Illinois-based LEC Event Technology, Inc. deployed 142 Claypaky Ultimo Sharpys for the Niteharts Festival, held October 11–12, 2025 on the grounds outside San Diego's Snapdragon Stadium. LEC handled all lighting, rigging, and video elements for the festival's main stage, with their team drafting and engineering fully integrated equipment solutions alongside other production disciplines. The festival's visual world was conceived by Bending Lite Productions' Erik Mahowald and Daniel Ostroff, with technical rendering and integration support from Joshua Gregoire, and lighting programming handled by Aaron Attarzadeh, Jaycob Luque, and Jake Hett.
Presented and curated by San Diego-based artists ISOxo and Knock2, the Niteharts Festival is a music event built around the fusion of high-energy performances and immersive, oversized stage design. Beyond the spectacle of nightfall performances, art installations and unexpected pop-up moments transformed the stadium grounds into an interactive landscape for attendees to discover and explore.
"The massive angled lighting trusses were the hardest production element to figure out on this show," says Nick Maty, LEC's Managing Partner. Each truss was individually engineered to prevent structural failure in both the Tyler Truss GT and 20.5 x 20.5 TMAX systems. Depending on configuration, trusses were flown with either one or two motors, with custom swivel rigging points incorporated at mid-span. Adding another layer of complexity, cranes were brought in to lift large-scale production elements — including a custom scenic logo piece wrapped in neon tape and lighting fixtures, and a 3D truss cube lined with fixtures and faced with blow-through Absen video tiles. "This project was easily the most complex of the year for me," Maty adds.
LEC invested hundreds of hours in pre-production drafting, shop preparation, and on-site execution, with a full team dedicated to problem-solving and build-out. The company worked closely with Clark Reder Engineering and Entertainment Engineering Consultants to ensure smooth load-in and load-out operations. To streamline the on-site process, Ultimo Sharpys were pre-rigged in the shop onto Tyler Truss GT, eliminating the need to hang moving lights during the event build.
"The Ultimo Sharpys were one of the centerpieces of the design for this event," Maty explains. With IP-rated performance a non-negotiable requirement — all 812 other fixtures on the show also carried IP ratings — the team needed a beam fixture that could weather outdoor conditions for nearly a week without issue. "We pride ourselves on zero gear failures, so having a 100 percent IP rig that could stay outdoors with no worries was very important."
The timing worked in LEC's favor. Maty notes that the Ultimo Sharpys had only just launched when the initial concept for the show came together, prompting the team to move quickly. The fixtures surpassed expectations across the board. Comparable in weight and footprint to the original Sharpys LEC had long relied on, the Ultimo Sharpys impressed both the LEC crew and every lighting designer on the project. The results were convincing enough that LEC has already committed to replacing their entire Sharpy inventory with Ultimo Sharpys in 2026.
About LEC
LEC is an event technology group focused on systems design and superior service to meet the ever-evolving needs of the entertainment industry. With a reputation for reliability and creative problem solving, LEC supports many of the largest shows & events across North America. By combining cutting edge technology with an experienced and driven team, LEC helps clients deliver flawless and impactful experiences. Founded in 2016 and rapidly expanding, LEC aims to make the process behind putting on any event as seamless as possible.