“Scream,” the iconic and towering 205’ high free-fall ride, wasn’t the only thing pumping up the adrenalin at Six Flags theme park early this March. More than 12,000 music fans braved inclement weather to experience an equally thrilling rush the on March 3rd and 4th, when they took in electrifying performances by the Deftones, Logic, 2018 Grammy winner Alessia Cara, Machine Gun Kelly and other stars at the inaugural Botánica Festival.

As befits an event with dynamic stars held at a world-famous theme park, the new Botánica Festival served up an array of eye-popping visuals, courtesy of the stunning lightshows on its Lone Star and Picnic Grove stages. In addition to running many of those shows, Showtime Sound LLC put together the power-packed rigs on both stages, relying heavily on a collection of CHAUVET Professional fixtures.

“Being that this was the first Botánica, we wanted to create something especially memorable,” said Brett Angstadt, Showtime Sound Project Manager. “Our team: Zack Bunner, Lead Tech; Aaron Kovelman, Lone Star Stage LD; Michael Petrecca, Picnic Grove Stage LD; and Richard Rothermel, ME, worked wonders with Production Manager Tim Conder. We created two rigs that were flexible enough to allow visiting LDs to achieve their vision, yet powerful enough to have a big impact.”

Collectively, the two rigs included 32 Rogue R2 Washes, eight STRIKE 4 multi-formatted fixtures and 12 Geyser RGB foggers. “We called on the Rogues to provide colorful washes on both stages as well as effects,” said Angstadt. “The zoom feature of the Rogues helped us change looks throughout the festival, and their speed kept up the intensity level.”

All but four of the Rogue R2 Washes on the Lone Star Stage were flown on a U-shape truss configuration positioned upstage with arms extended stage left and right. The remaining four units were flown on downstage truss. On the Picnic Grove Stage, the 20 Rogue units were positioned on upstage, downstage and midstage truss to provide complete wash coverage.

“The output of the Rogues was excellent,” said Angstadt. “Their brightness came through even during daylight hours and made for some intense looks at night.”

Also adding impact to the lightshow on the Lone Star Stage were the STRIKE 4 units, which were flown upstage and downstage. “It was impossible to not be impressed by the STRIKE fixtures,” said Angstadt. “When we had light from the STRIKE 4s and the Rogues play off against the fog from the Geysers, we got some very immersive looks. People were impressed!”

Impressing visitors was extra important at the Botánica Festival, which was started by two local technology executives wanting to give San Antonio the kind of cool swagger image that attracts young people, in much the same way that its neighbor to the north, Austin, has become a hip hotspot.

Based on the response to the music and lights at Six Flags recently, the Botánica Festival was an extraordinarily good first step in this direction.

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