South Facing 2025. A stage that floats on water.

Photo credit: George Heming

South Facing Festival returned to Crystal Palace Bowl in August 2025 for its fifth edition, transforming the lakefront amphitheatre into a month-long concert series. For the fifth consecutive year, Star Live was appointed by South Facing Festival to deliver staging and site infrastructure, working closely with Method Events and the wider production team.

The festival’s unique setting brings consistent challenges. Building a floating stage on the lake requires specialist engineering, while the listed heritage of the Bowl demands solutions that are sympathetic to the environment. At the same time, the structures must be resilient enough to support a three-week run of shows and versatile enough to accommodate rapid turnarounds between multiple mini festivals.

This year marked a step change. For the first time, Star Live deployed a 15-metre VerTech stage, mounted on a pontoon system directly in front of the Bowl’s permanent stage. The build was supported by a front-of-house structure and an accessible viewing platform, ensuring the infrastructure served both artists and audiences alike.

The result was a striking floating stage that elevated production capabilities across the entire series. By combining engineering expertise with sensitivity to the site, Star Live delivered a solution that enhanced the creative experience, maintained operational reliability, and reinforced a trusted partnership that has become central to South Facing’s continued success.