Hulaween
Madison House
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Preserving the legacy of Suwannee Hulaween with The String Cheese Incident
In 2023, the annual Suwannee Hulaween music festival celebrated its 10th year of existence. Headlined and hosted by The String Cheese Incident, the Halloween-themed festival featured a collection of world-famous artists including The Trey Anastasio Band, Pretty Lights, and Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade. PHNTM ran production for the festival’s main stage for the third consecutive year and likewise produced String Cheese’s hour-long Shebang: a themed, all-out spectacle & celebration.
Challenge
In addition to helming production & lighting design for Hulaween’s main stage, PHNTM served as creative directors and producers for The String Cheese Incident and their hour-long Halloween Shebang spectacular. The task was twinfold: create captivating content, visual and lighting design that worked for all performers on the main stage, and develop an unforgettable live entertainment experience for String Cheese and their fans.
Concept
PHNTM worked to curate a lighthearted festival experience and party environment that wowed audiences with dazzling visuals and breathtaking surprise moments. Based around the theme of a full-moon family gathering, PHNTM incorporated scene-stealing theatrical elements into String Cheese’s performance. Giant puppets, werewolf costumes, pyrotechnics, and a menagerie of moon-inspired inflatables elevated the evenings’ festivities to new heights.
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Solution
PHNTM’s in-house 3D artists developed custom video content featuring a haunted bayou-based mansion. To infuse The Shebang with a flair of theatrical artistry, PHNTM turned to the Connecticut-based puppeteer and fabricator Anne Cubberly. Seven 15-foot puppets wowed crowds. To create the mood of a vibrant outdoor disco hall, PHNTM placed 6 ribbon lifts throughout the venue, lifting both lights and disco balls high into the air. Finally, eye-popping pyrotechnics and fireworks were developed in partnership with JDLFX.
Result
The String Cheese Incident played to a crowd of 20,000 at a sold-out festival its fans won’t soon forget. PHNTM saw Suwannee Hulaween transformed into a psychedelic piece of living art that brought Halloween joy to hordes of String Cheese fans and concert-goers alike.
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