How to Elevate Your Festival in 10 Steps

Create unforgettable experiences with smart staging, lighting, crew and production planning

Whether it’s a boutique village festival, a corporate summer showcase, or a multi-stage music event, the secret to a truly memorable festival lies in more than just booking great performers. Festivals succeed when every technical, visual and logistical element works together—smoothly, safely, and impressively.

At Anglo Entertainment, we’ve supported festivals across the UK with staging, lighting, sound, technical crew and backline hire, and we’ve learned exactly what transforms a good event into a great one. Here’s our complete guide to elevating your festival in X clear, practical steps.

1. Start With a Clear Festival Identity

Before booking equipment or talent, define the personality of your festival:

• Is it family-friendly?

• Arts-focused?

• Indie, rock, electronic, acoustic—or a blend?

• Are you leaning towards a rustic outdoor aesthetic or a sleek, modern staging style?

Your aesthetic will influence your stage design, lighting palette, artist choices, scheduling, and the overall energy of the event. A strong identity also helps your suppliers (like us) recommend the right kit and layout.

2. Build the Right Staging for Your Scale

Your stage is the centrepiece of your festival—the first thing audiences see and the core of your production workflow.

Key considerations:

• Size: Bigger crowds require bigger stages; smaller events benefit from compact, efficient builds.

• Weather protection: Outdoor festivals need robust roofing and side walls.

• Height: Essential for visibility and lighting positions.

• Access: Ensure safe ramps and backstage space for artists and crew.

• Rigging capacity: Your lighting and audio choices depend on how much the stage can safely hold.

Anglo can provide mobile and modular stages, truss systems and full stage builds suited to any scale, ensuring performers are safe, visible and comfortable.

3. Use Lighting to Craft Atmosphere and Impact

Lighting is one of the most powerful tools in festival production. It shapes the emotional tone, transforms a simple stage into a visual spectacle, and ensures your performers look incredible on camera.

Consider:

• Front lighting for clean, flattering visibility.

• Backlighting and silhouette effects for atmosphere and drama.

• Moving heads, beams and washes for energy during headline moments.

• Festoon, pixel bars and LED walls for immersive festival aesthetics.

• Dynamic programming to match genres—rock, pop, electronic or acoustic.

• Colour palettes that reflect your event identity.

Our Anglo lighting designers can build anything from simple setups to full-scale festival rigs, using professional-grade control systems and experienced operators.

4. Get a Solid Sound System and Backline Sorted Early

Great audio is non-negotiable. Festival-goers will forget the décor if the sound is poor—but get your audio right, and everything else improves instantly.

What to plan:

• FOH sound system (line arrays, subs and delay towers depending on field size)

• Monitors / in-ear systems for artists

• Stage boxes and reliable cabling

• Backline hire (drum kits, amps, keyboards, DI boxes, percussion etc.)

• Spare equipment for emergencies

• Power distribution designed for outdoor conditions

Anglo offers a full backline hire service, ensuring riders are met without stress, and sound engineers receive exactly what they need.

5. Choose a Reliable, Experienced Crew

No matter how good your kit is, a festival is only as strong as the team running it.

A professional crew ensures:

• Efficient setup and pack-down

• Safe rigging and operation

• Smooth artist changeovers

• Quick troubleshooting

• Consistency across long festival days

• Calm, structured backstage management

Anglo’s crew includes stage managers, sound engineers, lighting operators, riggers, runners and technical support—meaning you get the right people in the right roles.

6. Build a Smooth Artist Experience

Happy artists perform better. The smoother their experience, the more positive the energy on stage—and the better the crowd respond.

Think about:

• Clear advance information (set times, parking, load-in, contacts)

• Dedicated stage management

• Hydration and backstage comfort

• Accurate backline and tech specs

• Quick changeovers enabled by organised crew

• A clean, safe, clutter-free stage

Anglo can help centralise communication with performers, collect tech riders, and ensure everything is organised for your artists before they arrive.

7. Consider Visual Enhancements and Stage Dressing

Beyond lighting and staging, small design touches deliver huge impact:

• Branded banners or LED screens

• Drapes and truss warmers

• Flame effects or CO₂ jets (venue permitting)

• Neon signage

• Custom risers

• Atmospheric smoke or haze

These details elevate the audience experience and make your festival instantly more photogenic—great for marketing, sponsors and social media.

8. Don’t Forget Practical Infrastructure

Behind-the-scenes infrastructure makes or breaks a festival’s flow.

You’ll need:

• Generators and reliable power distribution

• Cable ramps and safety protections

• Weather protection for crew and equipment

• Clear site layouts for vehicles, crew and artists

• Risk assessments and safe working practices

Anglo can advise or supply much of this technical infrastructure, ensuring your event stays safe, compliant and efficient.

9. Prioritise Safety and Compliance

Festivals must follow strict safety standards. Ensure:

• All crew are competent and qualified

• All equipment is PAT tested

• Your staging meets engineering requirements

• Rigging is installed by certified professionals

• Weather conditions are monitored

• Cables are protected from public areas

• Emergency routes are clear

Professional suppliers take safety seriously—and will provide paperwork and assessments on request.

10. Rehearse, Test and Run a Full Technical Check

Before opening gates:

• Sound-check every act

• Test every lighting cue

• Confirm generator output

• Walk the site to check signage, access, safety and power

• Confirm radio communication channels

• Make sure your crew knows their roles

A rehearsal-style “dummy run” catches problems before they become problems.

Final Thoughts: Elevate Your Festival With the Right Team

A truly elevated festival experience blends creativity, great programming and robust production. With the right staging, lighting, sound, backline, crew and planning, even modest festivals can deliver spectacular professional results.

At Anglo Entertainment, we support festivals of every scale with:

• Modular and mobile staging

• Full lighting rigs and design

• Sound systems and engineers

• Backline hire

• Production crew

• Stage management

• Technical planning and support

If you’re planning a festival and want to take it to the next level, our team would love to help shape something extraordinary.