Õllesummer Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, is one of the biggest beer festivals staged in the Baltics and originally ran annually from the 1990s until 2018, returning in 2024 after a five-year hiatus, since when it’s been more popular than ever. The sunny 2026 event again took place at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, featuring approximately 100 artists, attracting over 100,000 visitors over 4 joyous days of great vibes and superlative performances for music lovers of all ages and tastes.
E&T Valgus was the lighting production rental company, and they supplied six stages with equipment, choosing to deploy Robe moving lights on the five largest ones for maximum impact.
This included 32 of Robe’s new IP65 rated GigaPointe white phosphor laser source multifunctional luminaires … that amazed and awed all playing and watching the Main Stage.
The production lighting design for each stage was created by E&T’s Olev Luhaȁȁr and Artur Soo, and based on artist riders, plus what their pool of experience judged would be the best and most appropriate lighting options for a broad array of artists from all genres.
The main stage structure was 13 meters wide by 10 meters deep, and all the GigaPointes were on this stage. “We wanted to ensure all bands had plenty of capacity to present spectacular, individual and different lightshows, and so GigaPointe was a perfect choice,” stated Olev.
The GigaPointes had recently arrived in E&T’s rental stock, and this was only their second show. Of the 32 on the Main Stage, 20 were rigged on the over-stage trusses and 12 were positioned upstage on the floor.
Olev explained that they were originally asked to put MegaPointes on the event, but when they realized the GigaPointes would be delivered in time, it made sense to swap these out for the newer wonder-fixture!
Out of the 13 Main Stage artists, four brought their own LDs, so the remaining nine acts were operated by Artur from E&T, a very tight and demanding schedule as the house LD, which also gave him the “perfect opportunity to realize the potential of these GigaPointes.”
Artur commented that both he and the guest LDs were able to get everything they needed covered with the GigaPointes and that “the huge amount” of awesome main stage action photos appearing on SoMe across the weekend … “spoke for themselves.”
“GigaPointes proved very reliable, and they are a super cool luminaire,” noted Olev. Alexandru Gheo, LD for headliner Romanian singer / songwriter / superstar Inna – whose sizzling hot set delighted and dazzled fans – was also super excited to be using GigaPointes.
“The GigaPointes were absolutely amazing,” he declared, adding that it was “unbelievable” how they performed, especially in the daylight, as was the case for most of the acts performing.
“In spite of the strong daylight, they cut through beautifully and looked amazing for Inna’s show – it was honestly one of our best shows in terms of lighting.” He notes that for a laser source light the white is “truly and properly white.”
He used the GigaPointes primarily in two ways, firstly as a regular spot / beam luminaire, and secondly as rear contra-lighting for Inna, whose energy burst off the stage and out into the audience with the help of Alexandru’s vibrant lightshow. “They did an outstanding job for both of these applications.”
He loved the prism effect – among others – commenting that he has never used a prism effect so much before, and especially not in a near-daylight show, but here the effects could clearly be seen.
He concluded decisively, “I have just found my new favorite hybrid fixture!”
Also on the main stage were 2 x Robe FORTES fitted with the HCF (High Colour Fidelity) LED TE (TRANSFERABLE ENGINE) modules, rigged on the front truss and running on 2 x RoboSpot systems positioned at FOH. These were used for all the follow spotting and specials, chosen for their great CRI, flesh tones and excellent on-camera appearance for the IMAG mix and streaming.
Additionally on the main stage were 20 x Robe LEDBeam 350s, positioned on the upstage trusses and on the floor – their handy small size making them ideal powerful filler beams that could also function as extra wash lighting when needed.
Last but not least on the main stage were 12 trusty MMX WashBeams, all on the front truss. The MMX WashBeam is an older Robe fixture still going strong and absolutely loved in certain parts of the world, including the Baltics and the Balkans! They have proved exceedingly good value for E&T over the years.
Olev commented that Robe moving lights are a great rental solution for festival environments for their “adaptability, reliability and robustness,” underlining Alexandru’s comments about providing excellent quality of light for all those artists appearing in daylight, which is long during Estonia’s glorious summer months, when good lighting for camera is as essential as during the evenings!
Around the other stages, the Koff Stage – named after the Finnish beer – featured 12 x Robe MegaPointes, 16 x LEDWash 800s and 12 x CycFX8 moving LED battens; The Rock stage rocked with 12 x LEDBeam 350s and 12 x Pointes; The Saku Stage – honoring Estonia’s oldest and largest brewery, established in 1820 – shimmered with 8 x LEDBeam 350s and 8 x LEDBeam 150s; while the Youth Stage was energized with 8 x LEDBeam 150s, 4 x Spikies and 8 x iParFects.
The E&T team started planning for the event in May, when it was confirmed that they won the lighting contract for production company LOUD'N LIVE PROMOTIONS ESTONIA Ltd., and the site build commenced a week before the show days, where their 15 technicians worked hard and diligently to help deliver a highly successful event that looked amazing!
Photos are by Karli Saul + Kevin Markus Kukk courtesy Ollesummer Festival