. There were serious challenges with infrastructure, which had to be solved within the tight 11-month timeframe. “To be honest, I was not quite sure if everything would be ready in such a short period of time,” said Josef Ženíšek, Smart Production CEO and Technical Director of the festival. “But the owner of the site made a huge effort to sort out any issues and invested in large preparation works. I visited the site on a regular basis and was surprised how quickly the changes were made. They had to build a completely new backstage road around the site and so many more field repairs. Also, the unique Cylinders Gong Theatre was built in just a year,” he commented. “When building stages, we always kept in mind that audience capacity
might rise in the future. We also needed to make sure that sound from each stage doesn’t affect the audience of any other. It’s been eight years since the festival moved to its current location and we haven’t had to change anything regarding the setting, which shows that we did a good job back in 2012,” continued Ženíšek. As an exclusive DiGiCo distributor for the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the past 15 years, Pro Music was delighted to provide technical support for all DiGiCo users in a dedicated prep room, located right next to the main stage. Technical support was done by Petr Šťásek, who works for Pro Music as a DiGiCo product specialist. DiGiCo headquarters were represented by Jaap Pronk and Mark Saunders. “The first two years were particularly challenging,” explained Ženíšek. “We had to figure out the best audio set-ups for all stages to cover the area, which wasn’t easy as we had to be aware of reflections from steel constructions. The feedback from visitors was very important. Regular visitors to the festival can see changes every year – some of the buildings have been repaired, some new roads and paths have been built. All this work has one ultimate goal: to protect this national heritage site and 78
