The complete small festival kit list
A festival is a small town built in a week. This is the infrastructure list for the 500 to 2,000 person scale, with the ratios your event management plan will be judged on.
A 1,000-person single-day festival with a bar needs roughly: a covered stage, engineered PA, 20 toilets plus accessible units, Heras perimeter fencing, crowd barriers, 100kVA of silenced generation, trackway for the production route, 4+ skips with bin stations, 10 SIA security staff, and tower lighting for exits. Multi-day camping adds showers at 1 per 250.
The kit list, line by line
Worked at 1,000 attendees. Every line links to the full category guide with prices.
| Item | Quantity logic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Covered stage | Trailer stage or roofed system: bands need rain cover, full stop | Firm level ground + pull-in route |
| PA & sound | Engineered system with noise management for 500+ | Curfew shapes the running order |
| Toilets | 1 per 50 with bar → 20 standard + 2 accessible at 1,000 | Split across arena; 60/40 cubicle/urinal for beer events |
| Showers (camping) | 1 per 250 campers | Water in, grey water out, heat: plan services first |
| Perimeter fencing | Perimeter metres ÷ 3.5 = Heras panels + gates | Plus compounds: generator, waste, backstage |
| Crowd barriers | Queues, bar fronts, stage sides; pit barrier only for packed crowds | Stewards at every gap |
| Generators | Load list per zone: stage, bars, catering, site lighting | Typically 100kVA+ split across sets |
| Trackway | Production route gate-to-stage + turning pads | First in, last out |
| Skips & bins | 1 × 8-yard per 300 guests per day + bin pair per 50 | Staffed emptying rota or it fails by 8pm |
| SIA security | 1 per 100 attendees baseline, risk-assessed; plus overnight kit-watch | Badges on gates and bars, stewards elsewhere |
| Site lighting | Tower lights: exits, car park, toilets, campsite routes | A licensing expectation after dark |
The licensing lens
Once an event sells tickets, serves alcohol and amplifies music, the kit list stops being a shopping list and becomes evidence: your event management plan has to show welfare ratios, crowd management, power competence and waste handling that a Safety Advisory Group would nod at. The good news is that the ratios are public and stable: this list uses them.
Three numbers carry most of the scrutiny: toilets (1 per 50 with a bar), security (1 SIA per 100, risk-assessed), and exit lighting (present). Get those visibly right and the conversation about everything else gets easier.
Build week is a logistics problem
The site builds in dependency order: trackway first (everything drives over it), then fencing and compounds, then stage and power, then welfare, then dressing. Every supplier wants to arrive when the route is dry and nobody else is in the gateway: a delivery schedule with half-day slots is the difference between a build week and a build fortnight.
Overnight security starts the night the first trailer arrives, not the night the audience does. A built stage and a fuel store in an empty field is the most stealable configuration in events.
Where the money goes
For a 1,000-person single-day event, infrastructure hire typically runs £15,000 to £35,000: stage and sound roughly a third, power and ground a quarter, welfare a fifth, fencing, waste and security the rest. Multi-day camping adds showers, more servicing and more security nights rather than new categories.
The consolidation play is stronger at this scale than any other: a site services company covering toilets, power, fencing, trackway and waste replaces four suppliers, four delivery windows and four minimum orders. Fewer vehicles on a soft site is also simply safer.
Small festival: the questions that follow
How many toilets does a 1,000-person festival need?
With alcohol: 20 standard units (1 per 50) plus at least 2 accessible, ideally split 60/40 between cubicles and urinal bays for beer-led events, distributed across the arena rather than in one bank. Multi-day events add a daily servicing schedule.
How much security does a small festival need?
Baseline 1 SIA officer per 100 attendees, adjusted by risk assessment: 10 badged staff for 1,000 people, plus stewards for car parks and gates, plus overnight site security from first build day to last load-out.
What does festival infrastructure cost?
A 1,000-person single-day event typically spends £15,000 to £35,000 on hire and services: stage, sound, power, welfare, fencing, trackway, waste and security. Camping formats add roughly 20 to 30 percent.
Do I need an event licence?
Up to 499 people, a Temporary Event Notice may cover it. Beyond that you are into premises licence territory with your local authority, and the Safety Advisory Group process: start the conversation 6 months out, minimum.
Not sure what you need yet?
Start with a free calculator: the same formulas the optimiser uses. Get your answer, then turn it into a full kit list in one tap.