Amiallana Justus
On Thursday, Feb. 19, guests were invited to step behind the scenes for the epic performing art festival IMMERSE FEST in Downtown Orlando where creativity, technology, and society meet to build the future and control new realities.
IMMERSE FEST takes place Feb. 20 – 22, where there will be 10 city blocks of Downtown Orlando filled with hundreds of live performances, immersive art installations, and unique creative experiences.
Featured stage performances for IMMERSE FEST are Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, MESH, Orlando Vocal Collective, Central Florida Community Arts, and The REN.
Advent Health is the main sponsor of IMMERSE 2026, and they’ve added extra features to the festival. Their Art of the Heart installation in front of City Hall includes an interactive digital art wall to reflect on what makes your heart feel full.
This project is funded by the Orange County Government through the Arts and Cultural Affairs Program. Every style, genre, acrobatics, live music, song, dance, and entertainment at IMMERSE brings a new sensation for guests to enjoy.
There is a 100 piece orchestra, acrobats swinging, singers on balconies, and live music filling the stage with a variety of different styles playing for the Orlando community to love.
The passion of music IMMERSE brings is different cultures coming together to celebrate a time of music and life that is needed in this world today.
The Talent Behind Music
Music can help with anxiety and depression while uplifting moods and emotions through the act of songs. Without music, people would lose that positive outlet that may have helped with hard times.
“Tech is always a fun process to go through because you get to meet new people and try to get the best of everyone to a certain level so we can put on a good show,” said Keith Sales, assistant stage manager at the Dr. Phillips stage. “You learn more things about different arts coming in and different art groups and it’s truly an amazing experience to be a part of.”
IMMERSE Fest is meant to bring different perspectives to the community about art and culture while providing a unique experience for all of the guests at this event. Without music, no one would have a chance to release their emotions and how they feel.
“Guests should expect everything at IMMERSE Fest,” said Sales. “It’s to celebrate arts in Orlando specifically which is an incredible thing to have for our community. To get different cultures and people of many different backgrounds to come together and put on a show with different types of acrobatics, drummers, singers, and performers to bring all the arts to Orlando is pretty amazing.”
Team work is beneficial to any musician or behind the scenes cast because putting together something as big as this festival, team work is needed to succeed in making sure the event runs smoothly through tech rehearsals.
“It’s always super helpful working as a team in tech and you can never do anything without a team,” said Sales. “To put on something of this magnitude, there is always a team and we all have to be on the same level of communicating with each other to know the team beforehand so we’re able to bounce ideas off each other and learn each other’s strengths.”
Chloe Sills, lead system tech of the Dr. Phillips said seeing different forms of arts through the tech rehearsals has opened her eyes to the possibilities of new forms of music that are being created through IMMERSE Fest.
“It’s just been fantastic to see the mixture of all the different performances and groups that are coming along,” said Sills. “Today’s focus has been the aerial side of things so Circus Olay is here, MESH is going on afterwards, and tomorrow we get all the rehearsals for the choirs, so it’s a fantastic time to see all the art groups come together under one stage.”
To put on IMMERSE Fest, different tech companies came together to make this a magical experience for the audience while also giving them a chance to learn about music and the power it holds.
“There are 12 different production companies by my count that are putting IMMERSE Fest together,” said Sills. “Lighting has its own department, audio has its own department, all of the microphones on the staging, the LED wall, the video, there has been a lot of team work from everyone getting this show off the ground.”
Tech rehearsal gives performers a chance to try out new things in their performances and to see what works and what doesn’t work. The importance of tech is to make sure everything runs smoothly and without chaos so performers are given the chance to perform with ease.
“A ton of notes, rehearsal, and updates on the audio side to give every performer a chance to do their best,” said Sills. “We make sure that each act has the right microphone in the right place at the right time, do they need the drums on stage, do they need the drums off stage, how many monitor mixes, where are the wedges going to go, so it’s been super beneficial for us in making sure all our ducks are in a row so each band and performer can get up on stage and feel comfortable.”
To prepare for IMMERSE Fest, tech rehearsal is important in making sure performers are given the chance to show their skills to the audience and to make sure that everything is ready for the performance.
For more information and updates on IMMERSE Fest, visit HERE.
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