Denmark – Somehow, the word “chaos” invariably pops up when critics write about the Distortion Festival, a freewheeling celebration that happily mashes techno, house, trance, hip-hip and various other genres into a single head-spinning experience. This “chaos” spreads rapidly, starting out as a street party in the hip Nørrebro neighborhood and then winding its way through the city over the next five days.
“Chaos” though isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just ask the over 100,000 people who have attended the Distortion Festival every year since it started in 1998 as an “experimental mobile festival.” Roaming the city soaking in the music, the people and the unpredictable (but captivating!) vibe, they love every minute of this event.
Contributing to the atmosphere in recent years are stage and lighting designs from Fiction Factory. Like the festival itself, theses designs are intense, edgy, highly original, and oh-so- easy to be swept up in.
Helping the Fiction Factory team, led by project manager/stage designer Timo Scholz, and lighting designer/operator Fabian Arat., was an impressive collection of CHAUVET Professional fixtures, including the Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash and Maverick Storm 1 Flex.
Running their powerful rig on a ChamSys MQ500M plus a Stadium Wing, the team created a flowing series of looks that transformed the festival’s stages, altering their apparent shapes, sizes and light angles. Indeed, backlighting was a key creative element in the lighting design. Fixtures positioned on the dancefloor were specifically used as backlight sources to create visual depth and temporarily obscure the space behind the audience.
Speaking of the Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash, Scholz and Arat agreed: “The fixture stood out particularly because of its IP65 rating, high output in a compact form factor, and very precise and versatile color mixing — both in saturated and pastel ranges. Within the rig, the fixture clearly distinguished itself. The units were positioned at low height on the outer gate structures of the dancefloor. This placement enabled precise beam applications just above the audience, while also allowing the fixtures to be used as blinders with an open zoom directed backward. Combined with haze, this created a clear spatial separation with strongly defined depth.”
For its part, the Maverick Storm 1 Flex was flown at profile light heights. On the gate structure. “Even in more complex looks involving gobos, color, and prism effects, the fixture maintained excellent punch and visibility,” said Arat. “Additionally, the Storm Flex was used for projections onto the circular set elements. The gobo selection enabled quick creation of varied textures. Its low weight also proved advantageous. The Storm Flex fixtures also demonstrated a strong presence in the indigo and blue spectrum.”
Due to the late sunset in Copenhagen, the tone of the festival’s lighting evolved each day. “The musical opening was designed to feel calmer and brighter,” noted Scholz. “As darkness increased, the show became significantly more energetic. This evolution was reflected in the lighting design: warm color temperatures, slow movements, and soft fades dominated the beginning, while later sections increasingly incorporated strobe effects, fast chases, and hard accents.”
Understandably with an event of this size and scope, producing the Distortion Festival as not without its challenges. A major one involved integrating and cabling around 400 E27 light sources across approximately 50 dimmer channels, all of which had to be individually tested and addressed. “The KNV lines were distributed over a large area, while infrastructure for cable runs and PSUs was limited,” said Scholz. “In addition, cladding the semi-circular truss gates with custom-made covers required a strictly sequenced installation process, as the covers could only be installed after the technical setup had been completed. It is worth highlighting the reliability and ease of use of the Chauvet fixtures, which allowed them to be integrated efficiently under these conditions.”
Although the production process involved challenges, it’s doubtful that many of the fans who filled Copenhagen for the event thought about them. They were too busy absorbing the experience that makes The Distortion Festival one of the most unique anywhere.
