BOOMTOWN FAIR: 11TH CHAPTER The festival embarks on the latest chapter of its wildly idiosyncratic narrative, as TPi’s Jacob Waite discovers…
Crowned by festival goers as a field of unity, creativity and freedom heading into its 11th Chapter - Boomtown Fair fused a diverse line-up of underground and global music with breath-taking set design, immersive theatre and performance to create a living, breathing, fictitious city. To truly understand the multi-layered experience of Boomtown, TPi met the production crew battling the challenging outdoor elements to provide a backdrop to the untold stories of festival revellers. Production Manager Robin Collings vendors of choice comprised Video Illusions, PRG, Laser Grafix, Aardvark FX, AF Live, Audio Feed, Coreworks, Phixion and Nitelites.
a ‘run of the mill’ corporate event. A lot of money has been spent by the festival on creative, a huge part of the Boomtown story starts with the build and the elaborate set design.” Despite its vast and monolithic nature, the construction of the Nucleus stage under the guidance of Build Manager, Ben Pickering, was relatively “straightforward” according to Hodge. The structure was created by Coreworks, while Belgium-based Phixion, known for its impressive collaboration with Tomorrowland, was brought on to devise the set design. “We’ve brought together capable and creative contractors to make this possible,” Hodge explained. The main scaffolding structure was built with approximately 120-tonnes of scaffolding material by Coreworks in addition to FOH, field delay towers and main PA hangs. All of which were constructed with a Layher Allround scaffolding system, while the main PA structures were built from Coresteel towers. Coreworks was involved in creating site infrastructure such as entrance gates, signage and routing at the check-in areas. Approximately 80-tonnes of scaffolding material was built up across two areas of the site
NUCLEUS STAGE At the heart of AREA 404, a brand-new structure emerged. At its core, a glowing orb made up of Video Illusions VI-L6 LED panels pulsed and flashed at the epicentre of the advanced performance space. “The aesthetic of each stage plays its part in the narrative of Boomtown,” stated Nucleus Production Manager, Zoe Hodge. “That’s what sets this festival apart from 50
