AXL Audiovisual produced the Omagh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2026 at Canavan's of Garvaghy, County Tyrone, on Saturday 17 October 2026. It was our first year working with Omagh Chamber of Commerce. We built a 5m by 2m LED video wall into a very tight gap beneath the room's lower ceiling, set up two digital lecterns with a dedicated camera on each, and supplied show lighting and L-Acoustics sound for over 200 guests and a live band. A team of four built, ran and de-rigged the whole show on the day.
The brief
The Omagh Business Awards recognise local enterprise across the Omagh area, from new start-ups and family firms to long-standing community businesses. It is one of the biggest nights in the local business calendar, and the Chamber wanted the room to feel like a proper gala.
The Chamber supplied its own show graphics: a purple and gold design built around a silver laurel, used for every category title and winner reveal. Our job was to put that design on a screen big enough to anchor the room, give two presenters a polished stage to work from, and turn the room from ceremony to party once the last award was handed out.
A 5m LED wall with almost no room to spare
The function room at Canavan's has a striking ceiling, high in the centre but with a lower section running directly above the stage. That lower section set the limit for the whole design.
We built a 5m by 2m LED video wall in 2.9mm high-resolution panels on the venue's stage, ground stacked on its own frame. Standing on the stage, the top of the wall sat within 1cm of the lower ceiling. Every measurement had to be right before the first panel went up, because there was no space to adjust once the wall was built. The photos show just how tight it was.
A black drape backdrop closed off the space behind the screen, and a run of wireless LED tubes along the base of the wall gave it a clean, lit edge from every table. Two short truss totems either side of the stage, each finished with an upright LED tube, framed the set.
Two lecterns, two presenters, two cameras
The ceremony was hosted by two presenters, each with their own lectern at either side of the stage. We supplied two black glass digital lecterns, each with a 40-inch portrait screen on the front carrying the Chamber's awards branding, and a gooseneck microphone on each.
A camera was set on each lectern, framed tight on the presenter. The two feeds ran back over fibre HDMI to a vision mixer at the control position, so whichever presenter was speaking could be shown close up on the in house screens.
Lighting a room with a low ceiling
With no height to hang anything over the stage, the whole lighting rig was floor-based. Moving spots and beam-wash moving heads either side of the stage threw shafts of white light up through haze across the room's angled ceiling, which you can see in the wide shots. Sixteen battery LED uplighters washed the walls in magenta and purple to match the Chamber's colours, and four LED profile spots front-lit both lecterns so presenters and winners read properly in photographs against the bright screen.
Everything ran from an Avolites T3 console, with a look for arrivals and dinner, a focused state for the ceremony, and a full party look for the band.
Sound for speeches, then a band
The main system was L-Acoustics WIFO with SB18 subwoofers, powered by an L-Acoustics LA8 amplifier, giving clear, even speech across over 200 covers. Alongside the lectern mics, Sennheiser wireless handheld and headset microphones covered anyone working away from the lecterns. A digital console with a digital stagebox at the stage kept cabling off the floor between tables.
Once the awards finished, a two-piece band took over. We supplied vocal mics, DI boxes and a pair of stage monitors, so the switch from ceremony to live music was quick and the party could get going straight away.
On the night
The show ran from a single control position, with the team on wireless comms headsets throughout. Every build like this is led on site by full-time AXL staff, so one person on the floor knows the whole show and the client always knows who to talk to. Load-in started at lunchtime, the ceremony and band ran through the evening, and the crew de-rigged and cleared the room the same night.
It is not our first job in the area, either. Earlier this year we produced the Fermanagh and Omagh Tourism Conference at Glenpark Estate, and we are always glad to bring Belfast-standard production to venues across Tyrone and Fermanagh.
Key facts
Client Omagh Chamber of Commerce (first year)
Event Omagh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2026
Venue Canavan's of Garvaghy, County Tyrone
Date Saturday 17 October 2026
Guests Over 200
LED 5m x 2m video wall, 2.9mm pitch, built beneath a low ceiling section
Presenter support Two black glass digital lecterns with 40-inch portrait screens and gooseneck mics
Camera Two cameras, one tight on each lectern, switched through a vision mixer
Visuals Client-supplied show graphics
Lighting Moving spots, beam-wash moving heads, 16 battery uplighters, 4 LED profiles, wireless LED tubes, haze, Avolites T3 console
Audio L-Acoustics WIFO and SB18 subs, LA8 amplifier, digital console and stagebox, Sennheiser wireless, band package
Crew Team of four, led on site by full-time AXL staff
Build Same-day build, de-rig the same night
Frequently asked questions
Does AXL provide event production in Omagh and County Tyrone? Yes. We are based in Belfast and work across Northern Ireland, including the Omagh Business Awards at Canavan's of Garvaghy and the Fermanagh and Omagh Tourism Conference at Glenpark Estate.
Can you fit an LED wall into a room with a low ceiling? Usually, yes. We measure the room first and size the wall to the space, building it in modular panels so the height can be set to the centimetre. At Canavan's, a 5m by 2m wall fitted beneath the lower ceiling section with almost no room to spare.
What is a digital lectern? A lectern with a built-in screen on the front, usually showing the event branding. It can be changed for each event or even each category, and gives the stage a finished look in photographs.
Planning an awards night?
Awards season in Northern Ireland runs from September to December, and the best dates go early. Tell us about your event and we will plan the screens, sound and lighting around your room and your running order.
