For performing arts lovers everywhere Portugal is the place to be this summer, with an array of festivals and events taking place right through until September. The hectic programme of dance, music and drama has become a must tour stop for some of the world’s most prestigious performing arts companies.

The world heritage village of Sintra is considered to be one of the country’s hottest tourists spots for those seeking culture, with much of this accolade owing to its annual festival, Festival de Sintra. Hosting a variety of performances from Opera through to Ballet the two-month long celebrations take place in every conceivable venue from theatres right through to its churches and parks.

The annual success of this festival has seen a number of new builds take place in the small village, the Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval (CCOC) being one of the more recent. Stage Technologies teamed up with Tyco Integrated Systems to provide the theatre with a complete flying system earlier this year. This solution has allowed CCOC to cater for the demanding production needs its diverse year round schedule now requires.

Stage Technologies provided 68 axes of control for the venue controlled by the multi-user automation control consoles – Nomad.

Sales and Marketing Director John Hastie, who unfortunately has not had time to join the festivities owing to their hectic schedule in Hong Kong at the moment, commented “Having an extensive global network of partners such as Tyco, with whom we have worked closely with for some time now allows us to offer venues of all sizes around the world the most technically advanced solution possible. Until now in many places around the world power flying systems have been out of reach for the budgets of relatively small theatres. This is no longer the case as systems standardise they are now available to venues large and small.”