In the Middle East’s rapidly expanding live events sector, expectations around power infrastructure are changing fast. From international sporting tournaments and music festivals to large-scale cultural celebrations and immersive entertainment experiences, organisers are under increasing pressure to deliver not only flawless production values, but also measurable sustainability outcomes. For Aggreko, that shift has prompted a renewed focus on intelligent event design. The company has recently strengthened its regional Events Design capabilities with the appointment of three highly experienced specialists: JP Botha as Renewable Energy Engineer, Neil Williams as Events Design Lead, Middle East, and Mark Diamond as Events Design Engineer…
Author: Peter Iantorno
Anyone who has spent time backstage in the Middle East knows that the energy can get incredibly chaotic, incredibly fast. For Stefano Milan, Founder of CasaMilan, establishing complete control the moment he steps into a venue starts long before the first cue is even muttered. “My number-one rule is simple: claim your territory,” Milan opened, emphasising the importance of spatial discipline backstage. “You cannot afford to be the person fighting for a corner of a flight case five minutes before doors open. Your workspace is your cockpit – if it’s cramped, your show will feel cramped.” To mitigate this, Milan…
There was a time when scale alone defined success in the events industry. Bigger stages, larger crowds and more elaborate productions were the goal. However, according to LINKVIVA Marketing Director Ayah Alrashdan, audiences have changed. “Audiences today expect events to stand for something beyond entertainment,” she commented. “Spectacle still attracts attention, but purpose is what creates emotional connection and long-term loyalty.” That shift is now influencing event design across the Middle East and globally. Increasingly, organisers are finding that audiences want to leave with more some merch and a few social media photos to remember the event by. They want…
It’s not often that you can live out your dreams in a professional capacity, but for Gareth Hadden, who has long harboured ambitions to hold a light art festival in Cape Town’s historic Company’s Garden, the inaugural LUMENOCITY, which took place over four days in early April, was the realisation of a long-held goal. “This is an idea that I have been holding on to for quite some time,” he commented. “To see it take shape in the way it did really is a dream come true.” For Hadden, whose background lies firmly in technical production and design, having produced…
For large-scale ceremonies, the challenge has long been how to make audiences feel connected to a narrative unfolding hundreds of metres away. At Al Nassr Stadium in Riyadh, creative studio Dreamed by Us attempted to answer that question by transforming the audience itself into part of the scenography. Commissioned by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and delivered by ADD Enterprise, the graduation ceremony brought together approximately 8,000 graduates in a production that blended live opera, projection, drones, lasers, audience lighting and immersive multimedia storytelling. Rather than treating the crowd as passive spectators, the production team integrated them directly into…
When Karan Aujla kicked off the India leg of his spectacular P-Pop Culture Tour in New Delhi, it was a show that set a new benchmark for live music in the country. Among its many achievements, the production featured India’s largest ever deployment of d&b audiotechnik inventory, specified for this leg of the tour by local rental company Hertz & Pixels and supplied by d&b’s local partner, Ansata. One of the most popular artists in the Punjabi-speaking music world, Karan Aujla also provides an important connection to the wider music industry, with hits on the UK Asian chart and Global…
Historically, predicting noise emissions from festivals and events with multiple stages using systems from different manufacturers has presented a challenge for engineers. Each system relied on its proprietary tools, and the lack of interoperability often resulted in inconsistent noise predictions, making it difficult to meet environmental requirements. However, that is all changing with the introduction of the new SDE standard. The result of a groundbreaking collaboration between L-Acoustics, d&b audiotechnik and SoundPLAN, SDE is a revolutionary, manufacturer-agnostic standard for noise prediction across multiple sound systems. The new standard provides a unified method and file format to ensure reliable, consistent, and…
Where does the Hippotizer MEUSE MX fit into Green Hippo’s range of media servers? The MEUSE MX serves as the high-capacity anchor for the MX Series. From a technical standpoint, it sits at the top of the range for output density, pushing up to four 4K outputs from a single unit. This makes it the specific choice for high-resolution canvases where you need to drive a massive number of pixels without overcomplicating the rack. While its sibling, the HYCO MX, is the series leader for raw processing and generative content power, the MEUSE is optimised as the primary output engine.…
A large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures was featured in The Banyan Tree installation at Bangalore, India’s Sixth Sense Festival produced by Swordfish. The array of Claypaky products included Tambora Flashes and Battens, Panify 2 motorised lighting platforms, B-EYE K15s, Valero Waves and Sharpy X Frames. The venue for the multi-day festival was a century-old glass factory, a unique backdrop for launching India’s first and largest multidisciplinary immersive experience. The Banyan Tree, a site-specific installation by Production Designer Stephen Bontly, presented a story of mutual relationships and symbiosis between elements. It was formed from the elements that we have adopted…
Growing up in a family synonymous with the Middle East’s AV and live events industry, it would be easy to assume that success in the family business came easy to Maria Kyvernitis. However, while family ties have provided a natural connection to the industry, there’s no doubt that every inch of success has been hard earned. “I grew up in a household where both hard work and music were part of everyday life,” she told TPiMEA. “My parents founded NMK Electronics and Melody House, so from a young age, my siblings and I spent a lot of time at the…
As comebacks go, it doesn’t get much better than Linkin Park’s. After seven years away following the tragic death of lead singer Chester Bennington, the band returned to the road in 2024 in support of their eighth studio album, From Zero. With the addition of vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, the new-look lineup has been wowing sold-out stadiums and arenas all over the world, backed by an 80-strong crew of production professionals, all performing to the highest level night after night. While many of the Linkin Park crew joined the tour at the start of the cycle, the…
Bringing together more than 25,000 athletes of all skill levels across 37 sports over 10 thrilling days of competition, the Open Masters Games Abu Dhabi was the largest mass-participation sporting event the region has ever seen, aligning with a national push to encourage a healthy, active lifestyle and sport for all in the UAE. The National Projects Office and Abu Dhabi Sports Council, organisers for the event, enlisted People to create and deliver the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the event, with Tim Elliott leading the project as Artistic Director. Elliott and his team set to work to build out…
