With the demand for environmentally friendly live events increasing all over the world, the Middle East is a region that is making great strides in its approach to sustainability. Among the companies and organisations trying to lead the change in the region is Showpower. Made up of a team of sustainable power experts, the company is seeing greater demand than ever for alternative power solutions for the region’s live events. “The tide is certainly turning, and people want to challenge the status quo,” began Paul Schurink, Showpower’s co-CEO. “The region is already known for delivering productions on another scale, so…
Author: Peter Iantorno
Since the establishment of TPiMEA back in 2016, our scope has certainly expanded as the live events market in the region grows and matures. The most obvious example of this is Saudi Arabia, but another country that is growing in stature on the international stage is India. While India is of course in South Asia, the country’s live events industry is linked closely with the Middle East. In fact, our previous edition’s cover stars, Coldplay, following their Abu Dhabi performance, paid a visit to India, as the next stop on their world tour. As well as becoming a common stop-off…
The family entertainment sector is growing quickly in Kuwait, with more and more shows taking place in the country every year. One series that has stood the test of time is Zain – an annual production that has taken place at The Arena for each of the past four years, telling a different story surrounding the same character every year. For this year’s production, Fearless Zain, Lighting Designer Luke Gregory Bonner of Curiome was tasked with creating a design that would complement the ethereal staging and scenic elements, helping to portray the vision of Director, Samir Abdel Massih, and Producer,…
With 500 attendees and 26 awards up for grabs, the TPiMEA Awards returned for its seventh edition, once again celebrating excellence in the Middle East events industry. The preparation for the Awards often begins long before we are able to celebrate the esteemed winners, with arrangements for this year starting with the selection of a new venue for this edition – Soho Garden, Palm Jumeirah. Winners on the night included Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour – the mammoth stadium run that has been touring worldwide for three years – for achieving the feat of being Abu Dhabi’s largest…
With an all-star lineup packed with some of the most popular Afrikaans artists backed by an expert creative and technical team with a genuine passion for the project, it’s no surprise that Afrikaans is Groot (AIG) is one of South Africa’s most popular annual events. A celebration of Afrikaans music and culture, the event has become so popular that last year’s iteration saw nine shows take place over two consecutive weekends, with more than 70,000 people flocking to Pretoria’s SunBet Arena to take in the spectacular cultural experience. Produced by Coleske Artist Management under the leadership of Technical Director Ian…
Founded in 1981 by Ofer Lapid under the name Lighting Unlimited, Gearhouse South Africa began as a modest operation with limited resources but a clear ambition to support the region’s emerging events industry. Over the decades, it has grown into a leading technical production provider, now operating as the cornerstone of the Gearhouse Group of Companies. Based out of Johannesburg, with additional facilities in Cape Town and Durban, the company has built a reputation for delivering integrated solutions across a full spectrum of live events, from intimate gatherings to large-scale international productions. At the heart of Gearhouse’s success lies its…
In an era where the scale and ambition of live events continue to soar, the desire for highly trained and reliable on-site personnel has never been greater. Meeting that demand head-on is THE Production TEAM – a UK-founded company, part of Spendlove Group, rapidly expanding its footprint across the region. At the helm of the Middle East Operation is Ann Dacumos – an experienced events professional with a track record of successful projects in the region, supported by Daniel Clark, the Group General Manager, whose global perspective continues to shape the company’s delivery, “Our knowledge of the industry is undoubtedly…
What is Spectera and what industry need does it address? Spectera is the world’s first bidirectional wideband solution. Using the ground-breaking WMAS (Wireless Multichannel Audio Systems) technology, Spectera greatly reduces wireless system complexity, while at the same time considerably increasing capability, enabling time-saving workflows and offering full remote control and monitoring, including permanent spectrum sensing. The wideband solution will be ideal for large productions, whether in the touring, broadcasting, or theatre fields, or in any other area that requires multichannel audio setups. Spectera satisfies customers’ needs – ease of use, operational reliability and flexibility. It offers less hardware, drastically reduced…
Could you tell us more about the fixtures in the NEO series? The NEO Series is a family of high-performance RGBL wash fixtures designed for both live events and permanent installations. Each product is tailored to specific use cases while maintaining consistent colour quality and output across the range. The NEO Series includes: the NEO, the next generation of IP65-rated washlight, featuring 24 40W RGBL LEDs, delivering over 27,000 lumens; NEO FX, an IP65-rated pixel washlight that adds individual pixel control and a massive motorised zoom range; NEO mini, a compact yet powerful version of the NEO equipped with 10…
The Saudi Light & Sound Expo was one of a host of industry tradeshows taking place in May, but as one of the newer events, and being located in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, it showed growth in both its floorplan and visitor numbers. Organised by dmg events and now in its fourth year, 2025 saw the exhibition return to Riyadh Front – the only centrally located exhibition space that can accommodate a show of this size now its floor space has been upped to two halls. By my count, SLS Expo had around 185 exhibitors this year plus…
Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour, which is led by Production Manager, Chris Kansy, called upon Clair Global for communications solutions and IT deployments for the band’s performances at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, attended by almost 223,000 fans over two nights. Clair Global designed a communications system comprising two Riedel Communications Artist 64 digital intercom network frames, 50 Bolero wireless beltpacks and six panels. The band’s busy Showcaller, Julia Whittle, communicates via Clair’s main show channel, which has a one-way transmit to Motorola radios, while multiple radio interfaces are deployed to offer seamless coverage for distant positions,…
The Middle East has gained a reputation in recent years as a global leader when it comes to spectacular aerial events, and with Qatar’s recent Lusail Sky Festival, that status was given a further boost. Organised by Visit Qatar, in collaboration with Qatari Diar and held for three days at the start of April to coincide with the Eid al-Fitr weekend, the festival combined an array of aerial performances, including aerobatics, skydiving, skywriting demonstrations, high-speed jet displays, laser shows, and aerial pyrotechnics. Playing a central role in the event was a spectacular daily drone show, created by Lumasky, which featured…
