PTA Laser Shows

Written for PTA event planners and updated for 2024 season, updated Sept 2024 - The prices shown now include generator hire as standard.

We do a great deal of work with PTAs and other similar voluntary organisations and groups. We fully understand the hurdles faced when planning an event such as a Laser or Fireworks show, especially if you are new to the role. We make it our goal to make this as simple as possible allowing you to concentrate on the other details of your event.

Lets start by providing all the information you need right away with what we provide as standard:

• 10 Minute Laser show synchronised to music.
• 50 watts in total of Lasers power. Laser power directly relates to brightness. The greater the watts the brighter a show.
• Substantial PA system (which can also be used for PA announcements) which easily will cover audiences up to and beyond 1000 spectators.
• Submission of NOTAMs to the CAA.
• 5m public liability Insurance.
• Subject to enough notice we can create an example Laser marketing video for you to use on your socials etc for advertising for no cost at all.

We take care of everything on the Laser show site. All you need to plan for is the spectator area and selling those tickets!

How much does it cost?

The 2024 cost for our shows is £1700. This includes our 20KVA generator (heavily discounted) and includes travel for 50miles/1hr from our base. We will quote individually for events beyond this.

When booking us for your show, we will invoice you a £200 booking fee, which is deducted from the final payment. The final payment must be made within three weeks of the event, you can of course pay it as soon as you wish.

Please note all prices are +VAT, and VAT invoices will be provided.

Power

We need at least 10Kw/12Kva of power to run the Laser show. As standard we provide a 20Kva Generator (and now price this in as standard). It is not possible to power this show from 13 amp mains sockets! We are happy for you to supply your own power, as long as its at least a 63amp single phase supply, or 32A three phase, and we will reduce the total invoiced amount by £150+vat.

How do our shows work?

We apply our experience gained from more than 20 years of professional firework displays and apply this to our Laser shows.

We use 4 Laser projectors and position these across a 20-40m wide show area. These are set back from the audience by around 30-50meters. The PA system sits around 10-20m back from the audience. This is all controlled from our show control which is usually within our vehicle.

Whilst this is far more involved and time consuming to setup and break down than a self contained trailer (or similar), it gives the Laser show an uncompromising level of scale and ability to impress, which is just not possible from positioning the Lasers all in the same location.

In addition we provide smoke machines and fans which provide the cloud/sky effects people love so much with Lasers. These we position upwind of the Lasers and this adds greatly to the impact of the Lasers.

Watching a Laser Show

Even now not many people really know what a Laser show is. We frequently get asked which direction do you look. The simple answer is just like a fireworks show, you look towards the area where the Lasers and audio comes from! If you want to see what we mean, check out this YouTube link below:

Does the weather influence or cause problems with a show?

The UK is no stranger to changes in weather, and we have pretty much seen it all! The short answer is that as long as we can get access, and there are no MET office weather warnings in place, we can go ahead with the show, but lets explain how the weather impacts a Laser show in more detail.

Rain

Not a problem. We can (and have) continued with our Laser shows in some truly heavy rain. Lasers actually look magical in the rain, the beams reflect off the rain droplets and look amazing in the air, so its not a problem for us.

Wind

The only time wind impacts a Laser show is with smoke/haze machines. We position our smoke machines upwind, but changes in wind can cause issues. We mitigate this by using more than one smoke machine and also have large fans to help. There are some cases however were we just cannot make this work for example in small sites tight venues, in cases like this the Lasers are still visible, but just not as bright as they would be with haze/smoke in the air.

Very dry weather (hot and cold)

Lasers are made visible by impurities in the air for the beams to reflect on, that could be water, dust, pollen, even pollution(!). Very dry summer days and frosty winter days tend to dry the air out making the beams less visible. This is why we use smoke machines to enhance the viability of the beams. The problem is when the wind is changing directions rapidly as explained above. Worse case scenario is the beams just don't look as vivid as we would like, but the audience would still enjoy the show.

Location/Obstacles/Local Hazards

We cannot for safety reasons aim our Lasers where they may hit or make contact with either the audience or any member of public. This includes pointing on buildings where there are windows where the Lasers may pass through into persons within a building. There is no situation *ever* that an outdoor one off Laser show should be able to make direct contact with a member of the audience or public at least without some very specialist and precise exposure measurements having been calculated and measured first. For a one off show, this is just not practical so all our shows are seen in front and above you.

In addition we also cannot use our Lasers within close proximity of an air port or its flight paths without prior notice (Airports get very nervous about this) That's not to say it's not possible to have a Laser show near Gatwick or Heathrow for example, it just means there are additional considerations which we need to look at.

Any other Extras/Upgrades?

Yes absolutely. We can provide low noise fireworks / Gas flames and more to compliment and work along side the Laser show. We deal with shows like this on a one-to-one basis as they will always be unique to a venue or occasion.

Summary

This page will be updated as we answer more specifically related questions in relation to PTA Laser shows. Feel free to drop us a message or give us a call if you have any questions.

Updated Sept 24 to add more details and make the page clearer.