Frequently asked questions about organising a festival
I want to organise a festival, what do I need?
You need a suitable location, permits, staging, audio, lighting, optional video, power supply, technical crew, logistics, and detailed production planning. The exact technical requirements depend on the size of the event, attendance, number of stages, and artist riders.
What do I need for a small festival?
A small festival requires the same core principles as a large one, though the technical infrastructure and crew size can be scaled down. The location, guest capacity, stage size, and line-up determine the exact technical setup required.
How much does technical production for a festival cost?
Pricing depends entirely on the scope of the production. Key factors include attendance numbers, number of stages, artist specifications, audio, lighting, video, power, logistics, crew, and load-in timeframes. Because of this, technical production costs are custom-quoted.
When should I engage a technical production supplier?
For larger festivals, it is best to involve a technical supplier early in the planning stage. This allows for seamless alignment between venue specs, staging, riders, sound, lighting, video, power, logistics, and crew scheduling.
Can a single company handle sound, lighting, and video for a festival?
Yes. A full-service technical production partner can combine these disciplines into a single integrated production. This streamlines technical coordination and ensures sound, light, video, power, networking, and crew operations work as one cohesive system.
What is a technical rider?
A technical rider is a document detailing an artist's or production's technical specifications. It covers requirements for sound, lighting, stage dimensions, monitoring, microphones, video, power, and crew support.
Do I need a generator for a festival?
That depends on the site's available mains power capacity and the total electrical demand of the festival. A technical power plan will determine whether mains power, mobile generators, or a combination of both is required.
Can GROUP-PDA handle the technical production of my festival?
GROUP-PDA provides professional technical production services for festivals and live events, delivering complete support across sound, lighting, video, system engineering, technical planning, and full crew management.
A practical guide to organising a professional festival
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Organising a festival involves much more than just booking artists and setting up a stage.
A professional festival requires thorough preparation of location, permits,
safety, infrastructure, AV technology, logistics, crew, and scheduling.
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In this guide, we explain step by step what is required to organise a festival.
From initial preparation and technical planning to sound, lighting, video, power supply,
technical riders, crew, load-in, show execution, and load-out.
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What do I need to organise a festival?
To organise a festival, you need several interconnected components. The exact requirements depend on the scale of the festival, the number of visitors, the number of stages, the location, the programme, and the technical requirements of the artists.
Broadly speaking, you need a suitable location, the necessary permits, a safety and production plan, stage infrastructure, professional event technology, power supply, technical crew, logistics, and a clear timetable.
For a professional festival, it is crucial not to view these components in isolation. Sound, lighting, video, power, staging, networking, logistics, and crew must be aligned right from the planning phase.
What should I consider regarding the festival location?
The location heavily influences the technical and logistical feasibility of a festival. A site suitable for the public is not automatically suitable for a professional festival production.
When selecting and layout-planning the location, the following aspects must be taken into account:
- Accessibility for trucks and suppliers
- Space for stages and backstage areas
- Position of the Front of House (FOH)
- Space for technical installations
- Available electrical connections
- Space for generators if required
- Cable runs and cable protection
- Audience flow and entrance points
- Emergency exits and access for emergency services
- Environmental noise impact
- Space for artists, production, and crew
Which permits do I need for a festival?
Which permits and notifications are required depends on the location, the size of the event, and local regulations. The organiser must verify this well in advance with the relevant authorities.
For a festival, aspects such as event licensing, public safety, fire safety, noise limits, temporary structures, insurance, and emergency access often play a major role.
The technical supplier is responsible for their technical execution and can provide technical data and documentation, but the organiser remains responsible for the overall legal framework of the event.
What do I need for the festival stage?
The stage forms the central technical hub of a festival. In addition to the stage structure itself, consideration must be given to trussing, rigging, audio, lighting, video, power, cable runs, backstage, and technical working areas.
Depending on the production, the following elements may be required:
- Stage structure and roof
- Truss structures
- Rigging points
- Technical hoist points
- Front of House (FOH)
- Backstage and artist area
- Stage barriers
- Cable bridges and cable protection
- Technical working areas
- Communication systems
What do I need for festival sound?
A festival sound system must be tailored to the size and shape of the venue, the attendance, the required sound coverage, and the technical demands of the performing artists.
A professional festival production may include:
- Main PA system or line array
- Subwoofers
- Frontfill systems
- Delay systems for larger sites
- Monitoring systems for artists
- Digital mixing consoles
- Stage boxes
- Microphones and DI boxes
- Wireless microphones and RF systems
- Digital signal distribution
- System engineering
- System optimization and tuning
The right sound system is determined by the specific production requirements. A system suited for a small stage is not automatically suitable for a large outdoor festival area.
For larger productions, system engineering is crucial to ensure accurate audio coverage, system configuration, and correct speaker tuning.
What do I need for festival lighting?
Festival lighting not only ensures visibility on stage, but also plays a major role in defining the look and atmosphere of a show.
Depending on the stage and show design, a lighting production may consist of:
- Moving lights
- Spot fixtures
- Wash fixtures
- Beam fixtures
- Strobes
- Blinders
- LED fixtures
- Stage lighting
- Effect lighting
- DMX infrastructure
- Lighting network
- Lighting control consoles
- A professional lighting operator
For larger festivals, the lighting production must be coordinated with the stage design, available trussing, power capacity, and desired show performance.
Professional lighting control and an experienced operator ensure that the full technical capabilities of the installation are leveraged during the show.
Do I need video or LED screens for a festival?
Video is not essential for every festival, but it offers significant added value for larger productions. LED screens can be used for live IMAG feeds, artist visuals, graphic content, sponsor branding, and visual show elements.
A professional video production may include:
- LED screens
- Video processing
- Video switchers/mixers
- Cameras
- IMAG production
- Live video distribution
- Content playback systems
- Signal conversion
- Video and network cabling
How do I handle the power supply for a festival?
A reliable power supply is essential for any festival. Audio, lighting, video, and other technical installations can only operate reliably when the electrical infrastructure is properly calculated and distributed.
Depending on the location, mains power, generators, or a hybrid combination may be used.
Power planning must take into account:
- Total electrical power requirement
- Audio systems
- Lighting rigs
- LED screens and video
- Backstage and production power
- Catering and other utility consumers
- Power distribution units
- CEE connections
- Cable run distances
- Cable protection
- Circuit breakers and earthing
- Separation of technical and general utility loads
Technical Preparation
Accurate power calculation and distribution are essential for a reliable festival production.
What is a technical rider and why is it important?
A technical rider is a document detailing an artist's, band's, or production's technical requirements. The rider contains vital information required to properly accommodate the artist technically at the festival.
A technical rider may include information regarding:
- PA system requirements
- Monitor systems
- Microphones
- Input lists
- Patch lists
- Stage dimensions
- Lighting requirements
- Video specs
- Power requirements
- Technical crew needs
- Special technical requests
It is important to collect and review technical riders well in advance. Different artists often have conflicting or highly specific technical demands.
A technical production partner can analyze these riders and translate them into a single, unified, and workable technical plan for the festival.
What technical crew do I need for a festival?
Professional equipment is only one side of a technical production. Systems must be built, wired, tested, aligned, and operated flawlessly during the show.
Depending on the scale and complexity of the festival, the following roles may be required:
- Technical Production Manager
- Production Manager
- Stage Manager
- System Engineer
- Front of House Engineer
- Monitor Engineer
- Lighting Technicians
- Lighting Operators
- Video Technicians
- Stagehands
- Rigging Crew
- Technical Coordinators
Experienced Crew
The right technical crew ensures that the installation is not only built correctly, but also continues to operate reliably throughout the show.
How do I prepare the technical setup for a festival?
A successful technical production begins long before load-in. All technical disciplines must be combined into one comprehensive production plan.
Technical preparation may involve:
- Technical production drawings
- Stage layouts
- Lighting plots
- Sound designs
- Video and LED layouts
- Power distribution plans
- DMX and network schematics
- Patch sheets
- Equipment scheduling
- Crew scheduling
- Logistics & transport planning
- Load-in schedules
- Soundcheck schedules
- Show run-sheets
- Load-out planning
Thorough technical preparation ensures that issues are resolved prior to site setup, enabling smooth and efficient collaboration among suppliers and crews on-site.
When should I start technical preparation?
Preparation lead time depends on the size of the festival. The larger and more complex the production, the earlier technical preparation must begin.
- 6 to 12 months prior: Location, concept, budget, line-up, and technical strategy
- 3 to 6 months prior: Technical designs, rider integration, equipment, stage, sound, lights, video, and power
- 1 to 3 months prior: Final equipment lists, crew booking, logistics, and technical run-sheets
- Festival week: Load-in, build-up, testing, programming, soundchecks, show execution, teardown, and load-out
How much does festival technical production cost?
There is no fixed price for technical festival production. Costs are determined by the scale and complexity of the event, as well as the technical requirements of the venue and the performing artists.
Key cost drivers include:
- Expected attendance
- Site surface area
- Number of stages
- Duration (number of festival days)
- Number and profile of artists
- Technical rider requirements
- Sound coverage requirements
- Scale of lighting design
- LED screen and video specifications
- Stage and truss structures
- Power distribution infrastructure
- Transport logistics
- Load-in and load-out schedules
- Technical crew requirements
A professional technical quote does not start with a random gear list. First, the production requirements must be evaluated. Only then can a tailored package of system design, equipment, and crew be compiled.
Who can handle the technical production of my festival?
GROUP-PDA nv is a Belgian technical production partner with over 30 years of experience in professional live events.
GROUP-PDA supports festivals, concerts, touring productions, and corporate events with turnkey solutions for sound, lighting, video, system engineering, technical management, and show operation.
For festival productions, multiple technical disciplines are consolidated into a single integrated production. This ensures that sound, lighting, video, power, network, planning, logistics, and crew work in total sync right from the start.
Based in Belgium, GROUP-PDA operates for productions both locally and internationally.
Checklist: what do I need to organise a festival?
A professional festival requires a combination of organizational, technical, and logistical preparation.
- Location and site layout plan
- Permits and insurance
- Safety and production plan
- Stage and technical infrastructure
- Professional audio
- Professional lighting
- Video and LED screens if needed
- Power supply system
- Technical riders
- Technical production schedule
- Experienced technical crew
- Transport and logistics
- Load-in and teardown schedules
- Show and soundcheck run-sheets
With GROUP-PDA nv you don’t just rent light and sound, you gain a complete technical partner for your event.
Tell us about your event – we will create a tailored proposal