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This was repeated again in 2008, when Pearce Hire again was awarded the contract for this event. However this year power for the entire site was provided from one pair of 450 Kva synchronised super silent generators.

Historically some of the power had been supplied from the adjacent Symphony Hall this resulted in several supplies and not all of it under Pearce Hires control and this situation was far from ideal. So upon the advice of Pearce Hire a period of consultation ensued between the relevant parties and it was decided to power the entire stage and production facilities from generators. The main proviso being that the generators would need to be extremely quite as they would be running 24hrs in a noise sensitive area.

The new upgrade deemed to be a total success with uninterrupted power provide thought the three days of the event.

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Pearce Hire supplies the power to all of the main site including the three stages, two bars and numerous food and sales concessions. In addition to this we also supplied power to the BBC for Radio 2 live broadcasts and for BBC TV recording for later transmission. As well as supplying power to the main site Pearce Hire also supply power to the outlying campsites and parking areas.

To achieve this required 22 Generators, 4Km of three phase cabling, over 8Km of single phase cabling and over 150 Distribution Units. Pearce Hire also ensured that the site was suitably light using over 370 lighting fixtures around the site. The main site is also quite unusual in that a large amount of the main site power is supplied from a 500 amp three phase fixed mains supply.

Lighting at the folk festival continues to be a challenge due to the fact that all the stages are housed inside clear span marquees which have limited weight loading on the roof. Thanks to Pearce Hire's extensive experience of this type of structure we were able to produce spectacular designs for all stages. Main stage lighting included 120 PAR 64’s, 8 ACL bars, 8x Martin MAC 600 and 8x Martin MAC 700 profiles coupled with 2K Fresnels and ETC Source 4 PARs. Stage 2 lighting rig included a mix of Martin MAC 250 Entours and MAC 250 washes. All three stages featured Avolites Pearl 2008 in control with Avolites ART 4000 & 2000s providing dimming and mains distribution.

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The Peterborough Beer Festival is the largest regional beer festival attracting up to 10,000 people per night at it’s peak. Over 350 different real ales from over 130 different breweries were available, served alongside a wide selection of food and live music on an indoor live stage.

Harry Morten, Branch Secretary of the beer festival said, “We continue to be very happy with the work that Pearce Hire do for us and know that we never have to worry when they are involved. Dealing with one supplier for the sound, lighting and power means that they coordinate the complex logistics, improving efficiency and saving us time and money.”

Pearce supplied a pair of 455 Kva generators to power the two 25m x 75m bar as well as the entertainment marquee, toilets and food stalls and a PA system which enabled public site announcements. The entertainment marquee, which had two bands each night and six acts on the Saturday, was equipped with Pearce Hire’s PA and lighting systems.

The PA system consisted of 12x L–Acoustics ARCS with 8x L-Acoustic SB218s, taking care of FOH duties was Richard Oxley on a Yamaha DM2000 whilst Phil Couch to care of monitors using a Soundcraft SM20. John Huson was responsible for lighting design and operation using a combination of Martin MAC 250 Entours and MAC 250 Washes, PAR 64s, Source 4 profiles and 2-cell moles.