AV & event hire · Bungay & the Waveney Valley
Sound, lighting and staging in Bungay.
A castle town in a loop of the Waveney, with a Georgian theatre, a busy Market Place and one of the most distinctive festivals in East Anglia. Theatre shows, folk weekends, church events, weddings and the Christmas switch-on — supplied and supported from just along the A143.
Getting there
Half an hour along the valley.
Bungay is about seventeen miles east of our base at Roydon, near Diss. The drive follows the A143 through the Waveney Valley, past Harleston and Earsham, and in normal traffic takes around half an hour. Drive times on this page are approximate and will vary with the time of day and the season.
At that distance Bungay is effectively local for us. We can drop in for a site visit, deliver the afternoon before a theatre get-in, come back for a technical rehearsal, and still collect after the last encore without anyone having to stay over. If something needs swapping at short notice, a replacement is not far away.
The town sits on the Suffolk side of the river, right on the county line, and its medieval street plan is compact. The Market Place, Broad Street, St Mary's Street and the lanes around the castle are narrow and busy on market days, so we plan arrival times and unloading around the venue rather than turning up and hoping for a space.
Dry hire is also popular here: plenty of Bungay organisers collect from Roydon themselves, run their own event, and drop the kit back the next day.
Venues in and around Bungay
A Georgian theatre, a castle and a market town.
Bungay punches well above its size for arts and community events. Most of the venues are historic, which means power, access and noise need a bit more thought than a modern function room.
- The Fisher Theatre, Broad StreetA Georgian theatre that first opened in 1828 as one of thirteen built across East Anglia by David Fisher for his touring company. After years as a corn hall, cinema and warehouse, it reopened as a community arts centre in 2006, and now has three separate areas licensed for weddings and civil ceremonies. Visiting productions sometimes need extra lighting, radio mics or a band PA on top of the house system.
- Bungay Castle and the Castle BaileyThe remains of the Bigod family's castle in the town centre, with the Castle Bailey used for the carnival during the Black Shuck weekend. Heritage sites need careful cable routing, ground protection and freestanding equipment — nothing fixed to old walls.
- St Mary's ChurchThe large church at the heart of the town, which hosts performances during the Black Shuck festival and the fairground stalls, games and Father Christmas's grotto at the Christmas switch-on. For performances, small column speakers along the nave and radio mics for performers work far better than a single loud pair.
- The Butter Cross and the Market PlaceThe 17th-century Butter Cross is the main stage for the Christmas light switch-on, with choirs, local radio and the Fisher Theatre panto performing there before the lights go on. Open-air town-centre stages need weatherproof speakers, a steady power supply and cables kept out of the crowd's way.
- The Three TunsA town-centre pub that is one of the Black Shuck festival venues. Pub function rooms and courtyards suit a compact PA for acoustic sets and folk sessions, or a DJ setup for a private party.
- Pump Roundabout and the town centre streetsUsed for food and drink stalls at the Christmas switch-on, with the fire service attending. Street events like this need power planned across several pitches, so stallholders, the stage and lighting are not all fighting over one supply.
We list these to help you plan, not to claim them as clients. Every venue has its own rules on load-in, noise and power — we check them with the venue directly before the day.
Local event calendar
The Bungay year.
Bungay's calendar mixes theatre, folk music and community events. A couple of weekends — Black Shuck and the Christmas switch-on — take over the whole town centre and book up quickly.
| When | What's on |
|---|---|
| Spring | Theatre, music and film at the Fisher Theatre, quiz nights and club dinners, and the first outdoor bookings for the summer. |
| Summer | A folk festival weekend with music, dancing, workshops and a Sunday folk picnic (the 2025 festival included Morris dancing around town and a base at the Fisher Theatre), along with weddings, fêtes and garden parties around the valley. |
| Late July / early August | The Black Shuck festival, held around 4 August to mark the legend of the black dog said to have appeared in the great storm of 1577. In 2026 it ran from 31 July to 2 August, with a Saturday parade and carnival at the Castle Bailey, performances at St Mary's Church and the Fisher Theatre, storytelling, talks and exhibitions. |
| Autumn | Concerts, theatre, harvest suppers and fundraising dinners in village halls across the Saints and the valley. |
| Late November | The Bungay Christmas lights switch-on (Saturday 29 November in 2025, 2pm to 6pm), with a stage at the Butter Cross, a fair and grotto at St Mary's Church and stalls around the town centre. |
| December | The Fisher Theatre panto season, carol services, school concerts and Christmas parties. |
Dates shown are the usual pattern, with specific dates where they have been published; check with the organisers for each year's arrangements.
Which services suit
Getting the kit right in Bungay.
Shows, folk sessions and gigs
Band and acoustic PA, radio and instrument mics, stage lighting and effects, and a modular stage or riser where a venue needs one.
Festivals and switch-ons
Weatherproof speakers, outdoor lighting, power distribution and event radios for stewards. See Christmas event hire and festival production.
Theatre, barn and marquee
Ceremony mics, PA for speeches and dancing, uplighting and festoon. See weddings & events and marquee AV.
Heritage venues
Working in old buildings.
Almost every venue in Bungay is old: a Georgian theatre, a medieval church, castle ruins, a 17th-century market cross. That is a large part of the town's charm, and it changes how a sound and lighting job should be done.
Power is the first question. Historic buildings often have limited sockets, older circuits and sockets in awkward places. We ask the venue what is available, keep sound and lighting on separate circuits, and bring our own distribution rather than chaining extension leads. Where a building cannot supply enough, we plan around a small, quiet generator outside.
The fabric of the building comes second. Nothing gets screwed, taped or tied to historic woodwork or stone without permission. Lighting stands on its own feet, speakers go on stands or flight cases, and cables run along the edges with proper covers where people walk. In churches we work around pews, monuments and floor memorials.
Then there are the acoustics. Hard, tall spaces make speech hard to follow and make music boom. The fix is more speakers at a lower level, placed closer to the audience, rather than a single loud pair at the front — and for talks and services, a portable hearing loop so hearing-aid users can follow. If you are planning something in one of Bungay's older venues, tell us the room and the audience size and we will suggest the smallest system that will do the job well.
Common questions
AV hire in Bungay, answered.
How close are you to Bungay?
About seventeen miles, roughly half an hour along the A143 from our base at Roydon near Diss in normal traffic. That makes site visits, technical rehearsals and late collections straightforward.
Can you supply extra kit for a show at the Fisher Theatre?
Yes. We can supply additional radio mics, band PA, stage lighting, effects and risers to work alongside a venue's own equipment. Tell us what the production needs and we will check what the theatre already has so nothing is doubled up.
Can you supply the Black Shuck weekend or the Christmas switch-on?
Yes. For town-centre events we supply weatherproof PA, microphones for choirs and performers, a stage if needed, outdoor lighting, power distribution for several pitches and radios for stewards. These weekends book up early, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
Will your equipment damage a historic building?
No. Everything is freestanding on stands or cases, nothing is fixed to historic fabric without permission, and cables run along edges with covers where people walk. We agree power, access and any restrictions with the venue before the day.
Do you cover weddings on both sides of the Waveney?
Yes. Bungay sits right on the Norfolk–Suffolk border and we cover venues on both sides of the river equally, from the town itself to barns, halls and marquees around the valley.
Can we collect the equipment ourselves?
Yes. Dry hire is collected from our base at Roydon near Diss, a short run along the A143. Everything is tested, cased with the right cables and comes with a simple setup guide.
Nearby
Other pages near Bungay.
Planning something in Bungay?
Send the date, the venue and rough numbers. You will get a clear, itemised quote within one working day — and if the venue is a listed building, we will ask about power and access before we suggest a system.