It’s certainly under the radar, but there is a quiet revolution underway in the UK events industry, and it’s being driven by the expectations and imaginations of Gen Z.
This is a generation and demographic that are not interested in static keynote stages and copy-paste festival formats. They want something different, and event planners and designers are finding themselves increasingly ensuring this group is catered for for the success of the event.
For this generation for example, the line between audience and performer is eroding fast. Experiences are no longer delivered to them; they’re built with them and around them. And nowhere is that shift more visible or audible than in the evolving use of event tech, particularly in AV.
HIGH CONCEPT
Take Polygon Live LDN, which launched at Crystal Palace, London in May. It was billed as the UK’s largest outdoor spatial audio festival, so very much not just another big stage in a big field. The sound system integrated 360-degree surround sound and overhead speaker design and arrangements to place the listener inside the performance. Instead of being spectators, attendees become part of a responsive, immersive soundscape. Polygon Live LDN saw high-fidelity audio meeting high-concept design, and to many of us in the events industry, it is a sign of where things are heading.
In parallel, touring VR experiences like In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats are adding further depth to what we mean by ‘live’ events. Through the use of immersive headsets, haptic feedback suits, and tactile controllers, audiences are transported back to a 1989 Coventry acid house rave and not just to observe it, but to feel it, move within it, and relive it viscerally. It’s not just about nostalgia anymore; it’s experiential time travel, made possible by carefully orchestrated tech environments.
Gen Z audiences make up over 30 percent of the UK workforce, so they are key consumers and ticket buyers. They don’t just want content; they want control. We work on the production of lots of events, and we’ve seen a growing appetite for interaction beyond the stage. Across the industry now, we’re building systems where crowds can vote on the music via their phones, trigger lighting changes, or even cue atmospheric effects like fog or scent. It will seem to many like a gimmick, but it’s how this generation expects to engage.
INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGE
There is a real challenge for event planners, venues, and brands, though, and that is that the infrastructure needs are no longer passive, and that often means new strategies and expertise are required, and it may be that those experts who can deliver are few and far between.
For example, delivering participatory experiences requires robust AV backbones, low-latency networks, scalable lighting protocols, responsive control surfaces, and real-time content engines. We’re no longer talking about a PA system and a couple of LED bars. We’re talking about layered, programmable environments that flex with the audience in the moment.
Corporate events aren’t immune, either. Hackathons, once niche, are going mainstream as brands use them to engage younger talent. But you can’t run a successful co-creation event off static staging and a slide deck. You need flexible projection, dynamic audio zoning, and collaborative input tools that allow for rapid, visible feedback.
That’s now the foundation of the event. This shift will ripple far beyond event production. As brands adapt to Gen Z’s demand for customisable, emotionally resonant experiences, we’ll see changes in marketing strategy, loyalty models, and even the role of physical space in campaign planning. The AV world, long seen as an enabler, is becoming a strategic asset.
It’s important to reinforce that Gen Z isn’t killing the traditional event. They’re just reprogramming it. I suppose the question is whether the industry is listening and whether it has the systems in place to respond.
