UK – Clay Paky’s industry-leading beam light, the Sharpy, has proved the ideal festival lighting tool on ‘The Great Stage’ at Secret Garden Party (SGP), one of the UK’s most popular independent arts and music festivals.
This year’s SGP saw over 30,000 revellers hit Mill Hill Field in Cambridgeshire for a long weekend of festivities ranging from performances by big name music acts such as Angus and Julia Stone to theatre workshops and boat rides.
London-based event supplier Colour Sound Experiment was responsible for kitting out the festival with the perfect technical package, under the direction of Jonathan Ricketts, Head of Lighting for SGP’s production team, The Dark Horses.
Choosing 18 of the award-winning Clay Paky fixture, Ricketts knew the Sharpys would be ideal for the numerous designers making use of the main stage’s rig over the four days.
“The Sharpys were put on the main stage as they are often specified by the incoming LDs,” Ricketts explains. “As it’s a quick festival turnaround, the designers don’t often have much programming time so need fixtures they can trust to deliver their shows. In addition, the look I wanted this year was for beams to be firing up into the sky all over site, which the Sharpy is obviously ideal for.”
The Sharpy is a 189W moving beam light with a brightness usually only achievable with fixtures of a much higher wattage. Its 19kg weight yet incredible output makes it ideal for live events such as festivals. Ricketts spread the Sharpys in different truss positions at The Great Stage, rigging six on the mid truss, six on the back truss and six on the floor.
“Features-wise, I just love the unbeatable beam you get out of the Sharpy,” says Ricketts. “The punch is incredible and far-reaching, and I love the prism effect. They are also extremely reliable, working perfectly throughout the festival.”