Riedel Communications has significantly expanded its deployment at the Bregenz Music Festival, building on previous years of collaboration with the Austrian event, which now utilises the manufacturer’s communications and media distribution technologies across multiple departments to support its open-air opera productions on the lake stage.
The festival is now using over 60 Bolero beltpacks, more than 20 antennas, five Artist frames (including 1024, 128, 64, and two 32-port frames), and a comprehensive MediorNet video distribution system. The deployment is managed by the festival’s in-house sound department.
The Bregenz Festival stages performances on a lake stage with seating for 6,700 guests, aiming to replicate the acoustics of an opera house in an outdoor environment. For its production of Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber, the sound team installed 400 loudspeakers and 24 subwoofers, supported by advanced mixing consoles and directional audio systems.
The Artist intercom system is designed to provide flexible IP-based communication, whilst MediorNet is designed to facilitate real-time video distribution, including conductor-to-singer visual links and dynamic multiview configurations. Riedel says these technologies enable the festival to maintain communication across departments and ensure audio-visual transmission between performers and conductors, with support for simultaneous rehearsals and events.
The festival plans to continue scaling its Riedel systems to support increasingly complex productions and enhance operational efficiency across its venues.
PKE served as the system integrator, implementing Riedel’s media and communications infrastructure within the festival’s stage management system, which was also supplied and installed by PKE.
Clemens Wannemacher, head of sound for the Bregenz Festival, said: “Riedel’s technology has become absolutely essential to our operations. Every department, from lighting and stage management to props, relies on Bolero for clear, reliable communication. The Artist system gives us the flexibility we need to manage complex routing across multiple teams, and MediorNet has transformed how we handle video distribution.”
Christoph Thalinger, sales manager Austria at Riedel Communications, added: “We’re proud to see our technologies play such a central role in enabling the festival’s creative vision. The integration of Bolero, Artist, and MediorNet not only enhances operational efficiency but also empowers the team to deliver breathtaking experiences to audiences.”
