In March 2009 Mandylights’ designer Richard Neville was once again charged with the task of designing the entire party site for the Mardi Gras party - the largest gay and lesbian dance party in the world. Working with the Nations United theme of the festival, Richard's designs for the five rooms reflected the international theme of the party and scenic items found around the site. Richard chose to use a purely VariLite moving light rig for the main venue - Royal Hall of Industries (RHI) - which looked spectacular for all ten hours of the party. VariLite luminaires are distributed by Jands .
The venue took on the theme of "It's a gay world after all," complete with elaborate set and giant rotating techni colour globe in the centre of the space. The RHI's lighting design took a different turn this year, with Richard choosing to lower the trim height of all the trusses to create a less cavernous atmosphere and more intense space.
Richard used 24 VL3000s for the profiles, 24 VL2500 for the washes and 12 VL5s on the stage. The VL2500 luminaires can zoom down to 18.5° to provide a really strong beam of light. With the VL3000, there is not a better spot fixture out there in terms of gobo selection and output. They work in any situation from theatre to dance parties. They have a good stock of gobos that work incredibly well and the irises are fast.
The VL5s were located on the stage where a big, tungsten back light look was required. A dozen were placed at the back of the set which had holes cut into it so that the VL5s could poke through. This was also made possible by mounting the VL5s on custom made mounting brackets. Richard used a further 6 VL3000 profiles in the Byron Kennedy Hall.