Festoon Lighting and how

Searching for the best festoon lighting? Look no further! Here at Essential Supplies, we stock a range of festoon lighting products which can be used to take your interior or exterior to the next level. With Christmas upon us, lighting features can make your atmosphere all the merrier. Our festoons are extremely popular for inside marquees, weddings, outdoor events, gardens, garden parties and permanent outdoor installations (like pergolas).

 

To find the best suited lighting solution please read on. From connectable festoons to bespoke designed lighting arrangements, I guarantee there will be something to suit everyone’s needs.

 

Who needs them?

Our festoons are perfect for a wide range of businesses and for domestic use. From wedding venues to street food vendors and more! They can add a real depth to any business and really bring an ambient feel to your venue or garden. To help you decide which festoon would be suitable, here’s some festoon inspiration:

Food Vendor:

@omdhotdogs

Wedding Venue:

@westcountrymarquees

Garden:

@chrisandeve

Beer Gardens:

Image from Pinterest

Custom Festoon used in Light Up Letters:

@bigwowevents

Coloured Festoon:

Royal William Yard Lighting Show

Festoons really are perfect for bringing a real ambient feel to any venue. They can elevate any space from being relatively simple to being a real showstopper. Our festoons are super popular with wedding venues as they can bring a real vintage feel to the whole day. They can also look fabulous as a backdrop for wedding pictures, as demonstrated by West Country Marquees.

Festoons can also be levelled up by using pendant drops to create a vintage style centrepiece for any occasion. For further information on how to create one, you can view our blog post on How To: Vintage Lighting. This will give you a step-by-step on what you need to create a vintage lighting look for any event.

 

We stock a comprehensive range of festoons, so which one is best for you?


Connectable

  • Made of rubber and PVC, water resistant IP65 rated, our connectable festoons are the perfect solution as they do exactly what they say; they connect together forming long lengths or parallel runs of splendid, eye-catching festoon lights. We stock a range of 10m, 20m and 50m with the option of spacing lampholders 0.5m or 1m apart. The closer together, the greater amount of illumination which is ideal when lighting within a pergola and the wider they are apart, makes for fantastic walkway lighting. That’s right, they’re perfect to suit most lighting arrangements. With the options of black and white cable, and the ability to run 500m off one starter set in one continuous run, this makes the connectable festoon a perfectly versatile product with endless options. Connectable Festoons all have E27 Edison Screw (ES) lampholders and cabling can also be divided using our 3-way splitters. These festoons will need an 13A or 16A starter set.


Traditional

  • Traditional festoons are made of rubber and PVC also, with an IP55 rating and are perfect if you need something simple and ready to use. We offer a range of lengths, 10m, 20m, 30m, 50m and 100m. Both are suitable for indoor and outdoor use; however, the heavy-duty rubber material is more suitable for a longer outdoor use due to its IP rating and is especially good for harsher environments such as seafronts. Our traditional range is available in black and with bayonet cap (BC) lampholders from stock. ES is available upon request. The cable is supplied without plug. A standard 13A plug or 16A can be fitted and 16A sockets can be attached on ends if you needed to daisy chain runs together.



Self-Assembly

  • If you're looking to create your own, specific array of lighting with various lampholders at different spacing then assembling your own lighting run might be for you. Self-assembly is available in both ES and BC lampholders. Unlike purchasing pre-made runs with regular intervals between lampholders, you might find you need some spaces to be greater between each other, which makes this range perfectly suitable if you need something customisable and love a bit of DIY. The Bayonet Cap Self Assembly Festoon is made with PVC and lampholders are IP44 rated, meaning they are best used indoors or under a canopy. The ES Self Assembly Festoon is better for wet weather, outdoor conditions and the plug is IP65, meaning it can withstand direct water spray. These festoons will need an 13A or 16A starter set.



Custom Made

  • Alongside ready-made lengths, we offer a completely custom-made option. If you’re not keen on the extra work, then leave it to us. Just submit a design by email or call us to discuss and we’ll do the heavy lifting. The custom festoon is perfect if you’re in need of something that requires a unique set of lamp spacing or cable lengths. The options are pretty much endless with custom festoons because you create the design.  They are available in both PVC and outdoor Rubber, with ES or BC lampholders. Our custom festoons can be ordered in different lengths with different spacing between lampholders AND can be completely different throughout the run. So, if you wanted odd spacing, that is something we can accommodate for you also. Just send us a sketch design or brief and we’ll take care of. These festoons can have a 13A or 16A Plug/Sockets fitted allowing you to daisy chain festoon runs together. Please note, with custom festoon, there is a minimum of 20cm from start of cable to the first lampholders.



Lightweight

  • Our lightweight festoons are a good option if you’re wanting something simple. With the ability of running up to 3 sets of these stylish yet affordable festoons from one transformer in a daisy chain, the user can easily create an event or party atmosphere for all to enjoy. Complete with a 1 metre extension lead and 16 non-replaceable LED lamps, these festoons can be utilised indoors and outdoors, under the right conditions. These festoons come in 3 types: black cable with white globes, black cable with coloured globes and white cable with white globes. They are lightweight, making them easily portable for events on the go and uses an ‘L’ type plug and socket system that is only compatible with the rest of our lightweight festoon series and transformer.



Coloured Festoon

  • If you would like to make any of our festoons coloured, then our coloured lamps are perfect to add another dimension to any of the festoon, especially for occasions like Christmas! We stock a wide range of colours in both ES and BC fitting. The lamps are suitable with all our festoons, as long as the lamp chosen fits the lamp holder on the festoon.



What else do I need with my Festoons?

So now you’ve decided on your festoon, read on for information about bulbs, accessories and more for your chosen festoons.

Bulbs

  • The bulbs used for your festoon are completely up to you. We have a huge choice of colours, styles and offer dimmable, glass or shatterproof bulbs that will help you get the right effect. You must make sure that everything is compatible, so if you choose our connectable range make sure you have ES lamps to match, as BC lamps would not be compatible with ES lampholders. If you’re using a dimmer, make sure you select dimmable bulbs from us. These have been tried and tested for effect, as some bulbs may look like they dim but in the end, they fail.  So make sure its dimmable and use an Essential Supplier dimmer.

Pendant Drops and Accessories?

  • With our connectable festoons, we offer a specifically designed range of pendant drops which are great if you are looking to create a real stand out centrepiece with your festoons. These come in a range of lengths, from 40cm, 75cm and 100cm. Your ability to elevate your festoons is made even easier with these pendant drops.

 

The materials and IP Rating of Festoons?

  • Our festoons are made from either PVC or Rubber. Both materials are suitable for indoor and outdoor use, however if you plan to keep them outdoors then rubber is much better suited for that. Both are IP rated; however, each festoon is different so it’s best to check within the festoon product description.

Power Supply

  • Powering the festoons is done by using the starter kits we sell for each festoon. These are available in 16A or 13A, so you are guaranteed to find something to suit your needs. Traditional, tungsten bulbs needed to draw a lot more power but these days, a 13A plug would easily power 500 3W LED bulbs. Please note, a starter kit IS NEEDED to power certain festoons, so please keep this in mind as you will not be able to use the festoon. For connectable starter kits, click here.



FAQ’s

How long can my Festoon lighting be?

  1. This depends on what festoon you choose to use. Should you choose a traditional festoon, you’ll have set lengths. This is the same with lightweight and coloured festoon. The connectable, self-assembly and custom differ as they are customisable in the lengths you choose.

How long can my connectable festoon be?

  1. Your connectable festoon can run 500m off one starter set in one continuous run. This means you can daisy chain all our different lengths together, up to 500m. So, if you needed 70m of festoon, you could use 1 x 50m length and 1 x 20m length festoons to get exactly what you need. These two lengths can also be used separately if you have separate starter kits to power each length. Just remember though that the longer the length, the greater voltage drop you get.

Do my Festoon Strings connect to each other?

  1. Yes, but this is only available on the Essential Supplies connectable range. This range is suitable for daisy chaining together. For other ranges, you would need to request assembling with 16A fittings at extra cost. Please contact us for a quote

Can I use my Festoon Outdoors?

  1. Yes, most of our festoons are suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Our festoons are made from either PVC or Rubber. Both materials are suitable for indoor and outdoor use, however if you plan to keep them outdoors then rubber is much better suited for that. Please check festoon specification when making your decision, all festoon specifications are available to view when you click on the products on the website.

Do you sell extension leads?

  1. Yes, all our extension leads are available to view here.

Why do my bulbs flicker when dimming?

  1. Check the bulbs you purchased are Dimmable. Certain LED bulbs have not been designed for dimming and thus flicker when power is reduced.

What bulb is best for outdoor?

  1. Both ES and BC fittings are suitable for outdoors, as long as they’re fitted in an IP rated waterproof lighting fitting.

What’s the difference between LED and Regular incandescent bulbs?

  1. LED bulbs use significantly less energy than an incandescent bulb.



Image from LED vs Incandescent Lights

What’s the difference between ES (Edison Screw) and BC (Bayonet Cap)?

  1. Water ingress

 

Do you provide small ES screw (SES)?

  1. No, we do not provide an SES fitting on any of our festoons.

 

What’s the difference between IP65 and IP44?

  1. Water ingress. The higher the IP rating, the better the water resistance of the product. Therefore, we recommend a rubber festoon if you are planning to use it for long term outdoor use.

 

Why would I want smaller spacing between lampholders?

  1. Brighter when closer together, ideal for an outdoor seating area like pub gardens or street food vendor, like Oh My Dogs shown at the start of this blog.