Amsterdam Music Festival // The Art of Light

Amsterdam Music Festival arose in 2013, the year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of dance music in The Netherlands. Some of the world's biggest dance music artists were born in the Netherlands and as a Dutch originated company we are very proud of that. This brand new event was about to become huge and of course, The Art of Light was there right from the start. Every year we pitch lots of lighting ideas and we work together with the AMF team to make the event into a great success.

THE Dutch dance music festival

AMF takes place during the Amsterdam Dance Event: for five days, Amsterdam is home to the most upfront and influential gathering for global electronic music and its industry. AMF is the biggest dance event of them all and is famous for the super line-up. The greatest DJs attract an enthusiastic audience from all over the world. The DJ MAG top 100 award ceremony is also part of the festival, where AMF will honor the number 1 DJ of the year.

Amsterdam

The festival is inextricably linked to the Netherlands and in particular the city of Amsterdam. It is simply part of the identity. The logo of the city consists of three crosses, which you can recognize in the decor every year in a different way. This also applies to the colors of the Dutch flag: red, white and blue. For years now, Amsterdam Arena has been the festival location. This stadium is huge - big enough for 35.000 visitors. The perfect location for the biggest dance festival in the Netherlands, if you ask us.

Challenge

Every year it is a real challenge to make our creative ideas come true at the Amsterdam Arena, the venue of AMF. Because it is a football stadium, the grass inside can be covered for a maximum of 24 hours. During the built, the roof stays open to secure the quality of the grass. This means we have to be creative and play all kinds of tricks to transform the huge venue into an interesting nightclub with an intimate atmosphere. To achieve the right sense of space, we use specific methods to light the ceiling, making the space feel smaller.

The real challenge comes down to lots of prepping and planning, in order to build the whole festival in such a short time. Almost every DJ brings in their own lighting and sound professionals and it’s our job to bring it all together. To make this possible, we built our own temporary studio at the location. With many years of experience we are comfortable with improvising and last minute changes. We will make it work!

Result

Dutch people are known to be very down to earth. This certainly applies to us, but also to the visitors of festivals. Amsterdam Music Festival is one of our favorite festivals to work at, because of the enthusiastic and international crowd. This is a festival where visitors will run to the stage from the very first minute and that level of energy is contagious. We really love to transform a big empty hall into an unique experience with smacking lighting effects. Every year it’s a big challenge and a lot of hard work - but we are enjoying every minute of it.