ADJ Fixtures Shine At OinoFest In Cyprus

Described as ‘the modernized wine festival of Cyprus’, OinoFest took place in mid-October in the picturesque inland village of Lofou. Organised by Agro Escape, the three-day event attracted thousands of visitors who enjoyed sampling local wines, shopping for locally made products, and partying at two outdoor music events featuring DJ sets and live performers. Audio and visual production for the mainstage, as well as ambient lighting for the site, was provided by local production company Sound & Vision by DJ Nick. ADJ fixtures, including moving heads, static washes, and atmospheric effect generators, were used exclusively to illuminate both the stage and the historic building that provided a striking backdrop to the event.

Agro Escape is a company based in Cyprus with a mission to help visitors discover all the island has to offer, not just the most common tourist destinations. As part of this, they host regular events at historic venues that showcase local artisans and performers to an audience comprised of both tourists and locals. OinoFest (WineFest) took place in an area well known for its vineyards and wine production in the district of Ampelochoria, between Limassol and Paphos. The festival site was the grounds of the old elementary school in the village of Lofou, an historic building showcasing classic Cypriot architecture. The event kicked off with a lowkey evening on Friday, showcasing local wine, food, and music. It then ran throughout Saturday and Sunday, with winetasting and a market area open during the day followed by ticketed music events in the evenings. Saturday’s theme was ‘The Ultimate Retro Party’ and featured local DJ FREDDIE ????????, while Sunday evening showcased a variety of DJs playing jazz, Latin and electronic music, supported by live sax, percussion, and dancers.

Based in the city of Limassol, Sound & Vision by DJ Nick has over 30 years of experience in the AV industry, having served customers on Cyprus since 1989. It provides technical production, as well as event organization and entertainment services, to events of all sizes, ranging from small family and corporate parties up to largescale open-air concerts and dance festivals. The company has relied on ADJ exclusively for all its lighting and atmospheric equipment for several years and has built up an extensive rental stock of fixtures purchased through local ADJ dealer SP Megasound Ltd.

Sound & Vision by DJ Nick has been working with Agro Escape for around 18 months, and throughout that time use of lighting to enhance their events has increased significantly. Dimitris Nicolaou, who has worked for DJ Nick for a number of years and was responsible for designing, programming, and operating the lighting system for OinoFest, has played a significant role in driving this shift and also had extensive input into planning phase of this particular event.

“Throughout the time we have worked together, I have encouraged the Agro Escape team to invest more in their production,” explains Dimitrius. “People are going out to party every week and getting bored of nightclubs and going to the same places; so, these special events need to be memorable! Part of that is choosing the right location and another is creating the right atmosphere with the right equipment. Designing the site to make the most of both elements is also important. At first, the organizers were planning to put the main stage in front of the school, but when they asked my opinion, I suggested that we should enhance the front of the building with up-lighting and make it a focal point instead of covering it with the stage and lots of trusses, cables, and equipment. So, we arranged the event with the main stage to the front, the historical building to one side and a view out over the city to the other side. It made for an incredible setting to host a party – wherever people looked they had something impressive to see!”

To illuminate the façade of the school building, the Sound & Vision by DJ Nick team deployed 12 of ADJ’s weatherproof, battery-powered and wirelessly controllable Element HexIP LED up-lighting fixtures. These allowed the impressive pillars of the building to be vibrantly lit without the need for cables to be run in what was a high foot traffic area. In addition, eight of ADJ’s 12PX HEX LED par fixtures were positioned in other areas around the site to provide ambient background lighting and ensure visibility for attendees moving around the site.
 
The stage setup comprised two ground-supported truss structures; the first positioned at the rear of the performance space and the second set to a higher trim and located further forward above the performers. Dimitris’ lighting design utilized ten of ADJ’s Vizi Beam 5RX dedicated beam luminaires. Four fixtures were positioned across the front of the stage, while the remaining units were rigged to the rear truss. In addition, six of ADJ’s versatile Vizi Hybrid 16RX moving heads were rigged to the higher truss. Together, these 16 fixtures were used to generate a variety of intense aerial effects which filled the sky above the festival site.
 
The beam fixtures on both trusses were interspersed with Vizi Wash Z19 automated LED wash luminaires. Featuring 19 x 20-Watt 4-in-1 (red, green, blue, and white) color mixing LEDs with zone control and offering a motorized zoom function for a variable beam angle of between 10 and 60-degrees, these versatile fixtures can be used to generate both wide color washes and intense columns of light. For OinoFest eight fixtures were split evenly across the two trusses and used to backlight the performers on stage, illuminate the audience and generate additional aerial effects.

Part of Dimitris’ brief from the client was to include visual elements on stage to draw in the crowd’s attention and complement the mid-air beams. This he achieved by mounting ADJ UB 9H linear LED fixtures to vertical pipes and pointing them directly out towards the audience. The DJ position was framed on each side by two pairs and one single fixture. Dimitris utilized the zone control offered by these units to program chase patterns that added interest to the stage and at other moments used them all on together to create blinder style effects.
 
The onstage lighting system was completed by six of ADJ’s multifunction Jolt 300 LED fixtures, two rigged to the lower truss and four hanging from the upper truss. These versatile units each feature a central strip of 144 x 0.5W white SMD LEDs, surrounded on both sides by 144 x 0.5W RGB SMD LEDs. Both types of LED are arranged into three independently controlled zones, allowing for the creation of ‘eye candy’ chases as well as traditional strobe effects and color washes.
 
“We invested in the Jolt 300s soon after we started working again after COVID and hope to add more to our stock soon,” states Dimitris. “We use them for almost every event, from parties to concerts to corporates, because they are so flexible. They are lightweight, extremely powerful and by combining the middle line of white LEDs with the color mixing RGB LEDs, all arranged in zones, they can be used as strobes, blinders, washes and to create visual pixel effects. As washes they are very effective because of their wide beam angle and as strobes they are dazzling. We are very happy with the Jolt 300s!”

Front wash for the performers was facilitated by four of ADJ’s 18P HEX LED par cans, which were rigged in pairs to the PA towers positioned at either side of the stage. These robust fixtures have an all-metal construction and combine 18 x 12-Watt 6-in-1 (red, green, blue, amber, white and UV) color mixing LEDs to produce a vibrant output with a 25-degree beam angle.
 
“This is the way we always light stages when we can’t fly a front truss or put in a ground support,” explains Dimitris, “and it is really effective. Just two 18P HEX fixtures on each side are enough to fill a whole stage, they really are incredibly bright!”
 
The Sound & Vision by DJ Nick team also relied on ADJ fixtures for the event’s atmospheric effects. A pair of the Fog Fury Jett Pro LED-lit fog machines were positioned between the moving head fixtures on the front of the stage and used to blast illuminated columns of fog out into the crowd to highlight musical drops. In addition, a pair of ADJ’s Entourage 1400W professional grade touring faze machines, paired with Entour Cyclone DMX controlled fans, were used to generate a consistent haze to enhance the beams created by the moving head fixtures.
 
“I love the Entourage because it always does the job,” enthuses Dimitris. “Whether it’s a small indoor event or large outdoor festival, we can use it effectively. It is small enough to fit into tight spaces and powerful enough to create the right atmosphere on the biggest of stages. For this particular event, it was coming up to wintertime here in Cyprus and the village is located up in the mountains, so the weather was quite cold and windy. But despite these challenges, the Entourages were able to generate enough haze to fill both the stage and crowd area. The beam effects looked fantastic, as you can see from the pictures.”

The OinoFest event was a resounding success, with large crowds enjoying both of the evening musical events. The organizers were happy with the production Sound & Vision By DJ Nick provided and Dimitris was pleased that he was able to deliver lighting that truly enhanced every aspect of the event from the illumination of the historic school’s façade to the versatile rig assembled on the main stage.
 
“During the show I sometimes used each group of fixtures independently, so that the audience could appreciate the effect of each one on its own,” explains Dimitris. “At certain points I would only have on the LED bars to draw focus to the stage, or the beams so that the crowd could appreciate the prism effects and the intensity of the output, or the Jolt 300s for strobe effects. It meant that the audience fully appreciated each fixture for what it could do, and then when everything came on together – I can tell you – the response was incredible. A true wow factor. It was very pleasant for me when I could see 1000 smartphones come out to capture the moment – I think that meant we were doing our job pretty well!”

Event
OinoFest

Organised By
Agro Escape

Venue
Lofou, Cyprus

Lighting Designer
Dimitris Nicolaou

Production Company
Sound & Vision By DJ Nick
www.soundandvisionbydjnick.com 

ADJ Dealer
SP Megasound Ltd
www.megasound.com.cy 

Photographer
Martinos Galatis