NOVA Light Labs shaped 7 years of light for Summer Meltdown, the Pacific Northwest's beloved music and camping festival.

Summer Meltdown grew into a legend of the Pacific Northwest. Music beneath Whitehorse Mountain. The festival filled a forest in Darrington, Washington each August, and it wanted nights that lived up to the place.

NOVA answered every summer from 2013 to 2019. Stage lighting design, projection mapping, and interactive art returned each year in new forms. The light became tradition.

Days down by the river in the trees gave way to nights of light, music, and celebration that ran until the late hours.

Guests camped among the firs and swam the river by day. After dark the Late Night Tent pulled the crowd in, walls of light moving with the music deep into the night.

Down among the trees The Sensatorium glowed. Inside the 30 foot dome, guests played a light up piano, shaped interactive artworks with their hands, and stood beneath a ceiling of projected light.

Dance parties broke out unplanned and become the stuff of legend.

“NOVA Light Labs consistently transformed our festival with immersive, innovative design. Clear, professional, and a pleasure to work with.”

Genevieve H.
Producer
Summer Meltdown

The Late Night Tent became a proving ground where NOVA debuted custom fixtures and rebuilt the stage design every year.

The legendary CUBIX Cubes and TUBIX LED Bars debuted here. NOVA developed both fixtures in the studio and built them into new stage lighting designs each summer, arranged fresh for every lineup.

Not a single year was the same and the looks were elevated each time.

Full production of stage lighting, projection mapping, and interactive installations across the largest electronic stage at the festival.

The run spanned 7 years. NOVA delivered full production across the Darrington Bluegrass Music Park in Washington: stage lighting design for the Late Night Tent, immersive projection mapping, and interactive installations sited through the grounds. Every system was rigged, run, and struck on festival schedule.

The Sensatorium ran as a self contained system. A 30 foot geodesic dome housed interior projection mapping, sensor driven interactive artworks, and live performance infrastructure at its center.