UK - As 2025’s UK City of Culture, Bradford is playing host to an extensive programme of events in the arts and entertainment field, and has invested in a number of innovative creative spaces to provide opportunities for people to engage with cultural events.
One of the most versatile is The Beacon, a custom-made mobile venue, which is being constructed, dismantled and moved between four different parks across the 141 sq.mile district. A full schedule of events at each site includes weekday shows and weekend festivals, featuring music, comedy, clubs, classes, family activities and more.
Bradford-based specialist Pro Audio Systems (PAS) was engaged to supply and install the venue’s technical requirements, including a robust and flexible lighting system from Chauvet Professional, which could cater for the wide-ranging demands of the venue’s ambitious programme.
Having a maximum capacity of 300 for standing gigs, The Beacon is used at each site in a number of different orientations to accommodate its extremely busy and diverse programme. Layouts for cabaret, in-the-round, end-on, and even a central catwalk, were all required.
The PAS team collaborated closely with Bradford 2025 venue technical manager Sam McCarthy Robinson, who designed the system to ensure optimal coverage and flexibility. Graham Barron, Chauvet Professional business development manager, UK North, was on hand to provide support and advice.
Lighting throughout is by Chauvet Professional, with more than 75 fixtures deployed from the Colorado, Maverick, and Rogue families. Control data is distributed via two Net-X II Ethernet to DMX Nodes and two RDMX Splitter 8. An Amhaze ECO haze machine was also installed to enhance a variety of productions.
Sam McCarthy Robinson comments: “The lighting rig at The Beacon needs to be incredibly versatile - it has to handle everything from theatre to live music to community events, often back-to-back, and without the luxury of time for constant re-rigs. With the packed programme planned for Bradford 2025, flexibility was essential.
“The Rogue range, in particular, has been a standout for us. The Rogue Outcast 2 Hybrid and Rogue R2X Wash units can quickly pivot from creating sharp, theatrical spot looks to delivering rich, immersive atmospherics or high-energy, dynamic effects for gigs. They’re essentially doing the work of multiple fixtures in one. Importantly, the fixtures strike the right balance between output and weight - a critical consideration in a venue like The Beacon, where there are structural load limitations. Chauvet’s kit has allowed us to design a rig that’s both robust and responsive - capable of handling the creative and technical demands of a truly multifaceted venue.”
Chauvet Professional’s Graham Barron adds: “The demands of this venue meant that the fixture choice had to match the varied use of the space, so a selection of floods, profiles and moving lights was a perfect solution. Maverick Force 2 Profiles deliver the drama, focus and key lighting to add to the overall backdrop of utility and colour lighting provided by the Colorado 72X linear units and Colorado 1QS wash lights.’’
