Most Bay Area festivals and outdoor concerts spend $6,500 to $75,000 on AV depending on stage size, audience, lighting, and number of days. A single-day community festival with a 1,000–2,500 audience typically lands between $6,500 and $18,000; a two-day festival with a full lighting rig and 5–8 acts per day usually runs $18,000–$55,000; major regional festivals with multiple stages can exceed $100,000. The table below breaks ranges down by audience and stage scope.
Bay Area festival and concert AV pricing
Festival pricing scales with three things: how many people are in front of the stage, how many bands change over per day, and how many days the system stays up. Lighting, video, and monitor world push the rest. The brackets below assume outdoor sites with reasonable load-in access in cities like San Jose, Mountain View, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Monterey.
| Event Type | Audience | Equipment Scope | Typical Bay Area Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park concert / single act | 300–1,000 | 12×16 stage, JBL or QSC point-source PA, two monitors, 4 mics + 4 DIs, basic front wash, 2 crew | $3,500–$9,000 |
| Community festival, one day | 1,000–2,500 | 16×24 mobile or built stage, line array PA, 4–6 monitors, wireless mics, basic lighting, 3–5 crew | $6,500–$18,000 |
| Mid-size festival, two days | 2,500–5,000 | 20×24 stage with roof, JBL VTX or d&b line array, full monitor world, lighting truss + movers, 6–8 crew | $18,000–$55,000 |
| Large festival, two stages | 5,000–15,000 | Main + secondary stage, line array per stage, full monitors, lighting rigs, generators, 10–18 crew | $45,000–$120,000 |
| Regional festival / headliner concert | 15,000+ | Touring-grade PA, full production rider compliance, video walls, multi-day load-in, 20+ crew | $90,000–$350,000+ |
Line items that drive festival budgets
Stage and roof
A 16×24 mobile stage with a covered roof runs $2,500–$5,500 per day. A 20×24 or 24×28 stage with rigging-rated roof for line array hangs runs $5,500–$14,000 per day. Built scaffolding stages for major events are quoted custom.
Sound system
A point-source PA with two subs and two monitors covers up to 800–1,000 listeners comfortably outdoors and runs $1,500–$3,500. A line array (JBL VTX A8, d&b Y-series, or comparable) with subs and full monitor world for 2,000–5,000 listeners runs $5,500–$18,000. See how to size a sound system.
Monitor world and audio engineer
An A1 at front of house is included in most quotes. Multi-band festivals usually need a dedicated monitor engineer plus four to eight wedges or six to eight in-ear systems: add $1,500–$4,500 per day.
Lighting
A basic front wash plus four moving heads runs $1,500–$3,500. A festival rig with truss, 12–24 movers, washes, hazer, and L1: $5,500–$18,000 per day.
Video / IMAG
IMAG screens with a single camera and switcher for larger audiences: $4,500–$12,000 per day. LED side-screens and content playback: $6,500–$25,000 per day.
Power
If shore power is not available, quiet tower generators (25–65 kW) with cable, distro, and a tech run $750–$2,500 per day. Solar-plus-battery systems are an option for small daytime community festivals. See power planning for daytime festivals.
Multi-day labor
A standard festival schedule is load-in day, show day(s), and load-out day. Crew labor often equals or exceeds equipment cost. Day rates for an experienced festival A1, monitor engineer, or L1 typically run $750–$1,200 per day.
Worked examples
Example 1: 1,800-attendee community festival, one day, San Jose park
- 16×24 mobile stage with covered roof
- JBL VRX line array, two subs, four wedges
- 4 Shure SM58 vocal mics, 8 DIs, drum mics
- Basic lighting wash with 4 moving heads
- One 25 kW quiet generator with distro
- 3-person crew (A1, monitor engineer, stagehand)
Typical Bay Area range: $11,500–$15,500.
Example 2: 3,500-attendee, two-day festival, Mountain View
- 20×24 stage with rigging-rated roof, line array hangs
- JBL VTX A8 or d&b Y-series line array, full monitor world (in-ears + wedges)
- Lighting rig with truss, 16 movers, washes, hazer
- IMAG with single-camera switched program
- Two 65 kW quiet generators
- 6–8 person crew per day plus load-in and load-out
Typical Bay Area range: $32,000–$48,000.
Example 3: 8,000-attendee, two-stage festival, Oakland
- Main stage 24×32 with line array, full lighting, IMAG screens
- Secondary stage 16×20 with line array, basic lighting
- Shared monitor world and patch
- Power distribution across two generators
- Crew of 14–16 across both stages
Typical Bay Area range: $75,000–$110,000.
Common mistakes
- Booking a 12×16 stage for a band rider that requires drum riser, keyboard rig, and DJ table.
- Underestimating crowd size and ordering a point-source PA that cannot cover the back of the field.
- Skipping a monitor engineer on a multi-band day and forcing the FOH engineer to cover both worlds.
- Forgetting weather covers for FOH and monitor positions until the day of.
- Missing city sound permits and noise ordinance limits in San Jose, San Francisco, and Berkeley.
Which option fits best?
The right fit depends on audience, stage scope, rider requirements, site layout, and whether your team can run setup and operation safely on show day.
Rentals Only
Best for small park concerts and acoustic shows where a single experienced operator handles a point-source PA and mics. Lowest cost.
Hybrid Support
Best when delivery, stage build, and PA tuning are professional but your in-house volunteers or city staff handle stagehand and mic-flip duties between acts. Common for school district and parks-and-rec festivals.
Full-Service AV / Production
Best for festivals with multiple acts, rider compliance, lighting design, IMAG, or generators. You get FOH, monitors, L1, stage manager, and a stagehand crew.
Recommended Next Step
The right option depends on audience size, stage scope, rider, site layout, and how hands-on your team wants to be. If you already know what you need, browse related stage and PA rentals. If you want help sizing stage, PA, monitor world, lighting, and generator load, ask for a recommendation. If you need delivery, setup, onsite engineers, and load-out, request a quote.
Browse Related Rentals Ask for a Recommendation Request a Quote
Recommended rental packages
Use these links when you are ready to align stage format with your festival or concert scope and request a quote.
- Portable stage package (20×8). Useful for many community programs and smaller live-music formats. View this rental package.
- Marshall Austin MAP24 mobile stage. Good fit when faster deployment and roofed staging are priorities. Request this production setup.
- Stageline SL-50 mobile stage. Common option for larger-format outdoor audiences. See related rental options.
- Stageline SL-100 mobile stage (24×20). Add this stage package to your quote.