How to Plan a Successful Outdoor Music Festival
Choreographing a multi-day music event requires a lot of planning and extreme attention to detail. There is a lot of moving parts and pieces that go on behind the scenes of every concert that you may have not thought of. To plan a successful outdoor concert, it takes more than just the band to perform. With years of supporting festival organizations under our belt, learn how Best Line approaches building a safe and memorable live event.
Safe festival setup requires reliable equipment
Best Line Equipment thrives on tight deadlines by creating efficiencies with our solutions. Before we begin any project, we take the time to assess your events needs and deliver a solution-based approach to field the event. For events such as festivals or concerts, we can include anything from material handling equipment, or mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs). With proper assessment and equipment recommendations you can trust, we ensure your time is spent doing what we do BEST: plan a successful event.
Power generation strategies can be the key to reducing electricity costs and preventing malfunctions. Best Line carries a wide variety of generators, distribution panels, and accessories to support stages of all sizes. For this instance, you will want multiple diesel generator sets. These generators will be spread out around the grounds to provide power for vendors and to provide alternate power to the stage. It is a good idea to have a few large generators (230 KVA/208 KW) at the main stage as well as your smaller generators with lower KVA/KW for the vendors. The generators are hooked into a distribution box by an extension cable, transporting power from the generator into the distribution unit itself. Depending on the size of the generator, the average running time is about 15 hours. With this amount, you will be able to keep the music rocking all night long.
We consider the following factors when recommending outdoor stage setup strategies:
- Performance Space
- Sound quality
- Light placement
- Timing
- Crowd size
Another important piece to this puzzle of planning an outdoor music festival is reaching higher places. With JLG aerial lifts, you can go higher and work faster. Best Line has a full line of JLG aerial lifts including boom lifts, telehandlers, scissor lifts, personal lifts, and more. For this event, boom lifts, and rough terrain scissor lifts are your best bet. By using a lift, you can get the stage assembled, install show lights, and even take aerial photos of the concert.
Getting to point A to point B either during set up or during an emergency can be time sensitive. With that in mind, Best Line recommends the use of Utility Vehicles (UTV’S) at your show. With UTV’s, staff and security can travel from one side of the grounds to the other in a more efficient and faster pace. Plus, you will be able to haul any cargo that needs to be transported as well. The UTV’s bed in the back is a great way to move materials. Best Line Equipment carries a variety of UTV’s including Polaris, Bobcat, Cushman and GEM. Most of the UTV’s in our fleet are 2x4, 4x4, and 6x6 drive trains and also feature dump and utility rears.
When the stage lights turn off and the band finishes their encore, it will more than likely be dark out. To help provide an organized and safe exit plan for pedestrians, you are going to need light towers. A great light tower for concerts is the Doosan LSC 60HZ Portable Light Tower. This light tower features dependable engines, a brighter, larger coverage area, and is weather resistant; withstanding winds up to 65mph. The compact platform not only increases mobility, but also allows an efficient and cost-effective transport. The light tower has an easy to use, tool-free aiming system that allows users to easily set up and adjust for their light coverage needs.
If you need more assistance in finding what equipment you need or second opinions of quantity and sizes of machines, contact Best Line Equipment at 1-800-679-2378 to speak to one of our experts. You can also learn more about the machines mentioned in this article and many more at www.bestline.com.