Getting Your Outdoor Festival Right Part 1: A Field Guide

Welcome to outdoor festival sound production, where everything that can go wrong probably will if you don't plan properly. We have the tips.

Key takeaways

• Always try to double your calculated wattage. If your system needs 18 kVA, request a 30 kVA generator to account for power spikes, and separate audio and lighting onto different circuits.
• Strategically set up Funktion-Ones to feel genuinely loud in front of the speakers but drop considerably at 20 meters back to minimise sound travel to neighbours.
• Plan your system size based on neighbour proximity, not just crowd size. Sometimes, a smaller system that sounds great on-site but doesn’t travel as far is the smarter move.

Lugging gear out to some paddock in the middle of nowhere to set up the sound system, only to deal with angry neighbours, dodgy generators, and a dance floor that’s built on a 15-degree slope, isn’t our idea of a good time.

After years of running (great) outdoor events across Victoria, from tiny 80-person bushdoofs to proper 600+ person festivals, we’ve learned that the setup is where you win or lose the gig. Getting it right from the jump is intrinsically linked to smooth sailing. Stuffing it up in the planning phase means a long, stressful night ahead.

Our two-part article series will make sure you put the fun in the Funky Cold Medina, which will obviously be played at some point in the night.

How many people are actually coming?

You’d be surprised how many times someone says “a few hundred are coming” and then 800 punters show up. The answer to this question is crucial when planning your gear. If you’re doing 100-150 people, you can get away with a smaller, more intimate system like our little Funktion-One setup with two 18-inch subs and two 12-inch speakers. Everyone gets that proper Funktion-One sound, and it’s not going to blow out someone’s budget.

If it is closer to the 800 people, however, you need a completely different beast. The speakers need to throw further; you’ll need more subwoofers, and you’ve got to start thinking about infill speakers to cover dead spots.

For house, disco, and techno, as an example, you need that chest-hitting bass to carry through properly. At a wedding, on the other hand, where Aunt Edna’s ageing heart probably doesn’t need to be smacked with all 138 bpm of Jeff Mills, it’s a different story. We’d dial back the subs and focus on mids and highs.

Every outdoor space is different

Speakers thrive in complete open air. If there are trees around, an Amphitheatre setup, or buildings and structures that are going to rattle and shake when the bass kicks in, you need to plan, adjust and work with what you’ve got.

Unfortunately, you don’t always get the luxury of setting everything up exactly how you want; sometimes, there’s already a stage built, and they’ve decided where your speakers are going. You just have to adapt.

Everybody needs good neighbours

Someone will always say, “Oh, we’ve got 80 acres, the closest neighbour is 600 meters away, she’ll be right.” Wrong. Funktion-One subs will find your neighbour’s living room, wherever it may be, and recreate the Macaulay Culkin scene from Michael Jackson’s ‘Black or White’ video.

If you’ve got close neighbours, don’t bring the system designed for a thousand people. Bring something that’ll sound loud on the dance floor but won’t travel as far. We’re experts at getting the system to feel really loud if you’re right in front of the speakers, with a considerable drop once you get 20 meters back. Keep the dancers happy, but let your mate back at the campsite deal with his hangover while dodging the noise complaints.

Council gigs usually come with dB readers and strict limits. We’ve had organisers sitting on the dance floor telling us we need to drop the volume by two dB because we’re hitting the legal limit at someone’s property. Punters are generally pretty good about it when they see you managing this stuff, so they’ll get it.

Weather, terrain, and Mother Earth's capacity to party

Dead flat ground is a luxury you rarely get. You need to think about the terrain and account for whether it will be dusty. Do you need blowers and paintbrushes to keep dust off the decks? DJ equipment will stop working at super dusty or sunny bush doofs, making backup gear a must.

Wind direction also matters. Rain is a whole other consideration. Funktion-One systems are efficient and clear, so you don’t need to absolutely crank them to fill the space, and this helps when you’re dealing with weather constraints.

Where everything goes wrong

Want to know the number one issue we’ve seen people have to contend with in our many years of events? Power. Generator power is where most problems come from. Underpowered setups or construction style generators that roar are dealbreakers. If we can offer one main tip, it’s this: Always figure out your total wattage draw, including everything from the amps to the smoke machines and the lasers, and try to double it.

We’ll always ask for 20 kVA minimum for sound. Why? Because there’s always some food truck vendor who plugs in their fridge and freezer. Every. Single. Time. Those power spikes will kill you if you’re not prepared.

Splitting audio and lighting onto different circuits is the smart play. If something trips, you don’t lose the entire rig.

The final tips checklist

• Find out how close your closest neighbours are
• Get proper DJ gear with decent sound cards and keep these sheltered from the sun and rain
• Use cable runners so people don’t trip over your cables
• Make sure your subs and speakers are level
• Weight your truss properly
• Think through your speaker positioning so your coverage is even

For the love of everything we hold dear, make sure you’ve got enough 15 amp power for those subs. Without it, you may as well stay home and binge the latest season of Wednesday (which is just ok).

Get all this right in the planning phase, and you’re set up for success. Ignore it, and you’ll be troubleshooting at 11pm while everyone’s wondering why the music sounds like garbage. The team at Jungle Audio is always here to help, so give us a shout if you want to guarantee a great outdoor festival.

Once your event kicks off, you need to make sure everything continues to sound sweet, and that’s why we wrote Part 2 of this article.