The Fourth Annual “Radio Birikina” and “Radio Bella & Monella” Song Festival with Clay Paky’s superior technical collaboration
The most beautiful squares in the Triveneto area played host to the fourth annual live event FESTIVALSHOW for 2003 and all of the summer season..This travelling Festival debuted in Castelfranco Veneto (TV), historical location of radio stations Radio Bella & Monella and Radio Birikina, the latter having celebrated 25 years of broadcasting.
No one could ever have expected such warm and enthusiastic attendance on the part of both public and performing artists when the Veneto area radios launched the first Festival show. However, the “new voices” formula – literally a melting pot for 12 new talents from all over Italy – presented by Jo Squillo (2000), Simona Tagli (2001), Emanuela Folliero (2002) and this year’s dazzling Gisella Donadoni combined with “grand tour” professional organization have made the festival one of the summer’s hottest events. On September 13 in Bassano del Grappa, the special guests Pooh closed the 2003 Festival show with a flourish in their only live exhibition this year in the Festival show’s Grand Finale: forty minutes of music, literally a mini-concert!
Greater autonomy was the key element of the recently concluded event as compared to former years. The production crew boasted 3 articulated lorries, 5 lorries and 3 campers to transport audio, video, and lighting equipment to 13 different locations. General attendance was estimated at over 200,000 persons. Among the many artists competing onstage: Spagna, Scialpi, Yu Yu, Los Locos, Moony, Gatto Panceri, Anna Tatangelo, La Finn, Andrea Mingardi, Roberto Angelini, Paolo Meneguzzi, Velvet…and even cycling champion Gilberto Simoni, winner of the 2003 Italian Tour (Giro d’Italia) who made a surprise appearance onstage in Treviso.
As a sponsor, Clay Paky was a sustaining force for the event from its very beginning. Renato Neri, Lighting Designer and owner of Xenon service, with the technical collaboration of Pietro Tondello’s Altair, planned and outfitted the transportable stage that was assembled and disassembled for every date on the tour. A highlight of the stage outfit were two front access ramps for a car onto the stage and two 9-metre layer towers for suspending speakers. 30,000 watts were used for the amplifying system. Two Visa power units, one operational and one in reserve, were used for the 500 kW power supply.
More than twenty Super Scan Zoom 1200s, 8 Astroscan 1200s and 15 CP Color 250s were used onstage. While scanners were used for general lighting and effects, the color changers served to color backdrops and for backlighting the two large monitors located on stage level, when not in use for projecting videos.
All the evening performances were transmitted live on both Radio Birkina and Radio Bella & Monella and via television nationally by a group of 15 stations weekly (the most important in each region).
“Our event has grown incredibly in these years: the experience we have acquired has allowed us to organize materials, the dates and areas in an increasingly professional way. This is also due to the participation of top level technical and artistic partners such as Clay Paky”, reflected Paolo Baruzzo, Radio Birikina and Radio Bella & Monella coordinator, in addition to being the Festival show mainstay.
The event also has its humanitarian side. Space was dedicated every evening and in all of the communication to the Padua City of Hope, an important centre for children suffering from leukemia. 29,390.30 Euros were donated spontaneously by the public in the Foundation’s name during the Festival show’s 13 dates.
And so a summer of music, exhibitions, entertainment and socialization was brought to an end. The organizers are already at work on the fifth edition of a show that has become the centre of attention for not only for its numerous spectators but also for the entire Italian record industry.