Backup Power for Events: Beating Load-Shedding

In Zimbabwe, a power cut in the middle of a wedding or conference is a real risk — and nothing kills the mood faster than silence and darkness. The good news: with a little planning, your event can run right through load-shedding.

Know your power draw

Sound, lighting and screens all pull power. Before the event, your AV supplier should work out the total load so the generator is correctly sized — too small and it strains or cuts out, too big and you overpay for fuel. This is why it matters to tell your supplier everything you're running.

Generator sizing and fuel

A properly sized generator with enough fuel for the whole event (plus a margin) is the backbone of outdoor and off-grid events. For indoor venues on the grid, a generator on standby can kick in if the power drops. Always plan fuel for longer than you expect the event to run.

Protect the sensitive gear

Mixing desks, screens and digital equipment don't like sudden power cuts or dirty generator power. A UPS or power conditioning keeps them safe and avoids a hard reboot mid-event. Ask your supplier how they protect the critical equipment.

Let us handle it

JMG Audio can supply backup generator power alongside your sound and lighting, sized to your event, so you never have to think about it. Tell us your venue and equipment and we plan the power for you.

Startup surge catches people out

Equipment draws far more power in the instant it switches on than while running, and several items powering up together can trip a generator that is perfectly adequate for the steady load. This is why a generator that looked fine on paper cuts out the moment the rig comes on. Stage the power-up in sequence rather than throwing one switch, and specify with genuine headroom rather than matching the calculated figure exactly.

Noise and placement

An open-frame generator behind a marquee will be audible in your speeches and in every second of your video recording. Silenced units cost more and earn it back immediately. Placement matters as much as the unit — distance from seating, orientation away from microphones, and enough cable to put the machine somewhere sensible rather than wherever the truck happened to stop.

Cabling and distribution are part of the plan

A generator alone is not a power solution. Correctly rated cabling, proper distribution boards and cable ramps wherever people walk are all necessary. Long runs of undersized cable cause voltage drop, which makes equipment behave unpredictably in ways that are genuinely hard to diagnose mid-event. Domestic extension leads are not an acceptable substitute at event scale.

Who watches the generator?

Someone needs to be responsible for monitoring fuel and the running set, and it should not be the person mixing your sound. Work out the total runtime including setup, soundcheck, the event and pack-down, then add margin — events overrun far more often than they finish early. Refuelling without shutting down needs planning, and a set that runs dry during the speeches is an entirely avoidable failure.