What do I need to install my festoon lights?
To achieve the brightest results from your festoon lights, you need the right tools and kit. This list might vary depending on where you are hanging your lighting and how far apart you're going to spread the bulbs. You'll need:
• Outdoor festoon lights: Select the right type and quantity to cover the desired area.
• Tape measure: You'll need this to plan your layout and determine how many lights you'll need.
• Ladder: If you're installing your festoons in high-up, hard-to-reach places.
• Drill: A hand or electric drill may be needed for creating fixing points.
• Cable ties: Your light string might need a little extra securing.
How to set up festoon lights: step-by-step
Layout and planning
When learning how to put up festoon lights think about your layout. Lay your lights out on the ground to help you visualise the result and to get a better idea of how much length you need. Move furniture or obstacles out of the way to do this.
You should also plan the hanging patterns for your lights and identify where you'll need fixing points. Popular patterns include X, V, zigzag or parallel.
Install your fixing points
With your pattern decided, it's time to set up your fixing points. The types you need will depend on the design but common ones may require festoon poles or hooks and eyes or gutter hooks.
Attach your bulbs to the fixing points
With your support hooked up, you can hang your festoon lights and see your display take shape.
Loop your lights along the hooks or poles, making sure to keep at least a metre between each bulb. If you're hanging up high, then always have someone with you to hold the ladder.
Rearrange them in a way that works for your chosen power source. If you've gone for a plug-in model, it needs to be near a power socket, or you'll need an outdoor extension cord. For solar-powered outdoor lights, place the solar-panelled battery pack in the sunniest area of your garden.
Power them up
And now to the good bit! Get ready to see your hard work pay off by turning on the system. Connect your festoon lights to their power source, either by plugging them in, putting in batteries, or turning them on with an app if you're using a smart festoon light option. You might have to wait a few hours to see your solar-power festoons in all their glowing magnificence.
How to hang festive lights indoors
Festoon lights aren't just for outdoors – they're great for all-year-round inside decoration! Our indoor range can bring light to every room in your house but makes an especially rustic statement when draped across the ceiling or along curtain railings. You can choose from battery or plug-in options.
If you're attaching your lights to a wall without hooks, you can drape your wires around nails or drawing pins or use adhesive hooks. Also, use adhesive hooks when installing festoon lights across the ceiling. For outlining your room boundaries, simply drape along any existing fixing points or furniture like mirrors and photo frames.
How to attach festoon lights to a pergola
Festoon lights look picture-perfect beneath a pergola, gazebo or covered patio and, luckily, attaching them is hassle-free. Follow the existing lines of the beams or roof and install cup hooks or similar along the inside, leaving 1 m between each one.
You can also entwine them along the inside of your pergola in parallel lines to create the cosiest hosting space. Encircle the cable around the leg of the structure and start making your preferred pattern.
How to attach festive lights to a fence
Possibly the most fuss-free way to bring an enchanted ambience to your garden is learning how to hang festoon lights on a fence or outside wall. You can forget about using festoon poles or putting in new posts since garden walls and fences are usually well-grounded and will keep your lighting in place.
You can hang them by installing hooks or using cable ties to frame the borders of your garden for a glow that is both functional and bewitching. A trellis makes it easier to attach your lights to a wall, but you can still get the job done by attaching nails or hooks.
If you're opting for a design that requires you to install posts, we recommend erecting them on their own rather than attaching them to the fence. Space them out 2.5 metres apart and adjust them to suit your desired pattern.
How to hang festoon lights on the gutter
To avoid causing damage avoid putting nail and screw holes in your guttering by using gutter clips and plastic hooks instead. Get out your trusty ladder and place your fixers 1 m apart and thread your festoon lights through them.