The beautiful and ancient city of Viborg in central Jutland is one of the oldest in
Denmark dating back to the 8th century Viking settlements and has always had a
great tradition for meetings and commercial and social interactions. Each year in
June the streets, squares and parks become energised with “Snapsting’, a 10 day
annual festival, organised by the city to bring entertainment, arts, culture, sports,
music and fun to its community.

The three main entertainment stages this year were equipped with Robe moving
lights provided by rental company Lystek, headed by the charismatic Kristoffer
Neilsen, one of the country’s well known theatre LDs.

Snapsting offers around 260 performances and activities, mostly for free, to suit
every taste and demographic, from the oldest to the youngest and the hippest and
coolest to the most traditional … and everything in between. The historical festival
was re-started in 2013 after a break of 200 years (the last one had been 1813), and
in those four years has grown exponentially to pull around 70,000 people into
Viborg to enjoy the good vibes along with the 45,000 residents.

The main entertainment stage was located in the town square – Domkirkepladsen –
adjacent Viborg’s elegant well-proportioned Cathedral and this ran a full band
programme for the final three evenings of the festival, with popular Danish artists
like Almost AC/DC, Peter Og De Andre Kopier, Lis Sorensen, Sannes Bedse and
others.

Lighting was co-ordinated by Johan Kvartborg, who used 8 x Robe MMX Spots, 12 x
LEDBeam 100s and two ColorStrobes and four LEDWash 600s – for illuminating the
large “Opera’ (Saddlespan) structure that partially covered the audience.

All of these were run via wireless DMX which made things infinitely quicker and
more practical by reducing numerous cable runs.

The Robe ColorStrobes were rigged on the back truss and used to blast out across
the audience illuminating the whole area with dramatic pulses of light With the
intensity dialled right down, they also doubled up as wash lights. PAR 64s were used
for very neat and efficient front / side lighting, with 2-lite moles on the front truss
for audience interaction.

Just up the street in another charming square, the Nytorv Stage was set up in one
comer of this large piazza and buzzing meeting place.

Installed to cover the whole space was a fabulous 32 metre diameter circular
Skyliner roof system from Dansk Mobilscene – brought in to provide staging
solutions site wide. This particular roof fitted the space perfectly bringing an edgy
touch of industrial chic to the heritage buildings and architecture for visual contrast.

The Nytorv performance stage was smaller and running the lights was Jesper Levin
– universally known as Q. He had eight LEDBeam 100s and 4 x Pointes to play with,
and the versatility of the Point in the expedient stage area meant that this was
really all that was needed to create a great looking show for a number of jazz and
rock bands.

Illuminating the Skyliner structure were eight LEDWash 600s, their super-smooth
coverage and rich colours bringing a totally new dimension to the roof at dusk and
during darkness.

Around some of the other stages, Lystek deployed more Robes – DLS Profiles, more
Pointes and LEDBeams – they have invested steadily in the brand in recent years,
primarily for Neilsen’s own shows.