Returning to London's Hyde Park for another summer of world-class live music, American Express Presents BST Hyde Park 2026 welcomed an international line-up of artists across three weekends, each bringing its own creative vision, production requirements and touring workflow.

Behind the scenes, Production Director Mark Ward, Stage Manager Mike Grove, Proper Productions, LS Events and AEG Presents once again oversaw delivery of one of the UK's most established outdoor concert series. Supporting that production, PRG delivered lighting and video across the festival site, supplying the Great Oak Stage and Rainbow Stage, alongside lighting for the Birdcage Stage. 2026 marked a significant milestone for PRG, delivering the complete video package for the Great Oak Stage for the first time and bringing lighting, video and rigging together under one coordinated delivery team.

From Design to Delivery

As with every edition of American Express Presents BST Hyde Park, the project began with the vision of Ward, Grove and the wider production team. Working alongside them, PRG refined the technical solutions needed to realise the creative brief while keeping the build practical, safe and efficient across three consecutive weekends.

Ward, a veteran of the live music industry, has spent almost a decade as Production Director of American Express Presents BST Hyde Park, with touring and production credits spanning Coldplay, Tina Turner, Roger Waters, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift.

"We brought PRG our design and worked closely with their team to deliver it," says Ward. "The technical solution came together in good time, the crew list came together the same way, and the schedule was met at every stage. I've had no criticism of their work."

Engineering a Flexible Video Workflow

Delivering video on the Great Oak Stage for the first time was an opportunity to build a workflow designed around the needs of visiting productions, not just introduce new technology.

The mainstage incorporated 1,956 Infiled AR5 Mk2 LED tiles across the IMAG wing screens, a 368-tile ROE Visual Vanish V4ST upstage display, and 200 AR5 tiles forming the delay screens.

One of the project's most complex challenges was realising the stage's distinctive curved LED architecture. Working from the production's design, PRG Systems Designer, Alistair McDermott developed a bespoke structural solution using custom header bars and pickup points, delivering the curved installation safely while maintaining the clean lines of the original concept.

Despite temperatures reaching 36°C during load-in, the video crew completed construction of every LED screen within three days, keeping the production on schedule.

Behind the canvas sat a Disguise VX4 media server platform, chosen for its ability to drive the system's scale while maintaining full redundancy. For 2026, PRG also introduced a dedicated Disguise Editor workstation, letting incoming teams prepare and programme content independently without affecting the live show.

"The flexibility this gives incoming productions is a real game changer," says Jordan McMahon, Video Head of Department. "Artists can arrive minutes before they go on stage with new content, programme everything safely offline and be ready to go without interrupting what's already live."

That philosophy extended through the wider workflow. A StageRacer infrastructure allowed up to six visiting production systems to connect simultaneously from Front of House, stage left or stage right, distributing camera feeds, timecode, audio, comms and network wherever touring crews preferred to work.

PRG also introduced the Barco E3 processing platform across its 2026 festival package. "The move to E3 has given us far greater flexibility," says McMahon. "We're able to drive significantly more pixels with fewer processors, which makes the whole system more efficient while giving us more creative options."

The camera infrastructure followed the same principle. PRG supplied four Sony HDC-4300 broadcast cameras, two long-lens at Front of House and two track-mounted closer to the stage, supporting programme, ISO and wide-shot recording across 14 channels of embedded SDI. A 128TB storage array archived footage for distribution to artists and media within an hour of each show. The network also integrated with the host broadcaster, incorporating up to ten additional feeds, including drone and jib cameras, for headline performances.

That flexibility reached individual artists too: PRG supplied camera systems, prompt monitors, vision mixing and comms for ATEEZ, while Conan Gray's production incorporated a bespoke ROE Visual Vanish V4ST LED riser, fully integrated without requiring additional infrastructure from the touring team.

Ready for Every Production

Alongside video, PRG again delivered lighting for the Great Oak Stage, designing a house rig capable of supporting a changing line-up across three weekends. The rig featured GLP JDC Burst 1s, Ayrton Veloces, Ayrton Cobras, GLP X5 and X5 Compacts, with Acme Pixel Line fixtures illuminating the audience. JDC Burst 1s also sat on the delay towers alongside Robe LTX followspots, while VL3600s on the front trusses were controlled via PRG's GroundControl Multi system.

For Lighting Head of Department Jason Dixon, reliability mattered as much as creative capability. PRG first invested in the JDC Burst 1 in 2025, expanding the fixture count further for 2026 as it proved itself on site. "The JDC Burst 1 is the ascension of its predecessor, the JDC1," he says. "It does everything the original could and more, but it's the IP rating that's made the real difference outdoors. That fixture was already very well liked, so having the extra functionality on top of being IP rated has made it even stronger."

That decision proved its worth during one of the hottest load-ins the festival has seen. "All the fixtures have handled the heat well," Dixon adds.

A dedicated WYSIWYG pre-visualisation suite supported visiting lighting teams throughout, while the network, built around GrandMA operating systems with Ethercon Luminex nodes distributing signal across site, let touring productions on GrandMA2 and Avolites consoles integrate seamlessly.

The project also coincided with PRG's support of Roundhay Park, BST Hyde Park's sister festival, with several artists appearing at both over the same period. "Having a workflow that supports both festivals at the same time has been seamless," says Dixon.

One Team, One Objective

While PRG's scope expanded in 2026, the priority remained the same as every year: giving Ward, Proper Productions and AEG Presents a technical partner capable of adapting to whatever each weekend required. Bringing lighting and video together under a single onsite management structure gave the production team one point of contact across disciplines, simplifying communication through planning, build and show operation.

"The process has always worked well, but bringing lighting and video together this year meant Jordan, Luke and I could answer questions under one roof, particularly during planning," reflects Dixon. "It made communication much easier and let us support the production team as one integrated operation."

Across three weekends, dozens of artists and touring teams arrived with different creative ambitions, systems and technical requirements. For Ward and the wider production, that meant a festival infrastructure built to adapt to each of them, rather than the other way round.

For Proper Productions, LS Events and AEG Presents, 2026 reinforced why the partnership with PRG has lasted this long: a team that delivers what's asked of it, on schedule, and adapts around the production rather than the reverse.

Crew

PRG Onsite Manager: Luke Jackson

Lighting
LX HOD: Jason Dixon
Dimmers: Simon Anderson
FOH: Dan Young
LX Tech: John Hetherton
LX Tech: Jack Dixon
LX Tech: Matt Morris
LX Tech: Sam Hartland
Rainbow Stage Operator: Will Jarvis
Birdcage Operator: Simon Lynch
LX Tech: Sam Healey
LX Tech: Tom Begley
LX Tech: Tom Bonnar
Student: Casper Katz

Ateez
HOD: Matt Wright
LX Tech: Shay Lynch

Conan Gray
HOD: Scott Monahan

Video
HOD: Jordan McMahon
HOD: Al McDiarmid
LED HOD Site Wide: Colin Mudd
LED Tech: Bram Cordeels
LED Tech: Damian Hall
Cam Support: Jack Cobbold
LED/CAM: Sofia Santos
LED/CAM: Vitalijus Kybartas
LED/CAM: Tomas Rudenskis
CAM Operator: Luke Elson
CAM Operator: Dylan Smith
Engineer: Nick Edwards
Engineer Prep/in: Matt Burford
Director: Justin Murphy
D3: Ronnie Makin
E2: Jono Eckley
E2: Stuart McGowan
O/N Control Tech: Ian McConnell
O/N Engineer: Hugo Alves

Rainbow Stage
LED: Jack Syed
LED/Resolume: Matt Ralph
Wind bracing: Matt Reynolds