How we Programme, activate and control Christmas lighting schemes
Have you ever wondered what happens in the days, hours and minutes before the all-important moment when we switch on a Christmas lighting scheme? Our Operational Project Manager Karl Roberts, shares a behind the scenes insight into how we carefully co-ordinate every aspect to ensure a seamless Christmas light switch on events.
There’s a moment every BID Manager, Town Clerk or Shopping Centre Manager looks forward to in the build up to the busiest trading period of the year. The moment crowds gather to see the Christmas lights switched on for the very first time. It looks effortless and easy but behind the lights is a tried and tested system, that has been expertly engineered to make it happen like clockwork.
This is your behind-the-scenes look at how we plan for, programme and control festive lighting “switch-ons” across the UK and why clients choose us when they need a Christmas lighting contractor they can trust.
Its all theatre and spectacle – or is it?
Christmas lighting switch-on events are a big draw, with local celebrities, children and community leaders involved in the spectacle. Our role as the festive lighting contractor is to ensure that moment happens exactly on cue and the system performs perfectly for the duration of the season, be that in busy town centres, high streets or other high-footfall commercial locations like shopping centres.
Karl shares that our activation approach is built around three principles:
- Flexibility to design and operate the scheme around your needs
- Reliability that is built into every stage of our process
- Efficiency to deliver maximum impact, safely and sustainably
Flexibility built into the design
When considering your Christmas lighting design, we don’t just think about the visuals, although they are very important, we also deeply consider how you want to control and operate your scheme. For example, if you want to have certain elements of the display on longer or controlled by a separate system, we design, build and install the solution around when and how you want to control your Christmas lights.
Karl shares his experience…
No two clients want the same operating plan. Some need a single, unified switch-on across the whole scheme. Others want zoning, for example tree lights on earlier than overhead features, certain streets or areas activated for late-night shopping or feature pieces reserved for a specific time of the evening for maximum impact. We programme every scheme in a way that is completely tailored to the client and the location.
For many installations, one remote can activate the entire scheme or we can programme multiple remotes to allow greater control and flexibility. If you want the lights to come on at the same time every evening, while still having the option for a live switch-on, we can incorporate timers, so your scheme follows a planned schedule after the first switch on event.
Every site has different supply types, plug formats, access constraints and even after undertaking detailed surveys, “surprises” can be found. We have seen it all. Our control equipment is designed as a versatile, plug-and-play system, adaptable to the power supplies we’re connecting into. Rather than restricting schemes to conform to one rigid setup, we design every control system to suit the infrastructure available. This makes deployment quicker, reduces complexity, crucially eliminates avoidable points of failure and improves overall reliability.
If your lighting is semi-permanent, for example festoon lighting that is installed for late summer or lighting for Ramadan or Diwali, we use the very same system and approach. This gives you control to switch your lights on and off at the right time every evening, or we can pre-programme the system on set schedules, while adjusting them as the nights get darker earlier.
Karl Roberts – Operational Manager at Field and Lawn – Karl Roberts | LinkedIn
See how our schemes transform spaces and bring joy throughout the festive season.
Reliability. Is everything better in the cloud?
Reliability is critical in commercial festive lighting because you only get one chance to deliver the experience. When it comes to reliability, there has been several advancements in smart technology for controlling Christmas lights.
We have appraised these systems and “smart” doesn’t always mean “better.”
Karl expands on why…
Many modern systems lean heavily on Wi‑Fi or cloud connectivity. On paper, they promise long ranges and remote access. In practice, when you’re working in town centres that are saturated with competing signals, interference and skyscrapers in central London, network dropouts and third-party variables that you can’t control can put cloud based “smart” solutions at risk of failure. In addition to that, with any cloud based system, there are security risks as well as additional data costs to consider as you will need a SIM card to use these systems.
Our approach is deliberately different, we have used it on all our schemes for many years. We use a localised RF (radio frequency) control system that doesn’t rely on Wi‑Fi, SIM cards, data plans or external control centres to function. That matters not only on nights when you don’t get a second chance such as switch on events, but throughout the whole festive season.
We check performance and if we see any indications that it may not perform as planned, we would simply add extra remote control boxes to strengthen coverage. This would be very costly and complicated with cloud-based systems and could mean complete and last minute re-programming work at significant costs.
Has it ever failed?
In the lead-up, our team carries out repeat tests to confirm performance. We’ll run checks using our switching system, confirm no interruption to the power supply, and perform what we call “flash tests” to verify the switching is responding reliably under real conditions. When it comes to the countdown event, even when one remote can operate the entire scheme, we never rely on one person holding one device. We position a secondary technician with a backup remote so if anything unexpected happens we can still hit the moment perfectly.
Importantly, with remote or cloud-based systems, even with all the testing and checking, you are still at risk of downtime should the technology drop out.
Though the activation, we maintain and hold a master remote that controls the full installation and gives us the ability to programme additional remotes quickly if required (for a client team member, an event host, or an on-site co-ordinator). This gives clients flexibility without compromising control and ensures our engineers can test, override, and support without relying on retrieving a remote from someone’s on the day (or night).
Our rule is to keep it simple and we have refined our equipment, which is all programmed in-house to reduce accidental switching. One of our older remote systems had several buttons which did add to the chance of a false activation. Since then, we’ve refined our handsets down to a key fob style remote with just two clear and simple controls. On and Off! Removing cluttered buttons and the risk of catching the wrong one in the heat of the moment has made things much easier for our clients. If clients choose to operate the scheme manually, we take the time to show them the controls with a full briefing prior to handing over the scheme.
Efficiency
Our activation system has been designed for efficiency at every stage from installation and testing to switch-on night and day-to-day operation. One of the biggest efficiency gains comes from the fact that our switching system is plug-and-play. Rather than relying on complex cloud-based infrastructure, our control equipment is designed to adapt to a wide range of site conditions, locations and power supplies.
Because our system is so flexible, we don’t need to over-engineer a project or introduce unnecessary equipment which can increase the chance of failure. This makes the scheme easier to manage not just on switch-on night, but throughout the season. Our system is made, managed and installed in-house. This means we know the equipment inside out and can programme, adjust or expand the system quickly.
Efficiency and sustainability of festive lighting schemes can be improved by only using what you need, when you need it. As we can timed daily operational periods and zoned activation across different areas of your scheme, it will reduce the energy consumption of your Christmas lighting. The level of control means you can power a scheme, or parts of the scheme down on your own schedule.
Planning your Christmas lighting scheme?
Work with a team trusted to deliver a seamless, reliable switch-on in live public spaces across the UK. Choose a partner that plans for every detail, from power supply through to live event activation and on-site standby support.
Start your festive lighting installation – contact us.
