ADJ Lighting Transforms USS Midway Into a Festive Winter Wonderland for Jingle Jets 2025

Flashback Lighting / Innovative Presentations of San Diego, California was recently responsible for illuminating one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum, for its third annual Jingle Jets holiday event. Utilizing a variety of ADJ luminaires, including Hydro Profile moving heads as well as static Encore LP32 IP and 7PZ IP washes, the huge ship was completely transformed with vibrant swathes of color and intricate moving GOBO projections.

Running on select nights from November 28 through December 30, 2025, Jingle Jets delivers dazzling lighting displays, festive performances, and seasonal cheer for the whole family — all set against the truly unique backdrop of a historic aircraft carrier. With guests exploring multiple decks, including the expansive flight deck, the lighting design needed to be both visually impactful and robust enough to withstand the challenges of a large-scale outdoor environment.

“We were recently tasked with transforming the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum into a full winter wonderland of color,” explains Matt Short, Executive Lighting Director at Flashback Lighting / Innovative Presentations. “To bring this vision to life, we deployed more than 140 ADJ and Elation lighting instruments and control components across two decks, including the expansive 4-acre flight deck. ADJ fixtures make it possible for us to deliver bold, immersive experiences even in challenging outdoor and large-scale environments. We are proud to rely on ADJ for productions of this scale.”

To bathe the vast exterior spaces in rich, saturated color, the team turned to ADJ’s IP65-rated fixtures. A combination of Encore LP32 IP and 7PZ IP LED-powered wash lights were used to flood the flight deck with vibrant hues, ensuring consistent performance throughout the event despite exposure to the elements.

Adding a layer of festive detail, ADJ’s flagship Hydro Profile automated luminaires were used to project custom snowflake GOBOs across the deck and onto the ship’s bridge, helping to reinforce the winter theme while highlighting the carrier’s distinctive architecture. On the lower deck, where fixtures were sheltered from weather conditions, Focus Profile automated luminaires were deployed to provide additional color accents and crisp GOBO pattern projections.

Control for the entire lighting system was handled by an NX2 console from ADJ’s sister company, Obsidian Control Systems. To distribute DMX across the immense scale of the aircraft carrier’s main deck, the team utilized the new Aria X2 wireless control protocol. Seven IP65-rated Aria X2 IPC transceivers were strategically positioned across the deck, ensuring reliable wireless signal distribution to clusters of fixtures spread over the 4-acre space.

“I’m proud to say that ADJ products have become an essential part of our production toolkit,” enthuses Matt. “Our ADJ inventory continues to grow year after year for good reason; their reliability, performance and versatility make them ideal for the high impact all weather environments we support. We look forward to continuing to grow with the company’s product line.”

With a carefully selected mix of IP-rated luminaires, powerful automated fixtures, and robust wireless control, ADJ lighting once again proved its ability to deliver high-impact results in demanding outdoor environments — helping to turn the USS Midway into a memorable holiday destination for thousands of visitors throughout the festive season.

Event
Jingle Jets

Venue
USS Midway Museum
San Diego, CA
www.midway.org

Lighting Production
Flashback Lighting / Innovative Presentations
www.flashbackstagelighting.com

Executive Lighting Director
Matt Short

Lighting Gear
22 x ADJ Hydro Profile
22 x ADJ Focus Profile
20 x ADJ Encore LP32IP
20 x ADJ 7PZ IP
37 x Elation Arena Par Zoom
10 x Elation Satura Spot CMY Pro

Control Gear
7 x Aria X2 IPC Transceiver
1 x Obsidian Control Systems NX2
2 x Obsidian Control Systems EN12
2 x Obsidian Control Systems EN6 IP
1 x Obsidian Control Systems RDM6 IP