Entrepreneur Nathan Amaral will illuminate Bermuda Carnival weekend with two laser light shows.

Mr Amaral is the owner of laser light and special effects company, The Beam Team.

He has been hired by Bermuda Carnival to provide shows tonight at the 5 Star Friday concert at City Hall car park, and again early on Monday morning at J’Ouvert on Moresby Plain, Royal Naval Dockyard.

The 24-year-old Dalhousie University graduate with a degree in economics and management has purchased the necessary equipment from Montreal-based Laser Tech Canada. Nick Squire, project manager at Laser Tech, was on-island this week to provide hands-on training.

Mr Amaral says he has met with the Civil Aviation Authority, Bermuda Police Service, Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, and marine and ports in the lead-up to the shows. He says he plans to meet with the Bermuda Airport Authority.

“Safety definitely is our number one priority,” Mr Amaral said. “I reached out to everyone, I need to do this right and create channels of communication between myself and all the relevant authorities.”

Mr Amaral, who worked as a punitive broker/technical assistant at Aon before embarking on an entrepreneurial path, said he got the idea for a laser light business from a family friend. The more he researched the notion, the more he was convinced the idea was viable.

“Concerts here can get a little dull,” he says. “They tend to be in parking lots, it’s dark, and you really don’t feel connected to the artists on stage. They have LED lights at the back of the stage, and lights on stage, but it’s not that lit up. I thought that lasers might be the thing to up the ante, to take concerts to the next level.

“At J’Ouvert, we’ll be providing some lighting and excitement they’ve not had before. It’s their five-year anniversary, so we will mark that and set the tone for what’s to come. Hopefully, lasers will set the party standard in future.”

Mr Amaral spoke on the telephone with representatives of Laser Tech, and then connected with Mr Squire at a laser light trade show in Montreal in mid-April. “When he came up to me at the trade show and introduced himself, I thought ‘he’s serious about this’,” Mr Squire said.

Things moved quickly from there. Mr Amaral has imported two, five-watt lasers, three fog machines, fans, software to run the lasers and a variety of cables and tripods. The equipment has an emergency stop button.

The fog machines, Mr Amaral says, enhance the laser’s impact. “The more particles in the air, the easier it is to see the beams,” he says.

The lasers have graphic-tracing capabilities — expect to see a variety of event and sponsor logos on the side of City Hall before the laser show supports musical artists later this evening.

Mr Amaral says laser light shows can be produced indoors. Aside from concerts, he says the market includes corporate parties, weddings, receptions, and holiday celebrations. The light show can be customised for any type of music.

“July 4 is a big one, I think it will work out well,” he says. “It falls on a Thursday, so you know some of the parties will be on Friday and Saturday this year. I am hoping to do three shows, back to back to back.”