White Light returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this month, where it supplied the lighting and rigging equipment for all of the Gilded Balloon venues for the sixth year running.
Prior to the event, the White Light team worked closely with Gilded Balloon to decide what equipment should be used in each space.
Dan Last, White Light customer service key account manager, explained: “We work closely with Gilded Balloon across their five buildings: Teviot (nine spaces), The Museum (auditorium space), Old Tolbooth Market (three spaces), Rose Theatre (three spaces) and the newly-acquired Patter Hoose (five spaces). Our role is to ensure they are well-equipped and able to host a range of performances throughout the Festival.”
This year, Gilded Balloon took on a new venue – Patter Hoose – and this meant the technical set-up had to be created completely from scratch.
Having visited the venue back in January to get a feel for how the operation could work, the White Light team returned to Edinburgh in mid-July, two weeks before the Festival opened.
White Light stated: “They spent the first week working at Patter Hoose, building the truss structures, installing the lighting and ensuring the whole set-up worked efficiently. The following week they moved onto Teviot and the other three venues. With the Teviot having nine spaces, this meant that WL had to oversee a large install in a short amount of time. As a result, Gilded Balloon brought in a crew of 30 technicians who were overseen by WL’s Production Technician Thomas Tomkins.
Last added: “Once the second week finishes, the companies and technicians who will be there for the month start to arrive and tech their shows. As a result, we make sure we are on hand to offer them any guidance or assistant when using the equipment. This is something we also offer throughout the entire month.”
