PLASA Show 2026 reveals seminar programme built around the industry’s biggest questions

PLASA Show has unveiled its 2026 seminar programme, bringing major production stories, technical expertise and open industry debate to Olympia London from 6th – 8th September.

Sponsored for the first time by Dante, the free-to-attend programme will explore the forces reshaping entertainment technology, from sustainability, skills and the future workforce to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and increasingly connected production environments.

Across three days, visitors will hear directly from the people behind high-profile live productions, landmark venues and developing technologies, alongside practical technical and creative masterclasses from specialists working across lighting, audio, AV, staging and business.

Dante joins as seminar programme sponsor

New programme sponsor, Dante, will deliver two sessions examining the changing role of networked technology in live production.

The Economics of Convergence – When Shared Networks Make Sense in Live Sound and When They Don’t will offer a practical framework for deciding when bringing audio, video, lighting and control onto one shared network delivers genuine value – and when it could introduce additional cost and complexity.

A second session, 2 Million People, One Network – Dante at Festival Scale, will explore the latest tools and workflows available for building and managing live systems, drawing on applications ranging from touring productions to vast outdoor concerts.

Dante comments on the sponsorship, “We are really pleased to return to PLASA London this year to support our many OEM and channel partners on the show floor, and, for the first time as sponsors of the Seminar Programme, to be at the heart of important conversations around the technology, welfare and advancement of the live entertainment industry.”

Inside some of entertainment’s most ambitious projects

Major case studies will take audiences behind the scenes of productions spanning broadcast entertainment, immersive experiences, theatre, aerial performance and one of the world’s largest televised music events.

Celestial’s John ‘JP’ Partridge will chart the rapid development of drone light shows in From Titanic To Britain’s Got Talent – Creating The UK’s Biggest Drone Shows.

Drawing on projects including Celestial’s internationally recognised Titanic display and the company’s journey to becoming a Britain’s Got Talent 2026 runner-up, Partridge will explore the creative, technical and operational work behind aerial spectacles watched by audiences numbering in the millions.

Norbert Tripp, global technical director at Area Four Industries, will provide an inside look at the design, engineering and installation of the ground support structure for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel (see LSi June 2026).The Gateway To The Greatest Show – Insight Into The Ground Support Of Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will follow the project from its earliest planning stages through to delivery on site, examining the close collaboration required between the manufacturer, structural engineers and installation teams.

Visitors can also discover how one of television’s most recognisable formats was transformed into an immersive attraction in The Traitors – From TV to Live Experience. The session will examine how creative, lighting, sound and show-control teams built a scalable experience in which performers themselves trigger the technical elements, allowing eight simultaneous Round Tables to operate under the supervision of just one show controller.

LSi brings industry stories to the stage

LSi has curated a stream of sessions throughout all three days, combining production insight with stories from some of the industry’s most influential venues, designers and technologies.

Award-winning lighting designer Aideen Malone will discuss the collaboration and creative challenges involved in lighting the current acclaimed revival of Into The Woods, which she will cover in Lighting ‘Into The Woods’: From Concept to Stage (see LSi March 2026). Meanwhile, Vari-Lite pioneers Jim Bornhorst and Tom Littrell will mark 40 years since the launch of the Series 200 range in Vari-Lite – The Lights That Changed Our World.

The National Theatre’s 50th anniversary will provide the focus for another major panel in The National Theatre At Fifty – Five Decades Of Technology In Support Of Theatre. Paul Handley, Matt Drury and Andrew Grant will be joined by David Bertenshaw and Anne Valentino to explore five decades of technology in support of theatre, from the venue’s original power-flying systems and Lightboard consoles to video projection, LED lighting and modern Eos control.

The team from the Royal Ballet and Opera will also share how it completed a full renovation of the Royal Opera House’s auditorium lighting without closing for a single evening (see LSi June 2026). Rachael O’Sullivan, Alex Gardner and George Townsend will be joined by Push The Button’s Ben Noble for The Royal Opera House – In A New Light.

Audio takes centre stage in Douze Points: How The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest Set Triumphant New Standards For Audio. The session will bring together key figures behind the audio delivery for Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, exploring how the team served the live audience, performers, broadcasters and online viewers while introducing new techniques and technologies for one of the world’s biggest live events.

Elsewhere, Avatar Advancements – The New Frontier Of Live Performance will explore Unit1Studio’s work to transport audiences into performances by legendary artists (see LSi February 2026). The discussion will look at how expertise from Unit1Studio, Brompton Technology, ROE Visual, Woodroffe Bassett Design and sound designer Richard Brooker has contributed to the next generation of avatar-based concert experiences.

Sustainability moves from ambition to action

PLASA will host a dedicated trio of sustainability discussions addressing product information, the wider climate landscape and the gap between industry messaging and meaningful action.

Digital Product Passports – A Headache Or Opportunity For Our Industry will examine how changing product-data expectations could affect entertainment technology businesses.

Big Picture – Global Impact On Our Industry will cut through climate jargon to consider how extreme weather, global economics, politics and supply-chain pressures could affect the sector over the next 25 years.

Elsewhere, Sustainability Reality Check – Where Does Our Industry Really Stand? will invite industry professionals to speak candidly about where sustainable practices have delivered a genuine advantage, where they continue to be overlooked and whether action is matching the sector’s public commitments.

Preparing for AI, cybersecurity and the next generation

Technology and talent will intersect throughout the programme, with the “next generation” theme encompassing both emerging tools and the people who will use them.

Sessions will explore skills development, training, career pathways and the challenge of attracting and retaining new talent, while also addressing the opportunities and responsibilities created by AI and connected products.

In How To Get Real Value From AI, Jon Hole and Wayne Howell will join Dr Sacha Krstulovic, founder of Understand-AI.today, and lighting designer and educator Tad Trylski to discuss applications extending beyond press releases and image generation. The panel will consider how AI could support creative work, business processes and product development across the entertainment industry.

Wayne Howell will also present with Roland Hemming on Cybersecurity, CRA And How It Affects You, offering an industry-specific update on the EU Cyber Resilience Act, the steps businesses should be taking now and developing tools intended to support compliance and secure product design.

The wider programme will feature contributions from exhibiting companies including ETC, d&b, Artistic Licence, PROLYTE, Robe, Polar Audio and Visualisation. Industry organisations taking part include AVIXA, Backup Tech, The Power of Events, Bectu, the ALPD, the ASDP, WIL, the HSE and HELA, among others.

Beyond the seminar theatres

Beyond the seminar theatres, visitors can experience the latest audio, AV and projection technology in dedicated demo spaces from AbsenLive, Barco, KV2 Audio, and RCF and TT+ Audio.

ChamSys will also run bookable training sessions on 6 and 7 September, covering MagicQ programming, MediaMaster 26, advanced show-file workflows and guest lighting designer sessions. Demo rooms are walk-in, while advance registration is required for training.

Explore all sessions and register free

Sophie Atkinson, Head of Events at PLASA, comments: “The 2026 programme brings together the conversations our industry needs to be having with the projects and technical stories people want to hear. From Eurovision, The Traitors and Celestial’s drone shows to sustainability, AI, cybersecurity and the future workforce, it offers a genuinely broad view of where entertainment technology is heading.

We are also delighted to welcome Dante as our new seminar programme sponsor and to see so many exhibitors, organisations and working professionals sharing their knowledge with the PLASA Show community.”

Visitors can use the official PLASA Show app to browse the programme and bookmark their favourite sessions, making it easy to plan their time at the show.

All seminars are free to attend with a PLASA Show entry badge and operate on a walk-in, first-come, first-served basis.

Register for a complimentary ticket* and explore the programme at: www.plasashow.com/programme

*Ticket price increases to £15 +VAT from 1st – 5th September 2026/£20 +VAT from 6th – 8th September 2026.