In the summer of 2025, the Matterley Estate in the South Downs National Park near Winchester, England, was transformed into a fictional city with eight themed districts, over 50 hidden venues and twelve main stages. The Boomtown Festival is certainly one of the most extraordinary open-air festivals in Europe and once again impressed this year with a top-class line-up and its unique combination of music, theatre and visual art. The extraordinary stage and lighting designs always make a huge contribution to the magic of Boomtown. The British event technology service provider GLS Lighting was once again responsible for the realisation on several main stages this year – with a clear focus on lights from Cameo.
For the Grand Central Stage, account and project manager Wil Gregory created a setup that could be harmoniously integrated into the spectacular stage architecture with its handmade backdrops by the London design studio Brutal. “We wanted to optimise the iconic set design of Brutal – not compete with it,” explains Wil Gregory. Cameo ORON H2 IP65 hybrid phosphor laser moving heads and OTOS W6 IP65 wash moving heads were used, which were distributed by Wil Gregory across the centre stage and above the LED screens. “The ORON H2s produce incredibly focused beams and cut through the night sky like a laser. In addition, the OTOS W6 not only deliver rich colours and powerful washes, but also bring additional movement and depth to the overall design with their eye-candy effects.”
Compared to the Grand Central Stage, the Engine House Stage had a denser, more club-like design. Here, Wil Gregory focused on a combination of versatility and performance in the form of the Cameo OTOS H5 IP65 beam-spot-wash hybrid moving heads, ZENIT W600 SMD Outdoor SMD-LED wash lights and OTOS W3 IP65 wash moving heads, which were used as backlights, frontlights and effect lights.
“For me, the OTOS H5 is like a Swiss army knife: beam, spot and wash in one, fast, precise and reliable,” confirms Gregory. “With the OTOS W3, we were able to realise very compact yet powerful wash effects – ideal for the club atmosphere of the Engine House Stage.” The ZENIT W600 SMDs were used specifically for atmospheric area lighting and provided uniform illumination in rich colours. Crew Chief Josh Utteridge from GLS Lighting was also delighted with the long-running lights: “The ZENIT W600s are extremely robust, bright and versatile – simply great. They can be positioned perfectly and work exactly as we need them to.”
Another highlight for the team was the logistical efficiency of the Cameo lights. Thanks to their compact design and well-thought-out construction, all devices could be easily mounted on the truss elements, even at challenging angles – be it with risers or in narrow areas. “We had to get creative with many positions – and that’s where Cameo gave us the flexibility we needed,” emphasises Wil Gregory. This was exemplified by the PA towers. In recent years, even larger quantities of conventional PAR fixtures have been used here. By using the Cameo FLAT PRO 7 G2 and FLAT PRO 12 G2 LED PARs with their high light output, the team was able to reduce the number of lights while maintaining the same visual impact.
