Pioneer PRO AUDIO systems has enlivened Belgium’s Extrema Outdoor festival, one of Europe’s most popular electronic music events.
Pioneer took care of five of the stages, overseen by audio specialists FOL Sound, Light and Vision and KAGE Audio. This marked the first of a number of large-scale event partnerships this summer, and was one which saw loudspeakers from virtually every Pioneer PRO Audio range on show.
First staged in 1996, the Extrema Outdoor festival is one of Europe’s most popular electronic music events. Staged in the beautiful grounds of De Plas in Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium, the festival features seven stages on a site that includes deep forests, a clear lake with a beach, a campsite, and the luxurious Extrema Resort for those who prefer a glamping vibe. More than 150 artists appeared at the 2023 renewal which was attended by around 65,000 fans.
The Desperados stage hosted ‘house’ concepts from Glitterbox, Flow and Defected and saw a combination of 44 pieces from across the XY-Series (inc. 6 x flagship XY-3B) deployed for both front of house and monitoring. Versatility was key for this year’s remodelled Aperol Spritz area, where a combined total of 21 XY-Series loudspeakers (inc. 4 x XY-3B) were supplemented by 6 x CM-S56T-W surface mount units from the Pioneer PRO AUDIO commercial range, with a pair of XPRS122 powered loudspeakers for monitoring. Close to the festival entrance, the Funky Town stage comprised 18 various XY-Series units (Inc. 6 x XY-3B) and 4 x XPRS122 as monitors.
A new and unique ‘Silent Disco’ stage was added to Extrema Outdoor this year which saw an 8 x XY-81 system create a relaxed atmosphere at relatively low volume. Completing the Pioneer PRO AUDIO lineup in the Extrema Resort was a system comprising 4 x XY-81 in conjunction with 5 x CM-S56T-K (2 of which covered the shower area), with XPRS102 and XPRS1152S subs for monitoring.
Pioneer PRO AUDIO country manager for Belgium, Joeri Verholen reflects on a another successful Extrema Outdoor: “Patrick Topping, Eats Everything, Kölsch, Kevin De Vries and Peggy Gou were just some of the highlights we enjoyed across the five stages we were involved with, and both our partners FOL and KAGE did a fantastic job across the festival, designing and installing the systems for optimal performance. Loudspeakers from practically every range in our portfolio were on show, and we were particularly pleased to see how units from our CM-Series commercial audio range were used to optimise coverage in a couple of significant areas. They add an important level of flexibility and versatility that enables installers to design turnkey solutions for applications like this. We’re looking forward to powering many more major events around the world with Pioneer PRO AUDIO this summer.”
