Preparations at Parc Jean-Drapeau ramp up for back-to-back festivals, starting with Osheaga
Parc Jean-Drapeau has been busy for the past two weeks as teams set up a series of stages.
Over the next three weeks, major concerts will be happening at the site, starting with Osheaga Music and Arts Festival this weekend.
The behind-the-scenes stars have been working hard for weeks before the tour buses arrive. After designing it all, the Solotech team builds the many stages on-site.
The Montreal-based entertainment company has 2,500 employees and creates concert experiences around the world. Solotech says it prides itself on taking an artist's vision and turning it into an onstage reality.
"We have all the people put together in a room and design exactly what the artist is looking for," said Caroline Martel, Solotech's vice president of operations.
Before show time, everything is packed into trucks according to the order of appearance for set-up on the concert site.
The key in a business like this is logistics, working under a quick turnaround time and coordinating many moving parts into one master plan.
The Solotech wizards work all night when trouble-shooting needs to happen.
"It happens that during the show, something breaks, we have to find a solution during the night and the day after we bring the new stuff to change it," explains Stany Blanchette, Solotech's shop manager.
The fan experience is central to the company's success, says Martel, adding that new technology is changing the game.
"We're used to the traditional way to deliver a festival, but more and more, we've invested a lot in technology, and we can think about augmented reality, immersive environments, so we're trying to combine these new technologies with the traditional way to attend an event."
After Osheaga, Guns and Roses will perform at Parc Jean-Drapeau on August 8. That's followed by ILESONIQ EDM Festival (Aug. 12 and 13) and LASSO country music festival (Aug. 18 and 19).
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