In May 2021, a record-breaking new coaster opened at Walibi Belgium. Kondaa, which features the world’s first non-inverting cobra roll element and is the tallest and fastest coaster in the Benelux region, was first revealed at IAAPA Expo 2018 and was the culmination of a multi-year, €100 million plan to redesign and transform the park.
With a top speed of 70.2 mph (113.0 km/h), 15 airtime moments and detailed theming, the coaster brings new drama to the Belgian park, helped by the addition of colour projection and lighting from Highlite International, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of show equipment and a worldwide distributor of light and sound equipment.
To find out more about this project, as well as what Highlite International can bring to the attractions industry, blooloop spoke to Raymond Paes, Highlite’s export manager, and Mathieu Gistelinck, sales agent for the Benelux and France region and founder of lighting specialist Euroka.
Introducing Highlite
Highlite International’s mission is to empower the entertainment industry to achieve more. It is a full-range and full-service partner for audio, show light, professional light, stage effects, video display and stage solutions. Brands created by the company include Showtec, Infinity, DAP Audio, DMT, Arteca and Showgear. The company supplies products to over 80 countries with a workforce of over 150 people.
Introducing the company’s products, Paes says:
“Across all our brands and product ranges, we have solutions that could be of use to people in the attractions industry, including lighting and sound equipment. We have been working in the leisure industry for over 25 years, mostly through lighting designers that choose to use our products for their projects in theme parks, for example. So, a lot of times we don’t know where our products are being used until we learn from the client, or we walk into a park and see our lights in action!
“For this industry, we specialise in manufacturing and distributing lighting, audio-visual systems and special effect products.”
Kondaa & more: new investments at Walibi Belgium
Walibi Belgium is located in Wavre, near Brussels. In 2018 the park, and its parent company, Compagnie Des Alpes, launched a grand renovation program with a budget of €100 million to improve the visitor experience on a structural and thematic level and to further establish the park as the largest, most sensational Belgian amusement park for all ages.
Today, Walibi Belgium boasts a portfolio of 43 attractions for all ages and three different worlds: Exotic World, Karma World and Fun World.
“We have keen competitors,” said François Fassier, Compagnie des Alpes’ Director of Leisure Parks, speaking to blooloop in 2021. “But we stay with our strategy to retheme the complete park, add new product and improve the guest experience. This year we make a huge investment, more than €20 million.”
The vision of this master plan is to create a collection of unique worlds, each one an immersive experience through its theme, attractions, landscaping, restaurants and retail
New additions to the park since 2016 include a Mack Powersplash called Pulsar (which is also illuminated at night with Highlite products), the Gerstlauer Bobsled Coaster Tiki-Waka, and a Zierer family coaster called Fun Pilot. In addition, a new interactive dark ride called Popcorn Revenge has been added, from Alterface, a leader in interactive technology. Plus, the adjacent Aqualibi water park has undergone a Caribbean makeover.
Kondaa is the park’s biggest attraction yet, a mega coaster that forms the backdrop to a new themed area within Exotic World. It was manufactured for the park by Intamin, a creator of record-breaking amusement rides.
Kondaa: breaking records at Walibi Belgium
Kondaa is 50 metres tall with 1,200 metres of track and reaches a top speed of 113km/h. It also has 15 airtime moments – more than any other steel coaster in the world. Riders on the new coaster enjoy a mix of weightlessness, airtime, and multiple changes of direction.
Firstly, a 45-degree steep lift takes rides 50 metres above the ground before heading down into a side twisting drop with an 80-degree decline. Then, the first airtime hill is followed by a unique outward banked airtime hill and the world’s first non-inverting cobra roll.
Kondaa also features a speed airtime hill into a ground-hugging curve, leading to the world’s first wall stall with two seconds of weightlessness. Following this, the train switches direction for a 115-degree over-banked high-turn, and a further eight different elements, including the world’s first side banked double down. The experience culminates with a jump into the brake run and a 180-degree turn as it draws into the themed station. There are two fully themed trains, each seating 24 riders.
No other mega coaster in the world has as many ride elements or moments of airtime.
“According to legend, over 5,000 years ago, a fearsome creature emerged: Kondaa,” explains the publicity around the ride. “A towering monster from the bowels of the earth, sowing terror in its wake. But one day, an indigenous people found a way to tame it and took hold of its eggs. Today, we thought it extinct. But it’s back.”
Walibi & Highlite
With several products already in use at amusement parks across Europe, Highlite and Euroka were an ideal choice for the Kondaa project:
“The lighting designer already knew our products and had used Highlite products in different parks, so they knew that our products would be a good fit for this specific installation,” says Paes.
“Benefits include the high output power and the slim waterproof design of the fixtures, as well as the long product life span. Some of our products have been in use for years and years, and the operators can still rely on them.”
“We mainly used colour projectors for this project, such as LED with zoom, flood, washer and linear LED,” adds Gistelinck. “Products in use here include Highlite’s Showtec Spectral LED Par, Showtec Helix LED Washer, Showtec Chameleon LED Floodlight, and the Showtec Candela Pixel Bar range. We were able to satisfy our client with a turnkey result. We installed the equipment, in collaboration with Benjamin Piccin from Black Squares, a company located in Luxembourg.
“Walibi has been an existing customer of my company Euroka for about ten years, for general lighting. I have been an independent agent at Highlite since 2001; my role is to help customers to choose the right product, take care of price offers, and give product demonstrations.
“I introduced Highlite to Walibi, and so far, we have participated in and designed a lot of attraction projects with the park, as well as events such as Halloween. Walibi has become a real window for the brand, showcasing our know-how in amusement parks.”
A turnkey solution
When choosing a lighting supplier, price and reliability are key considerations, explains Gistelinck. This is why he was happy to recommend Highlite’s products for the Kondaa project at Walibi Belgium:
“I’ve always liked working with Highlite’s equipment; the products are really good quality, and the prices are attractive as well. That is important because we put a lot of light on the Kondaa coaster, and we needed to respect the budget.”
Another key benefit was Highlite’s ability to deliver the products quickly he adds, as the team had to work to a specific deadline.
“In the end, we were able to deliver a turnkey solution. It was important for Walibi to have only one person managing everything; I was able to work with Highlite and with Black Squares, coordinating everything from a central point. Black Squares was responsible for installing all the material in Walibi, and they also created the 3D design to ensure everything was in the right place and programmed the lighting and sound.
“The customer was really satisfied, and we are now working on a lot of new projects at Walibi Belgium.”
A full range of products
There are six main brands within Highlite International.
Firstly, Showtec is a range of reliable and long-lasting lighting and special effects solutions, suitable for a range of projects within the entertainment industry that call for colourful and vivid imagery. There are over 1,000 products within this brand, including static, moving, and special effect lighting, as well as DMX Controllers. Many of these products are in use at Walibi Belgium.
Meanwhile, Infinity is a range of cutting-edge lighting solutions, encompassing both moving and static lighting as well as smart control systems. These products help operators to create truly memorable scenes.
Highlite International also provides the DAP Audio suite of audio communication solutions. This line features more than 1,000 products, from speakers, cables, audio mixers and microphones, for both fixed and mobile installations.
Next is the company’s DMT brand of video displays and control solutions, including LED screens, projector screens, AV controllers and video display hardware. DMT provides a complete and full-service video display solution.
For installers looking for controllable mood and track lighting, as well as other architectural lights such as wall lighting, there is the reliable and durable Arteca range.
Finally, Showgear helps Highlite’s clients to build stages and events safely, quickly, and easily. With solutions for a variety of budgets and applications, the Showgear brand features rigging equipment, power distribution, backdrops and more.
In addition to its own brands, Highlite also serves as a distributor for other leading brands, acting as the exclusive distributor in a number of different countries for some of these.
Beyond Kondaa: Highlite International serves the attractions industry
Looking at what makes Highlite unique, and what the company can bring to the attractions space, Paes says:
“We have a wide product portfolio and high availability as well. With our expertise about everything within this portfolio, we help designers source the right product for each project; we know exactly what product will work in a specific scenario.”
“In addition, we help people to know what they can get for their money – sometimes the operator’s budget is tight, and we can be honest. We can tell people what they can expect. We try to help in the designing process and specifying process for the client, to recommend the right product for the right budget. Sometimes, that means we have to say no, it is not possible with that budget, and that honesty is appreciated by our clients.
“Compared to our competitors, we have a very fair quality versus cost ratio, and our products are highly reliable.”
Continual innovation and a friendly touch
According to Gistelinck, another of the company’s selling points is its innovation:
“Highlite remains innovative and does not stop creating new products and new solutions for all kinds of applications. They offer lighting, sound, video, decorations, rigging, effects, consumables and more.”
He also points out that it is a family-run company:
“This is not a huge faceless company. When you call Highlite, you are not just a number. For me, I view all my customers as friends. I look forward to catching up and hearing about their projects. And that is one of the main reasons why a lot of customers choose to work with us – we are not a huge company, and we take the time to know all our clients. For me, that is one of the things that makes Highlite unique.”
Then, there is the after-sales service:
“Ten years ago, Highlite built new a new building just for after-sales, where we manage this service for the customer. If there is a problem, we can deliver a new piece fast and take back the old item. When you send a product to Highlite for repair, we only take one or two days to return it to the customer.”
In the attractions industry, where any downtime results in loss of revenue and unsatisfied customers, this is vital.
Meet Highlite at IAAPA Expo Europe
For Gistelinck, walking around a theme park and seeing Highlite’s solutions in action is a satisfying part of the job. He adds:
“When I walk around Walibi, I see products from Highlite everywhere. I see them on Kondaa, in the jungle, supporting sound on various stages. They also have a small theatre, where the main control desk for the lighting and the moving lights are all from Highlite.”
Looking ahead for Highlite, Paes says that the company is excited to be working with more operators within the attractions industry. Highlite International will be exhibiting at IAAPA Expo Europe 2022, which takes place at London’s ExCeL from 12 – 15 September.
Attendees will be able to meet the team at booth #641 during the trade show, from 13 – 15 September. Here, they will be able to find out more about how Highlite’s products can help them to achieve their goals. To book an appointment during the show, please click here.
