VAVA Influence Awards 2026: LED wall, staging and show lighting at Revolución de Cuba Belfast

5 Oct

AXL Audiovisual produced the VAVA Influence Awards 2026 at Revolución de Cuba Belfast on Sunday 4 October 2026. We built a 6m by 2m LED video wall, a 4m by 2m stage, show lighting and wireless audio inside a working bar and restaurant, then ran the ceremony live for VAVA Influence and 200 guests.

The brief

VAVA Influence brings together Northern Ireland's content creators, brands and agencies for one night each autumn. After producing the 2025 ceremony at Titanic Belfast, we were asked back for 2026, when the awards moved to Revolución de Cuba on Arthur Street.

The night needed to feel like a broadcast awards show in a room built for cocktails. Every nominee video, sponsor slide and winner reveal had to land on cue, and the space had to turn into a dancefloor the moment the last award was handed out.

How do you fit a 6m LED wall into a heritage bar?

Revolución de Cuba is a high, ornate hall with columns, a domed ceiling and a mezzanine balcony running round three sides. It is beautiful, and it has nowhere to hang anything. The bar also stayed open for trade throughout our build, so every case and cable moved in around paying customers.

So we ground stacked the wall. Twenty-four 2.9mm LED panels went up on stacking bases with truss arms and cross bracing, ballasted with 225kg of stage weights. The whole structure sat on a 300mm riser tucked against the balcony front, so the screen filled the sightline from the floor and the balcony without blocking the bar above it.

Awards host in a blue gown speaking at a glass lectern in front of the LED wall at the VAVA Influence Awards 2026

Staging and presenters

In front of the screen we built a 2m by 4m stage at 300mm, running out into the room so winners walked up through the guests. Two black glass lecterns kept the look clean and let the hosts work the room without hiding behind furniture.

Presenters were lit by four Chauvet LED profiles on floor stands, so faces read properly on camera against a bright LED background. That matters at an influencer event, where almost every guest is filming.

Show lighting for a room that changes three times

The lighting had three jobs: a warm, polished look for arrivals, a clear focused look for the ceremony, and a full party state afterwards.

Four LED beam wash moving heads sat along the front of the LED riser, with four moving spots adding texture across the columns and ceiling. Eight wireless LED tubes edged the riser in warm white, and eight battery uplighters picked out the room's architecture without a single cable run across the floor. Everything ran from an Avolites Titan lighting console.

Close-up of an LED beam wash moving head on the stage riser beneath the LED video wall

Long exposure of the dancefloor at the VAVA Influence Awards with streaks of coloured light

Sound and show control

We ran a digital audio desk with a stagebox, and four Sennheiser wireless handheld microphones for hosts and winners. Sound was fed through the venue's own installed system, which kept extra speakers out of a busy room.

Our control position sat on the mezzanine, with a direct view of the stage, the screen and the whole floor. From there, dedicated operators ran lighting, audio and visuals, each focused on their own cues.

Wide view of the domed hall at Revolución de Cuba Belfast during the VAVA Awards after party, with coloured lighting across the ceiling and columns

On the night

The ceremony ran through categories including Creator of the Year, sponsored by Ulster Tatler, with headline partner Nomination Italy branding the room. AXL was proud to sponsor the Best Under 10K award.

When the last winner left the stage, the screen switched to VAVA and Nomination branding, the lighting jumped to its party state, and a saxophonist and DJ took the room through to close.

We came back at 10am the next morning and had the room de-rigged and clear by noon.

"Amazing team for our awards production! 10/10"Chloe Henning, VAVA Influence (Google review)

Key facts

Client VAVA Influence (returning client, 2025 and 2026)

Event VAVA Influence Awards 2026

Venue Revolución de Cuba, Arthur Street, Belfast

Date Sunday 4 October 2026

Guests 200

LED 6m x 2m, 2.9mm pitch, ground stacked, 24 panels

Staging 4m x 2m stage plus 6m x 1m LED riser, both at 300mm

Lighting 8 moving heads, 4 LED fresnels, 16 wireless LED fixtures

Audio Midas M32R and DL32, 4 wireless handhelds, venue house system

Crew Dedicated lighting, audio and vision operators, led on site by full-time AXL staff

Build Venue trading throughout; de-rig 10:00 to 12:00 the next day

Two hosts with wireless handheld microphones at glass lecterns, with nominee images on the LED wall behind

Frequently asked questions

Can you put an LED wall in a venue with no rigging points? Yes. We ground stack LED walls on bases and bracing, ballasted with stage weights, so they stand safely without hanging from the ceiling. At Revolución de Cuba we stood a 6m by 2m wall this way on a 300mm riser.

Does AXL work at Revolución de Cuba Belfast? Yes. We produced the VAVA Influence Awards 2026 there, with LED, staging, lighting and audio, and we know the room's layout, mezzanine and power.

What does an awards night in Belfast need from an AV company? A screen for nominee videos and sponsors, clear presenter lighting, reliable wireless mics, and crew who call the show so each winner reveal lands on cue. We supply all of it as one production.

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 screen, stage and show around your room.

Photography: Aaron Gwynne, AXL Audiovisual

Andrew Murray

Since starting out in the AV industry in 2015, I’ve always believed that great events come down to the people behind them. I spent several years freelancing across almost every AV company in Ireland, building experience and understanding what really matters on site. Like many in the industry, COVID brought a pause, but it also gave me the push to refocus and build something of my own.

Today, I’m focused on growing AXL into one of the leading AV production companies in Ireland. We now deliver AV for over 300 events each year, from smaller corporate meetings to large-scale productions. The aim is straightforward: do the job properly, be dependable, and help clients deliver events they can be proud of.