Claypaky Fixtures Shine for Canary Islands Carnival Gala

Every year the Canary Islands host one of the most spectacular carnivals in the world, and 2019 was no exception.  Approximately 600,000 people attended Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s carnival this year, which had “A Night in Rio” theme.  The Drag Queen Gala event, following the traditional carnival festivities, utilized a large complement of Claypaky fixtures to fill the stage with light and color.  Stonex is the official distributor of Claypaky lighting in Spain. 

“The Drag Queen Gala is seen everywhere in the world by large audiences,” says Lighting and Technical Director Jonay Diaz, who is a partner in RGB Canarias S. Coop.  “This is reason enough to be careful when choosing lighting equipment.”  

Diaz selected 30 Claypaky Mythos, 16 Super Sharpy 2s, 16 Sharpys, 30 A.leda B-EYE K20s, 20 Claypaky A-leda B-EYE K10s and 16 Stormy CCs for the 21 shows that took place on the gala’s main stage.  Jacinto Cabrera and Iban Negrin operated the grandMA2 lighting console.

Diaz opted to use LED moving heads this year citing their performance, low power consumption and greater creative possibilities.  “LED devices give us better image quality, especially on TV, by eliminating hotspots almost completely,” he says.  

As an operator and programmer Diaz says he looks for lighting instruments that are “100 percent reliable: I want everything to be seen during the show as I programmed it.”  As a designer he also looks for “fixtures that are very versatile and compact since we do not always have a lot of space.  Again, Claypaky fixtures filled the bill on all of these points.” 

GAM Eventos was the lighting vendor for the gala. 

The official distributor of Claypaky lighting in Spain, Stonex has over 39 years of experience offering comprehensive solutions for the entertainment, architecture and emergency lighting sectors.  The company provides design, equipment supply, installation and maintenance of scenic equipment and premium lighting.