AV & event hire · Ely & East Cambridgeshire
Sound, lighting and staging for Ely.
A small cathedral city on the Great Ouse with a surprisingly full calendar — an eel parade, a riverside raft race, a folk festival and a cathedral that hosts concerts, dinners and fairs. We supply sound, lighting, staging and LED screens for events in Ely and the villages of East Cambridgeshire, delivered and run from our base near Diss.
Getting there
Across the Fens, not round the houses.
Ely is roughly 45 miles from our yard at Roydon, near Diss. The usual run is west on the A1066 to Thetford, down the A11 to the Fiveways roundabout at Barton Mills, through Mildenhall and then out across the fen roads, with the cathedral's West Tower in view long before you reach the city. Allow approximately an hour in a loaded van in normal traffic. That is an approximate figure: it stretches on summer weekends and whenever the A11 is busy, and if the fen roads are slow the fallback is round by the A14 and the A142 through Soham.
Getting into the city itself is the part that needs planning. Ely's centre is compact and old. The streets around the cathedral, the Market Place and Fore Hill are narrow, the riverside is reached down sloping lanes such as Waterside and Ship Lane, and parking near the river fills quickly on a fine Saturday. For any city-centre venue we confirm the loading point, the time window and where the van waits while we build — before the day, not on arrival.
An hour each way also works in your favour. A same-night de-rig after a wedding or a concert is realistic, and a site visit before a larger event is easy to fit into a working day. Delivery is priced by distance and shown as its own line in your quote. Dry hire collected from Roydon is an option too, particularly for anyone already heading our way on the A11.
Venues in and around Ely
From the cathedral to the riverside.
Ely's venues range from one of England's great medieval cathedrals to a converted riverside maltings, a boutique hotel and a manor house just outside the city. These are real places people ask us about, and what each kind of space tends to need.
- Ely CathedralThe cathedral hires spaces such as the Lady Chapel for private concerts, banquets, receptions, presentations and exhibitions, and it hosts big public events such as its November Christmas Gift & Food Fair. A building on this scale has a long, rich reverberation that flatters a choir and swallows the spoken word, so speech needs several small, carefully aimed speakers close to the audience rather than two large ones at the front. Nothing is fixed to the fabric: stands are freestanding and every cable is taped or matted.
- The Maltings, Ship LaneEly's riverside venue, licensed for ceremonies and used for weddings, conferences, exhibitions, theatre, comedy and live music. Its Elysian Hall takes around 242 theatre-style, 150 cabaret or 400 standing, and the smaller Kempen Room around 70 theatre-style. A hall that size suits a proper stage, a screen or LED wall that can be read from the back, and a PA that still sounds even at the far end of a standing gig.
- Poets HouseA boutique hotel a short walk from the cathedral, whose Writing Room hosts up to around 80 guests for awards ceremonies, staff dinners and private parties. A room like this wants a compact speech system, one or two radio microphones and warm, low-level uplighting — not a full disco rig.
- The Old Hall, StuntneyA family-owned manor house just south-east of the city offering exclusive use, private dining rooms and a permanent grand marquee, used for weddings, conferences, brand launches, awards events and Christmas parties. Marquees reward careful speaker placement and a written power plan, and we bring our own distribution where the event needs more than the house supply.
- Oliver Cromwell's HouseCromwell's former family home, now a museum, hires its oak-panelled Tithe Office for meetings, away days and small functions. In a room this intimate a lectern microphone, one discreet speaker and a display screen usually cover everything.
- Jubilee Gardens and the riversideThe open riverside green where Eel Day ends and the Aquafest raft race finishes. Outdoor community events here need a weather-protected PA, a generator or a long, safely routed cable run, and an announcer's microphone that cuts through wind and crowd noise.
We name these venues to help you plan, not to claim them as our clients. Every venue has its own rules on access, noise and power, and we check them with the venue directly before the day.
Local event calendar
When Ely is busiest.
Ely's big days cluster around the river and the cathedral. If your own event lands near one of these, book early and allow for closed roads and busy parking.
| When | What's on |
|---|---|
| Early May bank holiday | Ely's Eel Festival weekend — Eel Day (2 May in 2026) starts with a parade of floats and costumes through the city to Jubilee Gardens, followed by live music and street food, then the Food, Drink & Craft Fair on Palace Green and Cross Green over the Sunday and Monday. |
| First Sunday in July | Ely Aquafest, run by Rotary Ely on the banks of the Great Ouse, with the raft race between Lavender Green and Jubilee Gardens. |
| Mid-July | Ely Folk Festival — a long-running weekend of folk music, listed for 10–12 July in 2026. |
| Early August | Ely Classic Car Show in the cathedral grounds. |
| Early November | Ely Fireworks, one of the city's biggest crowd nights of the year. |
| Mid–late November | Ely Cathedral Christmas Gift & Food Fair inside the cathedral (19–21 November in 2026). |
| December | Christmas parties, carol concerts and office dinners — the busiest weeks of the year for function rooms and for us. |
Dates are those published for 2026 where available; check with the organisers before planning around them.
Which services suit
Matching the kit to an Ely event.
Riverside halls, manor houses and marquees
Ceremony microphones so the vows reach the back row, a PA for speeches and the first dance, and uplighting to warm up a plain hall. For marquee receptions see marquee AV and festoon lighting; the full picture is on our weddings page.
Conferences, talks and concerts
Lectern and radio mics, a screen or LED wall sized to the room, and an engineer for the day — see conference AV hire. For church, school and community events see community AV, and for public talks a hearing loop.
Riverside and village events
Weather-protected speakers, a modular stage with steps and handrails, outdoor lighting and power distribution. Larger shows are covered on our festival production page.
Ely advice
Making speech clear in a cathedral-scale space.
Ely Cathedral is an extreme example, but the city's churches, its chapels and the high-roofed halls by the river share the same problem: sound keeps travelling long after it has left the speaker.
Why turning it up fails
In a very reverberant building every word arrives at a listener twice — once directly from the speaker and again, a fraction later, from the stone around them. Push the volume and you push the reflections up with it, so the room gets louder and less clear at the same time. That is why speeches in big old buildings so often sound like a station announcement.
Large speakers at the front make it worse, because they have to be loud enough to reach the back and therefore excite the whole space.
What works instead
Several smaller speakers placed down the length of the audience, each covering only the rows nearest to it, at a modest level. Microphones held or worn close to the mouth so the system picks up the voice, not the room. Careful equalisation so the frequencies the building exaggerates are pulled back. And, where some of the audience use hearing aids, a loop so they hear the microphone directly.
The result sounds quieter on paper and far clearer in practice. We plan it from the venue's layout and, for anything ambitious, a visit to the building first.
Common questions
AV hire in Ely, answered.
How far is Ely from you, and how long does it take?
About 45 miles from our base at Roydon, near Diss, and approximately an hour by van via Thetford, the A11 and Mildenhall. That is an approximate figure, so we allow extra time on summer weekends and plan the load-in around it. Delivery is shown as its own line in your quote.
Can you make speeches clear in Ely Cathedral or another very echoey building?
Yes. The answer is more, smaller speakers placed close to the audience at a modest level, microphones close to the speaker's mouth and careful equalisation — not more volume. Everything is freestanding, and we work to the building's own rules on access, cabling and timings.
Do you cover Cambridge as well as Ely?
Yes. This page covers Ely and the villages of East Cambridgeshire. For events in Cambridge itself — colleges, city hotels and the science parks — see our separate Cambridge page, which deals with the city's own access, parking and noise rules.
What do we need for a gig or show in a riverside hall like The Maltings?
For a standing gig of a few hundred: a PA with subwoofers sized to the room, stage monitors for the band, a mixing desk with an engineer, and wash and effects lighting on stands or truss. For a seated show or conference, speech-focused sound, a screen that can be read from the back and a lectern. We check what the venue already has so you only pay for what is missing.
Can you run PA for an outdoor event on Jubilee Gardens or a village green?
Yes. We supply weather-protected speakers, an announcer's microphone, power distribution and, where there is no supply, we can coordinate a generator for you as part of the build. Permission for a public open space comes from whoever manages it — for Jubilee Gardens that is East Cambridgeshire District Council — and we send our insurance and risk assessment wherever they are needed.
How far ahead should we book for a summer Saturday in Ely?
Four to six months is sensible for a Saturday between May and September, especially around the Eel Festival, Aquafest and Folk Festival weekends, when crews and parking are both in demand. Midweek and winter dates are often available at much shorter notice, so it is always worth asking.
Nearby
Other pages near Ely.
Planning something in Ely?
Send the date, the venue and roughly how many guests. You'll get a clear, itemised quote within one working day — including delivery to Ely, shown up front.