Your Guide to Stretch Tent Lighting

If you’re in the events industry you’ll agree that lighting is a critical element in setting the right mood. Unfortunately for event planners, the desired effect isn’t always easy (or possible) to achieve with brick and mortar venues, or even with conventional event tents like marquees.

Stretch tents, on the other hand, are super easy to transform with lighting.

If you’ve worked with stretch tents before, you’ll know that little effort is required to create a cozy atmosphere. This is mainly because the tent’s mesmerizing organic curves do all the work for you.

To transform the interiors of a stretch tent is a simple task that is often achieved with simple lighting techniques. You can use one, two, or even all three.

These are our favourite techniques and their applications.

Simple stretch tent lighting techniques:

  • LED par-cans
  • Fairy lights and lanterns
  • Projection

LED par-cans

The simplest and most effective way to light a stretch tent is by placing LED par-cans in the corners of the tent, positioning them to shine up onto the tent’s surface. Par-cans can even be programmed to change colour, which looks beautiful when dispersed over the fabric as shadows dance between the dips and curves. Event planners often use different colour combinations to enhance the theme of the event.

The general rule is to use between two to three lights per every 75m² of tent.

Stretch tent light: Par cans
Image credit: Kilobush USA

Stretch tent lights: Par cans

Stretch tent lighting: Par cans

Fairy lights and lanterns

Fairy lights are such a popular choice, especially for weddings. Place the fairy lights along the natural lines of the edges of the tent and up and down the guide ropes. Not only does this placement create a magical scene, but it’s a clever way of making the ropes visible to the guests. The lightweight nature of fairy lights also gives you the option of crisscrossing them overhead, say, over the dance floor, using the poles as an attachment.

Add a unique touch to your ceremony by incorporating a few (Chinese) lanterns.

Stretch tent lights: Fairy lights
Image credit: Kilobush USA
Stretch tent lighting: Fairy lights
Image credit: Kilobush USA

Stretch tent light: Fairy lights

Projection

You can project patterns, an image slide show, or moving film on the inside surface of the tent,
which creates quite a dramatic effect. You can also project on the outside surface of the tent, which is often done with logo displays by brands at public events.

Stretch tent lighting: Projection
Image credit: Kilobush USA
Stretch tent light: Projection
Image credit: Kilobush USA
Stretch tent lights: Projection
Image credit: Kilobush USA

For more information on stretch tents, get in touch with our experts.