Outdoor PA System Hire
How To Set Up an outdoor PA System
for an agricultural show
Written by the founder Steven Thompson
Here we were, delighted to be back at Mottram Agricultural Show for 2025, supplying some more outdoor PA system hire in the borough of Tameside.
And this is a proper use of the term PA (public address) system.
Where event organisers need to get information heard by the public, across an event site.
Perhaps you have enjoyed a day out at a similar country show to this?
In a large outdoor field, (in this case actually across several fields), with agricultural displays from sheep, horses, cattle, as well as a dog show. And with vintage vehicles, a horticultural tent and a number of trade stands.
Mottram Agricultural Society Chairman Mike Martin, had a new brief for me in 2025: can you provide separate PA systems for each of the three "ring" areas, as well as a way of making a combined announcement across the whole site?
Not a small task: look how big the site is...
How To Make Sure Everyone Hears Announcements
Across a large site
OUTDOOR PA SYSTEM ADVICE
Recommendations to event organisers
I'll quickly summarise some of the key considerations on outdoor PA for events. This comes from 17+ years experience of providing speaker hire, for announcements at events out in the open:
✅ Think about how you will power the speakers. Have you got generators on site already? Do they have the capacity to also support running speakers?
Or you could use battery powered speakers. But remember only the more expensive models will offer you up to 8 hours of run time at volume.
And few battery powered speakers are as loud as professional mains powered, (or in this case generator-run) speakers.
✅ 'It's spitting everybody in'. Ah the great british summer 😉
So with likelihood of rain, what's your plan to make sure you can still use the pa system? There are few water resistant battery powered speakers that I am aware of. And these offer use in only light rain. (see for example the EV Everse 12).
A lot of general speaker rental companies have so called "active" or "powered" speakers. These require a power cable going into the back of each speaker, so inherently, they offer poor protection against bad weather.
Look into hiring "passive" speakers, which take a single, (lower voltage / speaker level) cable into the back. (For example d&b Y series)
These are a sealed box enclosure, and can work all day out in the rain. For example we had these out for Powerleague, see the example here.
