Registration is now open for the New World Rigging Symposium (NWRS), produced by ESTA and USITT, which will take place online April 6-8, 2021. The NWRS provides a virtual opportunity for riggers and those interested in the entertainment rigging industry to network, discuss current issues and new technologies, and help shape the future of the industry. The cost has been reduced to $99 and the Symposium carries up to 9 ETCP education renewal credits for re-certification.

Participants will be given a range of opportunities to further their technical knowledge in sessions on video wall rigging, automation and motorization, performer flying and rescue, and types of ropes. They’ll have a chance to learn about how the installation of a tension grid is working in a major facility, to get their questions answered by a panel of the industry’s most knowledgeable structural engineers, learn about working in cinema rigging, and how to be aware of and address the mental health impact of the pandemic.

The Symposium has been expanded to three days to allow more time for discussion and virtual networking over lunch and during the Rigging Cornucopia Happy Hour that will close each day’s sessions. During the April 6th Happy Hour, Roy Bickel will receive the ESTA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award which will be presented by Rocky Paulson and Chris Schmidt.

The Keynote Speaker will be Jeanette Farmer, whose career spans three decades of professional theatre technical support, show production, concert and theatre lighting design, theatre consulting, themed entertainment project management and supplier and manufacturer business development. Her background includes Las Vegas mega-spectacles “Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage” Cher, and “Disney on Ice.” She also supported Cirque du Soleil’s Las Vegas productions for 18 years as a theatre consultant, lighting director, and production master electrician.