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Photo credit: Matt Eachus

Sennheiser helps Arcadia host breath-taking performances during Glastonbury 2024
Evolution Wireless Digital provides excellent MC audio at Arcadia’s Dragonfly Stage

Marlow, UK, July 2024 – This year’s Glastonbury festival saw performance art collective
Arcadia Spectacular inaugurate the sensational Dragonfly Stage, featuring a giant metal
insect built from a former navy helicopter and repurposed machinery. Founded by creativeengineers Bert Cole and Pip Rush, Arcadia debuted at Glastonbury in 2007, and has been
given a permanent area since 2014. Supporting music festivals and cultural events aroundthe globe, the collective hosts the world’s biggest DJs to its oldest indigenous
communities, and draws talent from across the arts, theatre, and circus disciplines.
Supporting the visual spectacle was Sennheiser’s Evolution Wireless Digital EW-DX
system, delivering crystal-clear, detailed sound for the Dragonfly Stage.

Arcadia’s spectacular Dragonfly
Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2024
Photo credit: Matt Eachus

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Kevin Gwyther-Brown, Sennheiser’s Business Development Manager, has always beenfascinated by Arcadia’s extravagant shows and met Cole earlier this year. “When Glastonbury
was approaching, Bert reached out to see if Sennheiser was interested in supporting Arcadia’s
new project. We definitely were! He then introduced me to Jacob [Kuenzler-Byrt, Deputy
Technical Manager at Arcadia], at which point I also involved Marcus [Blight, TechnicalApplication Engineer at Sennheiser] for additional support,” says Gwyther-Brown.

Faciliated by AF Live, Arcadia’s
rental partner, Sennheiser
provided a total of four channelsof its EW-DX system with MM 445
capsules, and six channels of2000 series IEMs
Photo credit: Matt Eachus

The stage design included MCs on podiums, requiring a large RF coverage area. Sennheiser
based the specifications around this, giving Arcadia full coverage across their area within theGlastonbury festival site. The MM 445 capsules were chosen because there was a potentialthat the microphones would be used in front of the main PA. “The biggest challenge wasgetting coverage for both in-ears and microphones across such a large area,” Gwyther-Brownexplains.

Working with Arcadia’s rental partner, AF Live, the team provided a total of four channels ofEW-DX with MM 445 capsules, and six channels of the 2000 series IEM, which was used forMC foldback and monitoring.

Blight specified and prepared the equipment to be deployed by AF Live. “EW-DX offers
uncompromised audio quality, ease of setup, and a small form factor. Battery run time was akey factor, given how long Arcadia runs through each day and night of the festival. The highinput dynamic range of the handhelds ensured that any loud MC would not overload thetransmitters, avoiding the need to set transmitter sensitivity, which would be required withlegacy systems,” says Blight. “Additionally, Sennheiser’s MM 445 dynamic capsule allows forPRESS RELEASE
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the highest sound source inputs whilst providing incredible feedback rejection. It perfectly
captures vocal details, making each performance even more enveloping.”

The Sennheiser microphone and in-ear systems and antennas in the converted helicopter (Photo credit: MattEachus)

AF Live’s Director, Paul Rose, expresses his gratitude for Sennheiser’s support on the newArcadia Dragonfly project, stating, “It was great to have Sennheiser with us this year. It’s acomplex setup with the mics being situated in the middle of the soundfield and inside theDragonfly’s head itself. We have stocked Sennheiser products for years, and the EW-DX,
combined with MM 445 capsules, delivered excellent performance with good vocal clarity
across the arena. The EW-DX system was complemented by 2000 Series IEMs, offering clear
monitoring for the artists performing within the spectacular structure,” he says.

“Sennheiser has been massively supportive of the Dragonfly Stage,” says Kuenzler-Byrt. “Theyprovided us with expert advice and high-quality RF equipment. It’s an incredibly loudenvironment inside the Dragonfly’s head, and we were all very impressed by EW-DX with theMM 445 capsules. It provided excellent rejection while maintaining high audio quality.”PRESS RELEASE
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Arcadia's range of recycled stages
create unique sculpted
environments for crowds of up to50,000 and host the world’s finest
DJs and musicians
Photo credit: Matt Eachus“Working with Arcadia and AF Live exemplifies the power of collaboration,” Gwyther-Brown
notes. “Such partnerships are crucial in pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in liveperformances.”

Bert Cole, Director & Co-founder of Arcadia Spectacular, echoes Gwyther-Brown’s sentiments
and concludes: “We were really grateful for the support from Sennheiser on thisgroundbreaking project, the technology really enabled us to push the boundaries!”

Jacob Kuenzler-Byrt, Deputy
Technical Manager at Arcadia:“It's an incredibly loudenvironment inside theDragonfly's head, and we were allvery impressed by EW-DX withthe MM 445 capsules. It provided
excellent rejection while
maintaining high audio quality.”
Photo credit: Matt Eachus(Ends)

The high-resolution images accompanying this media release can be downloaded here.

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About the Sennheiser brandWe live and breathe audio. We are driven by the passion to create audio solutions that make adifference. Building the future of audio and bringing remarkable sound experiences to ourcustomers – this is what the Sennheiser brand has represented for more than 75 years. While
professional audio solutions such as microphones, meeting solutions, streaming technologies
and monitoring systems are part of the business of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG, thebusiness with consumer devices such as headphones, soundbars and speech-enhanced
hearables is operated by Sonova Holding AG under the license of Sennheiser.
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Local Press Contact
Maik Robbe
Maik.Robbe@sennheiser.com+49 (0) 5130 / 600 1028