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network connectivity to FOH in every stage .

Macca went on to explain the advantage of having PRG handle both video, lighting and rigging across several of the festival stages. “Having a PRG package across the main two stages and the Steel Yard means we can have discussion in house,” he explained. “The Steel Yard for example was a huge logistical effort on its own with 17 trucks.” The combined expertise across the different disciplines , really shone through with the build schedule in Steel Yard reduced due to the high winds earlier in the build. Everyone came together and we added shifts to work round the clock to get back on track.”

For the Steel Yard, PRG provided a Movecat automated system that spanned the length of the structure. “We have up to 900 blades on each of the trusses,” enthused Macca, explaining that despite the logistical effort the final look for Eric Prydz performance this year.

Discussing the other side of the visual coin was Rob Watson, Lighting Account Manager for CF01 and CF02 who worked alongside fellow Account Manager, Yvonne Donnelly Smith who oversaw the Steel Yard.

“We have a lot of touring acts on CF01, with the likes of deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia,” stated Watson. “Thankfully, we are involved with all three acts as we supply deadmau5’s production, Calvin who is on tour with us and Swedish House Mafia which is a mixture of us and another supplier. This made it a lot easier logistically.”

To aid the logistical task, the PRG team enlisted the aid of Ben Holdsworth. His sole role was to handle logistics on site not to mentioned the team from Ginger Owl Productions who looked after crew welfare to look after the 130 PRG handling everything from meal tickets, accreditation and any other day to day admin, leaving each member the opportunity to focus on the task at hand.

On the main stages PRG opted to replicate last year’s wing design, despite having to factor Swedish House Mafia’s large format video wall. “We’ve ensured that all the fixtures on the wings would attach to the ROE CB5 touring frames,” stated Watson. “This included Vari-Lite Showline SL NITROs, Claypaky Sharpys and generic moles.” On the top of the wings were GLP impression X4 Bars and Icon Beams which were for Swedish House Mafia only. “There are just so many visiting artists that we didn’t need to put in a huge lighting rig of our own,” explained Watson. “For example, Swedish House Mafia are bringing in an extra 130 PRG Icon Beams onstage. All we need to do is supplement their touring packages. During the day, we can’t use their touring package but our house rig is more than sufficient to provide a good-looking show.” The rig in question consisted of TMB Solaris Flares, Claypaky Sharpys, Martin by Harman MAC Quantum Washes and PRG Best Boys. All of which were driven by a MA Lighting grandMA2 with PRG Super Node.

On CF02, one of the biggest changes to the design was the wings. On the lighting front a total of 94 Claypaky Sharpys were hung in a staggered formation to give both the house LD and those traveling with artists plenty of creative options.

“Credit really has to be given to Chris Scott and Luke Jackson who designed CF01 and CF02 respectively,” stated Watson. Both stages had PRGs custom festival racks that have certainly done the rounds this season, all designed with plug-and-play in mind. With so many touring acts visiting each stage, producing a simplistic busking page for Operator, Adam Power, at CF02. “The layout was simple for anyone to jump onto the system and start working,” enthused Watson. “The same can be said for Mark Jones’ pages who oversaw the Steel Yard throughout the weekend.”

PRG’s pre-visualisation suite, overseen by Erica Frost, was also available for touring productions and artists. “We have Barco E2s and Resolume media servers for touring productions to come and check their content

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or for those that don’t have VJs to see how the content they submitted will look on the screens.” Frost was able to upload any of the screen configurations on the festival site in the suite via Barco E2s and Resolume media servers, which Macca cited as “vital” due to the unusual arrangement of some of the LED. “Each year the change overs get bigger and bigger so by the time there is time to program you are into daylight hours. To have an area where an engineer can relax is vital.”

PRG also supplied a Lighting Wysiwyg suite to the area which meant acts on PRG’s stages could pre-program their show away from the stage managed by Tiago Lima and Alec Corbett. This meant especially on CF01 where the touring productions were large the LD’s could program somewhere dark instead of battling the daylight on the stage.

BPM SFX One of the longest serving suppliers of Creamfields, BPM SFX, were back onsite for its 13th time. “Having their onsite knowledge is invaluable and we have a great relationship with them. From the off, they can begin to work with local authorities and our safety team, so we are prepared from day one,” Greenway explained.

Providing SFX and Laser packages on all but two of the stages, including both main stages, overseeing the SFX operation was BPM SFX founder Adam Murray, Liam Haswell Technical Director, Senior SFX Technician Tom Stead and Senior Projects Coordinator, Katie Strickland. “Like everyone, we were behind schedule on the first day due to the weather conditions,” she reminisced. “I’ve personal worked the last 11 Creamfields and this was by far the worst weather pre-festival and for load-in I had seen.”

Despite the challenging environment, Strickland was happy to report it was the least stressful in terms of logistics. The secret to this success - organisation. “Between all of us, we had organised ourselves, the crew and the equipment well in advance. Adam had already set out an equipment itinerary for each stage which meant it was a case of loading up the relevant truck to go to the correct destination.”

On the topic of organisation, Strickland was keen to point out that through her 11 years - and despite the trying conditions - it was the least stressful build she had ever experienced at the festival.

“We had 40 crew in total, excluding drivers and the logistics team,” she stated. “SFX isn’t like other disciplines such as lighting, video and sound, where there are plenty of crew. Due to the few available, I personally had the majority of the crew in place by January with most of the

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