Car Park & Perimeter Lighting For Events. Lighting Your Site Safety During Autumn/ Winter

The stage is set, the traders are ready and the gates are open. Then, at 4pm, it is already pitch black. Before you know it, your event is just getting into the swing of things and you are suddenly facing visibility issues for your guests. Sound familiar?

Alongside stages and marquees, there is another key area that many event organisers leave until last: car parks and perimeters. Car parks in particular are where most guests arrive, leave and find their way in the dark. Good lighting here keeps everyone safe, helps security teams do their jobs and keeps the event running smoothly from first arrival to last departure.

In this article, we share how to plan your lighting, how much coverage you get from each style of tower light and how to avoid common mistakes. If you want to take a deeper dive, read our guide: Everything Event Organisers Need to Know About Tower Light Hire.

Why Car Parks and Perimeters Need Proper Lighting

At many autumn and winter events, guests arrive in daylight but leave in the dark, usually tired and dashing for the exit. A poorly planned and poorly lit car park means trip hazards, vehicle and pedestrian conflicts and guest feedback that “parking was a nightmare”.

The perimeter matters just as much. A well-lit fence line makes it easier for security teams to spot anyone in the wrong place and stops guests wandering into unsafe or restricted areas. With darkness arriving much earlier in the autumn and winter months, perimeter lighting quickly becomes a core part of your event plan.

Walk The Site Before You Plan

The best lighting plans start well in advance of the event. This means you get the right towerlight for your set up, and you can plan and carry out the work far more efficiently, knowing that every entrance, exit, pathway and pedestrian route has adequate lighting.

When planning your site, it is vital to mark the following on your site plan:

• Entrances and exits
• Boundary and security fencing lines
• Car parks, overflow car parks, access routes and parking bays
• The main route between the car parks and the event
• Emergency vehicle routes and exits
• Where queues of vehicles will form on arrival and departure
• Where stewards and security teams will be stationed
• Any underfoot hazards (dips, slopes or soft ground)

This lets you plan exactly where each light needs to reach. It is far easier to get this right on paper than to reposition equipment when crowds of people are on site.

Another major consideration during the autumn and winter months is timing. Unlike summer, when there is plenty of daylight, you need to be aware of sunset times. Your lighting needs to cover not only your guests but also any crews setting up and packing down. Therefore, you should plan for light from the moment your first team member lands on site.

Once you have a draft layout, share it with your event equipment hire supplier before you book. At WHC Hire, we can advise and recommend how many lights you need based on the area you are trying to cover.

How Much Ground Does One Towerlight Cover

Many event organisers ask the same question: “How much ground does a single tower light cover?” The answer depends on a number of factors, so bear these in mind when selecting the right type of tower light for your event.

Lamp Brightness

Towerlights with stronger outputs illuminate a larger area, which helps crews working in the dark and improves visibility for guests attending your event.

Towerlights fitted with high quality LED lamps can give you better illumination with lower energy consumption. Lower power lamps, on the other hand, may not provide adequate visibility for crews during set up and breakdown. Although, they can be suitable for backstage areas or lighting small walkway spaces.

Positioning

The illumination from your towerlight can change with its placement. A powerful light cannot work correctly if it is not positioned correctly or if obstacles block its output.

Placing a towerlight close to solid surfaces such as buildings, machinery or other large objects can cast shadows across different parts of your event site.

Lamp Angle

Towerlight lamps are usually adjustable, so you can change the angle to maximise your coverage or concentrate the light on a specific area.

Our 9m Trime Eco towerlights offer approximately 4,000m² of illumination, which makes them a strong choice for large car parks, perimeters and access routes across event sites.

For smaller areas, our 5.5m manual tower light covers approximately 1,600m², which suits overflow car parks, entrances and tight corners where a larger set up cannot reach.

If you would like to see these two machines side by side, read our supporting article: Manual or Hydraulic Tower Lights: Which Setup Suits Your Event?

Positioning Tower Lights Without Glare Or Blocked Access

Lighting a car park correctly is not just about brightness. Positioning a towerlight in the wrong place can dazzle drivers, spill over onto neighbouring properties and, in some cases, sit directly in the path of delivery vehicles.

During planning, think about where each light will sit and where it will point. Position each one clear of vehicle routes and pedestrian walkways, with the light angled so it falls across these areas instead of into your guests’ eyes.

Some towerlight designs also need additional machinery to position them, and your ground conditions may determine the size and type of equipment required. If you are working on soft ground, you may need a telehandler to position and set up your towerlight efficiently.

Any additional equipment needed to distribute your towerlights across the site can also be added to your event equipment package.

Running Time & Fuel Overnight Event

Daylight hours are often extremely limited, especially for events held in autumn and winter across the UK. With so much darkness to contend with, nothing spoils a well planned lighting layout like a light that runs out of fuel halfway through.

This is why it is important to choose a tower light that needs very little attention throughout your event. Many event organisers opt for eco tower lights, which often do not need refuelling over the course of a weekend event.

Our 9m Trime Eco towerlights offer 210 hours of continuous runtime on a single tank, which leaves your team with one less job to handle once the crowds start to roll in.

Lighting, Fencing and Security From One Hire Partner

Event site safety and security tend to go hand in hand. A perimeter that needs light usually needs fencing as well, and on larger sites you may also need utility vehicles such as ATVs to move equipment around quickly.

At WHC Hire, our event hire range covers the essentials, from site fencing and tower lights to the equipment you need to position and secure your site quickly and with minimal effort.

With nearly 30 years of trading and hundreds of events supported across Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire, we know what it takes to keep event sites moving during the darker months.

Planning your event lighting and site security this autumn or winter? Contact your local WHC Hire depot today for a personalised quote, or add tower lights to a complete event equipment hire package.