KERKRADE, The Netherlands – As the Castle of Love open-air music festival returned for its tenth year, partygoers from across the continent flocked to the site for a weekend of dance music and good times. Following the use of ADJ products in 2014, lighting designer Tom Franken once again chose ADJ lighting to really bring the festival to life, putting some of his favorite fixture to the test on the festival’s main stage, and elsewhere.
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For those of you who aren’t familiar with Castle of Love, the festival is located at Castle Park Erenstein – not far from ADJ’s European Headquarters – and set in the woodland grounds of an old castle. The grand architecture and mysterious woodlands are used as backdrops for the event’s five stages, which this year played host to house, electro, progressive and techno music from acts including Billy the Kit, Jacob van Hage, Loudgarden, Pep & Rash and Sidney Samson.
We covered the Castle of Love in a previous issue of NewsWave, following the 2014 festival, and we were glad to see the return of such a colorful event that uses ADJ lighting to such great effect. Returning to the festival for 2015 were technical manager Tim Vreuls, the aforementioned Tom Franken (Tomorrowland, TomorrowWorld, Dance Valley) and lighting programmers Tim Collaris and Bart Sevenich, with the lighting supplied by long-time ADJ partner U-Rent.
Made up of colorful décor and junk emblazoned with graffiti, the festival’s main stage overlooks the water in front of the historic castle, with the dance-floor floating on the small lake to provide a unique party environment and an electric nighttime atmosphere. On this stage, Tom put a wide range of ADJ products to use, generating thick beams of color using the powerful CREE LED source of the Inno Color Beam LED and dazzling the music-lovers with strobe flashes from the SP-1500 DMX IIs.
Backed by pyros, video screens and haze from the Fog Fury 3000s, the ADJ lightshow went on to electrify the crowd further as the night took hold, with the Vizi Beam 5Rs producing sharp, slicing beams of color and the Vizi Beam Hybrid 2Rs sending prismed, multi-faceted effects bouncing off the water, heightening the intensity of the EDM and house music being mixed by top DJs from across Europe and beyond.
The Kerkrade site is a historic one – and that’s something the festival’s lighting designers and technical manager, Tim Vreuls, use to their advantage. This year’s theme was simply ‘10 Years of Love’ but there was a feeling of ‘medieval meets modern fairytale’ running throughout the event, in keeping with its setting. Even before partygoers had got inside there were men dressed up in old medieval-style garments welcoming them at the entrance – and this theme continued on the various stages. Tom used his ADJ fixtures wisely: whether surrounding the arches on the main castle or uplighting the walls of the church stage – the latter of which saw Sweeper Beam Quad LEDs lining its faux-stone pillars and utilized video screens in place of stained glass (each bearing messages, such as ‘I LOVE COL’).
In the festival’s smaller areas, the role of ADJ products was equally as prominent. One stage incorporated the powerful Fog Fury Jett, with multiple machines pumping out fog to create a magical, misty setting deep in the forest, and was enhanced by the stunning strobe effects of the SP-1500 (which was also used on the event’s main stage). Elsewhere, Tom put to use a series of Mega TRIPAR Profiles and Mega QA Par38s, with their wide-reaching washes immersing the crowd in smoothly-mixed vibrant colors.
The ADJ Group was also able to help out with sound at this year’s Castle of Love festival, with Tom selecting audio systems from American Audio’s Sense series, including Sense 215 monitors and Sense 18B speakers on the main stage, and Sense 15 and 15B speakers elsewhere on the expansive site. These systems not only provided clarity for the DJs performing but also offered plenty of bass for the audience!
On the final night, with fog clinging to the water and revelers oozing energy during the closing sets, fireworks burst open in the sky above the main stage, and ADJ complemented the magical moment with spiraling prism effects, colorful beams, intense strobing and a beautifully uplit castle backdrop. The perfect end to a festival that – through excellent musical curation, artistically intriguing staging, impeccable teamwork and a dynamic, varied ADJ lightshow – continues to keep music fans coming back for more…
