16 October 2026
[UK] PLASA Show 2026 brought the entertainment technology community together at Olympia London from 6-8 September 2026, delivering strong year-on-year growth alongside an expanded show footprint, new experiences, product showcases and opportunities to connect.
Read the full post-show roundup in LSi’s October edition HERE!
Across three days, the show recorded 11,430 visitors – a 10.5% increase on 2025 – with 8,136 unique attendees – up 8.2% year-on-year. Visitor attendance grew across every day of the event, while 243 exhibiting brands – including 70 new brands – filled Olympia with the latest technology, demonstrations and expertise from across the entertainment technology sector.
The show continued to expand across Olympia, with a broader mix of stands, features and activity making the Gallery Level into a destination in its own right. Alongside returning favourites such as the Careers & Networking Café and Classic Gear Live, 2026 saw the launch of the Cybersecurity Pavilion and The PLASA Lab in the West Hall. These additions reflect the show’s continued evolution beyond the traditional exhibition format, creating even more opportunities to discover technology, gain practical insight and connect with the people behind the industry.
The 2026 figures demonstrated not only growth in overall attendance, but the breadth of professionals PLASA Show continues to attract. International visitors represented 11.1% of the visitor audience, with 712 attendees travelling from outside the UK – an increase of 6.3% on 2025. Norway, Ireland, Germany, the United States, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and China were among the strongest overseas markets.
Within the UK, London and the south-east naturally represented the largest proportion of visitors, but attendees travelled from every region of the country. The audience reflected the wide reach of entertainment technology: live events, theatre and performing arts, festivals, concert touring, corporate events, broadcast, film, permanent installations and commercial AV were all strongly represented.
The visitor profile demonstrated significant purchasing influence. 37% identified themselves as final decision-makers, 24% as recommending purchases and 18% as specifying products, while Directors, Owners and Chairmen accounted for almost one in five visitors. Lighting, audio and AV/video remained the three largest technology sectors represented.
Female attendance also saw particularly strong growth, rising by 33% year-on-year from 763 to 1,017 visitors. This increase in female representation supports a positive direction for diversity within the show’s growing audience.
The next generation was well represented too, with 521 students attending PLASA Show 2026 – up 2.4% on the previous year. Building on the significant rise in student participation seen in 2025, the continued growth points to sustained enthusiasm from those starting out in the industry.
First-time exhibitor SA Touring reflected on the commercial value of the event, saying: “As a first-time exhibitor we were blown away by the amount of interest and the interactions we had at the show . . . PLASA has already led to purchases and immediate business.”
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Show floor activity, sponsors and major launches
Across Olympia, established international manufacturers, distributors and emerging brands used PLASA Show to launch products, demonstrate new technologies, meet customers and create immersive experiences around their latest developments.
Robe UK returned as headline sponsor for 2026, once again drawing crowds with its new live production, A World Beyond Reflection – Where Light Reveals All. The show put Robe’s latest technology centre stage, featuring the launch of Arianne 4 and Arianne 12, LEDBeam 400, iT10 Profile and mySVOPATT. Powered by a live 10-piece drum and brass band, the production featured a rig of around 200 fixtures from across Robe’s portfolio, including more from the Arianne range, GigaPointe, iForte, iEsprite and iPainte families, with products integrated throughout the performance to demonstrate their capabilities in a real-world show environment.
PLASA Show was also supported by official sponsors A.C. Entertainment Technologies, Absen, BeamZ, Canford Audio, Leisuretec and TAIT, bringing a broad mix of new products, demonstrations and show-floor experiences to Olympia.
Official sponsor Leisuretec comments: “There’s a real value in bringing so much of the industry together under one roof that simply can’t be replaced online. We’re proud to support PLASA Show and, after another successful year, we’re already looking forward to coming back.”
Official sponsor Canford adds: “The show has been a key fixture in our annual calendar for decades, and 2026 felt particularly special as we celebrated Canford’s 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we decided to become an official sponsor. It was fantastic to see Canford branding throughout the venue, and to give something back to an event that has supported us for so many years!”
Lighting provided a particularly busy stream of product news. On Entedi’s stand, Claypaky launched its B-EYE K30, B-EYE 7 and B-EYE 12, while elsewhere GLP introduced the TW Dot Wash and TW Dot Pinspot. Highlite launched the Showtec Phantom IP and Robert Juliat presented the new Bizet 8-Colour LED profile through Live Technology. Other launches included Artistic Licence cueLumen upgrades, the Magic FX Sparxtar II and Chauvet Professional’s Maverick Storm LT.
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Get the full post-show roundup in LSi’s October edition!
A number of products also made their UK, European or PLASA Show debuts. The next generation of Chauvet Professional’s Ovation Rêve range made its UK debut, while visitors could also discover Highlite’s Infinity Chimp G3 lighting desk, Fiilex’s G9 Color, Lexvision’s Aurona Wash, FX Strobe and Blinder, LaserAnimation Sollinger’s Unreal 120, and HOF’s XOOP Spotbar LED system on the Entedi stand. Portman Lights introduced the Zyava, Freax and Hexy, while LSC’s Nexen gateway range made its European debut, one of the first gateway systems certified for the new Sig-Net secure lighting network protocol.
Audio brought plenty of new technology to the show floor too. Glensound’s Greater Divine Supernal and the Viw debuts included Violet Audio’s dMix 128, RCF’s EVOX V15, DirectOut Ace and Optimal Audio’s Column Series 8 and 16
EM Acoustics also used PLASA Show for the first major UK showing of its CS Series cardioid subwoofers and QI Series of high-end installation loudspeakers. Elsewhere, new products on show included Adamson’s VGx, networked variants of d&b audiotechnik’s U-Series, DPA Microphones’ 6388 directional headset microphone, and Solid State Logic’s TCA Tour.
Beyond lighting and audio, LANG’s Nero LED screen made its PLASA Show debut within the AV sector, while new products across staging, power and connectivity included CableJoG’s LightingJoG Rack 8 Power and Neutrik’s True1 Data Connector Series.
Together, the launches reflected the breadth of technology represented at PLASA Show, from fixtures, control and network infrastructure to audio, LED display, staging and connectivity – with the show floor giving visitors the opportunity not only to see new products, but to speak directly with the teams behind them and experience technology in action.
For BeamZ, the ability to demonstrate technology in its intended environment was particularly important: “You can explain specifications and features, but nothing compares to seeing the performance, colours and effects for yourself.”
Pharos Architectural Controls described PLASA Show as an environment for “exchanging ideas, strengthening existing relationships and making new connections”.
Theresa Gibson of Area Four Industries UK agreed, saying: “For us, PLASA Show is about much more than exhibiting products – it’s about building relationships, listening to the market and understanding what our customers need next. The face-to-face interaction the show provides remains incredibly valuable in an increasingly digital world.”
City Theatrical’s Kelly Porteous summed up the human side of the event, adding: “The products are always an important part of PLASA Show, but for us, the best part of the show was the people.”
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The PLASA Lab puts lighting to the test
One of the standout new additions to PLASA Show 2026 was The PLASA Lab, giving visitors a new way to experience professional lighting technology away from the traditional exhibition stand.
Developed by PLASA in partnership with James Simpson of Copper Candle, the independently facilitated sessions brought comparable fixtures together in a controlled, blacked-out environment for side-by-side testing. With brand identities kept under wraps until the end of each session, visitors could focus entirely on the performance – from output, colour and beam quality to movement and effects – before the manufacturers were revealed.
The new format proved a hit, with 759 visits across five sessions over the three days, including repeat visits as the programme and fixtures changed throughout the show.
Participating manufacturers included Ayrton, BeamZ, Cameo, Chauvet, Claypaky, Elation, GLP, Martin, JB Lighting and Vari-Lite, with further support from Avolites, Blackout, BlackTrax, ChamSys, ETC, Obsidian, Outback, PSCo, RCF, SIXTY82, Sennheiser, White Light and LSi.
James Simpson reflects: “Seeing visitors genuinely absorbed in the experience – comparing fixtures without brand labels, asking sharp technical questions, and staying on after the reveal to get hands-on at the consoles – was exactly what we set out to create. What struck me most was the quality of the conversations it sparked. People left talking about light, not products.”
The PLASA Lab, captured by RED
Bringing another dimension to The PLASA Lab, RED joined the feature as its video partner, capturing the light, detail, and atmosphere inside the experience.
RED supplied both a Cine-Broadcast solution and a traditional cinematic camera setup, showcasing the cameras’ ability to crisply capture dynamic lighting displays.
The collaboration extended the experience beyond those inside The PLASA Lab itself, creating a high-quality live stream and post-show footage of the fixtures in action – demonstrating how RED technology can be used across live and cinematic production environments.
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Cybersecurity moves onto the show floor
Another major new addition for 2026 was the Cybersecurity Pavilion, recognising the growing importance of digital security to manufacturers and users of connected entertainment technology.
Led by Wayne Howell of Sig-Net, the dedicated area provided a focal point for conversations around cybersecurity, secure product development and the implications of the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), as manufacturers prepare for new obligations affecting connected products and software.
Coming immediately after the inaugural CyberFest, the Pavilion helped carry those highly technical discussions into the wider PLASA Show audience, creating opportunities for manufacturers, developers, systems engineers and product specialists to learn more about secure communications and the changing regulatory environment.
Howell comments: “The Pavilion was a resounding success. We had products from around ten manufacturers, all communicating seamlessly over Sig-Net. We were busy throughout the show, and the frequent question: ‘So, what is this CRA thing?’, confirmed just how vital this initiative was.”
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Ideas, expertise and real-world experience
Sponsored by Dante, PLASA Show’s 2026 seminar programme brought together leading practitioners, creatives and technical specialists for three days of discussion spanning major productions, emerging technology, sustainability, cybersecurity, skills, wellbeing and the changing business landscape.
Across the show, 2,329 visits were recorded across the seminar theatres, demonstrating a strong appetite for learning and knowledge-sharing alongside the activity on the exhibition floor.
Creative and technical insight drawn from real-world productions proved particularly popular. Among the sessions attracting strong audiences was Lighting ‘Into The Woods’ – From Concept To Stage, where Olivier and Profile Award-winning lighting designer Aideen Malone shared the creative thinking, collaboration and challenges behind taking the production from concept to performance.
Creative Lighting And The House Rig also drew significant interest, bringing together Sherry Coenen, Vic Pyne, Adam Murdoch and Alex Ray to explore how designers can work creatively within the practical constraints of house and festival rigs across theatre, opera, dance and live music.
Technical heritage also resonated with visitors. In The National Theatre At Fifty – Five Decades Of Technology In Support Of Theatre, Paul Handley, Matt Drury, Andrew Grant, David Bertenshaw and Anne Valentino explored five decades of technical development at the National Theatre, from stage machinery and lighting control to projection and contemporary production technologies.
Other particularly popular sessions included Vari-Lite – The Lights That Changed Our World, looking back at the technology and people behind a system that helped reshape entertainment lighting, and Virtual Pre-Production – The Royal Ballet And Opera’s 3D World, which explored the use of virtual environments and 3D visualisation in contemporary production planning.
Following their dedicated 40th anniversary theatre in 2025, LSi played an important role in shaping the 2026 programme, collaborating on a curated stream of eight sessions. Several proved especially popular, including Lighting ‘Into The Woods’, The National Theatre At Fifty and Vari-Lite – The Lights That Changed Our World. Elsewhere, the LSi-curated programme explored the audio technology behind Eurovision 2026, developments in Avatar-based concerts, advances at the Royal Opera House and the evolving role of the system technician. It also brought an important people-focused conversation to the stage with The Crèche Barrier – Can Safe And Comfortable Childcare Be A Part Of Modern Touring?, featuring platinum award-winning artist Katie Melua in a discussion around childcare and family life on the road.
Beyond lighting and theatre, the programme covered a broad mix of creative, technical and industry-wide issues – from the technology behind The Traitors live experience and the convergence of broadcast, live events and AV, to business and freelancer guidance, careers and workforce development, and health and wellbeing. Wider industry discussions tackled changing legislation, standards and compliance – including the Cyber Resilience Act, Martyn’s Law and employment rights – alongside sustainability, Digital Product Passports, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
As Seminar Programme Sponsor, Dante also delivered two dedicated sessions exploring the growing role of networked technology in live production. 2 Million People, One Network – Dante At Festival Scale looked at the challenges and opportunities of networking at major-event scale, while The Economics Of Convergence – When Shared Networks Make Sense In Live Sound And When They Don’t examined the practical and commercial considerations around bringing audio, video, lighting and control onto shared network infrastructure.
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More ways to experience technology
Hands-on demonstration and training continued to grow across the show in 2026.
Dedicated spaces enabled visitors to experience technologies in an environment far closer to their intended applications than a conventional exhibition stand. KV2 Audio, RCF and TT+ Audio hosted dedicated audio demonstrations, while AbsenLive and Barco provided opportunities to explore large-scale visual and projection technology.
ChamSys also returned with its programme of practical lighting-control training, giving visitors the chance to develop skills and explore workflows directly with its team. Several sessions were led by guest lighting designers David Howard and Anthony Hazelden, bringing real-world creative experience into the hands-on workshops.
New for 2026, GLP also added dedicated training around the JDC2, giving visitors another lighting-focused opportunity to get hands-on with current technology and learn directly from product specialists in a practical setting.
KV2 UK sales manager Tom Weldon comments: “Our demonstration room was once again buzzing with engineers, consultants, designers and users experiencing our True Point
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Careers, connections and the next generation
In collaboration with PLASA, Power of Events, Production Futures and Access Industry, the popular Careers & Networking Cafe returned with an expanded programme designed to make professional development and meaningful industry connections a visible part of the show.
Across the three days, visitors could take part in speed networking, access CV and career advice, receive free professional headshots, meet prospective employers and hear directly from experienced industry professionals through informal career-focused conversations and Fireside Chats.
The emphasis was not solely on those beginning their careers. The cafe also provided a meeting place for professionals considering their next move or looking to make new connections.
RWS Global’s Oliver Hawker comments: “Participating in the speed networking sessions enabled our team to connect with a broad range of technicians in a short period of time, generating valuable conversations and new professional relationships.”
Supporting visitors beyond career development, the Sensory Calm Space also returned to the Gallery Level, providing a quiet place away from the show floor to rest, reset or speak confidentially with trained welfare professionals throughout the event.
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Classic Gear Live brings LSi’s pages to life
Vintage technology has now featured at five consecutive PLASA Shows, with Classic Gear Live returning once again to celebrate the equipment and people that helped shape the industry. Named after the long-running Classic Gear column in LSi magazine, the feature brings the pages of LSi to life, placing landmark technology from across the decades back in front of visitors.
Curated by Rob Halliday, with Chris Hewitt of CH Vintage Audio leading the audio collection, 2026 highlights included displays celebrating 40 years of Vari-Lite’s Series 200 system, 50 years of the National Theatre and 70 years of ‘Betty’, the Palace Theatre’s System CD lighting console, alongside touring consoles associated with artists including David Bowie, Pink Floyd and The Who.
Reflecting on the feature, Halliday comments: “As ever, the joy wasn’t just the equipment but the people,” with special guests including Jim Bornhorst, Tom Littrell and Brooks Taylor of Vari-Lite, Anne Valentino of ETC and David Bertenshaw of Strand sharing first-hand stories behind the technology both on the show floor and in seminar sessions.
Classic Gear Live also raised almost £1,200 for Backup Tech through raffles and blind auctions of unopened copies of the legendary Vari-Lite book A Different Light.
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The PLASA Awards for Innovation, run in association with LSi, once again put new product development firmly in the spotlight. This year, 43 products were entered, with nominees displayed on the Innovation Gallery throughout the show and the winners announced on Monday evening. The independent judging panel ultimately recognised eight innovations and presented a further four commendations.
Awards went to Chauvet Professional’s unrival App; Doughty Engineering’s Pre-Rig Quick Trigger Clamp; Event Lifting Limited’s ELL Smart Chain Hoist; LaserAnimation Sollinger’s Unreal 120; ROE Visual’s Vanish Air Rental; Singularity’s Sig-Net; and SoundBase, while Powersoft’s SpeakerMATE received the prestigious Gold Award.
The judges also commended d&b audiotechnik’s U-Series, Disguise’s Mapping Matter, Polar’s Areal Upmix Engine, and Robe’s GLINT and AERIS.
The 2026 results reflected innovation across lighting, audio, AV, rigging and software, with particular recognition given to developments addressing safety, workflow, cybersecurity and product longevity.
Juan Jose Vila from ELL celebrated, saying: “Commercially, the award changes the conversation from day one. As a new name competing with long-established brands, ‘PLASA Award for Innovation 2026 Winner’ gives our distributors and customers third-party confirmation that ELL is genuinely different, not just marketing. It will be front and centre in our product promotion this year – on our website, at trade shows and in every sales conversation.”
Beyond celebrating innovation, the Awards also gave back to the industry, raising £4,000 for Backup Tech. Profits from Awards entry fees are donated to the charity each year, helping support technical professionals, crew and production personnel through financial assistance and access to health and welfare services.
Applications for next year’s Awards will open in Summer 2027.
PLASA Show 2026 arrived at an exciting moment for its long-standing home, with Olympia’s £1.3bn transformation bringing a fresh feel to the venue and new amenities for visitors to enjoy, including bars, restaurants, hotels and public spaces.
The evolving destination provided a fitting backdrop for PLASA Show’s own continued development, with even more still to come as both Olympia and the show look ahead to their next chapters.
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50 years of PLASA – The Association
While technology filled the exhibition halls, 2026 was also a chance to celebrate the people and community behind it, as PLASA – The Association marked its 50th anniversary.
The milestone was celebrated throughout the show and culminated in the PLASA 50th Anniversary Party on Monday evening, bringing together exhibitors, visitors, members, partners and friends from across the industry. The celebration was supported by Adamson Systems Engineering, BeamZ, Claypaky, DiGiCo UK, Neg Earth Lights, Neutrik, Wolfmix, Sennheiser UK and Unusual Rigging.
PLASA Show was born out of the association soon after its formation, creating a dedicated meeting place for the industry it represented. That legacy now sets the stage for the show’s own major milestone in 2027.
Next stop: 50 years of PLASA Show
With PLASA’s 50th anniversary celebrations marking 2026, the spotlight now turns to the show itself.
PLASA Show will return to Olympia, London from 5-7 September 2027, with plans already under way for a special edition celebrating 50 years of PLASA Show and five decades of technology, creativity, business and the people who have shaped it.
Sophie Atkinson, head of events at PLASA concludes: “It’s been fantastic to see PLASA Show continue to grow and evolve, and particularly encouraging to see such a positive response to the new features we’ve introduced this year.
“Looking ahead to 2027, we’re really excited to be celebrating 50 years of PLASA Show. It’s a significant milestone, and one that gives us a great opportunity to reflect on the show’s heritage while continuing to develop what we offer for the future.
“With Olympia’s impressive transformation bringing new opportunities to enhance the show experience, we’re already working on plans to make 2027 a very special edition and look forward to sharing more in the coming months.”
PLASA Show will return to Olympia, London from 5-7 September 2027 for the special milestone edition, continuing its mission to connect, inspire and celebrate the people and technology that make live entertainment possible.
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CLICK HERE to read the full post-show roundup in the October edition of LSi.
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