The Hidden Safety Problem at Every Outdoor Event (And What It Takes to Fix It)

In this article:

• Why temporary outdoor power setups are the norm — and the risk they carry
• What electrical contractors actually see on the ground at festivals and events
• When a generator makes sense vs. when permanent power is the right call
• How infrastructure like power pedestals changes the equation for venues and municipalities

Walk through any outdoor festival, community concert, or street fair and you will see the same thing: orange extension cords running across the ground, covered by a strip of yellow plastic ramps where foot traffic is heaviest. It works until it does not.

Michelle Mance has seen it play out across 32 years as a union electrical contractor and owner of Total Electric, Inc., a Chicago-area industrial and commercial electrical firm. Her client list includes the University of Chicago, Nestle, Kellogg’s, Chase Bank, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. She has watched the way outdoor events are powered up close, and her assessment is direct.

“When they have the big flood, all that is underneath where you could be doing that differently.”

She was describing a recent festival weekend near her area, where heavy rain turned the ground-level cord situation into a flooding hazard. The cords, the covers, the exposure to weather — it is a workaround that most event organizers accept without thinking hard about it. But contractors like Mance see it for what it is.

Why Temporary Power Is the Default

The reason the workaround persists is simple: cost and frequency. Mance explains the logic that most municipalities and event venues apply. If an event is a one-time or rare occurrence, a generator is the practical call. Running underground electrical supply and installing permanent distribution infrastructure requires meaningful upfront investment. That math does not pencil out for a venue that hosts a single event per year.

For facilities running regular outdoor programming, the calculation changes. Mance estimates that roughly 90 percent of outdoor temporary power setups rely on generators, not because it is the better solution, but because the permanent infrastructure does not exist at those sites yet. The generator is the path of least resistance, and it gets used year after year by default.

She rattles off the kinds of venues where she sees this play out: outdoor festivals, community concerts, farmers markets, food truck rallies, water parks, sports complexes, zoo grounds, parking lots. The common thread is any location where people gather regularly and where someone is scrambling to find power each time.

“Like even the New Lennox concerts — they’ve done enough concerts where it would be beneficial for them to bring permanent power.”

That tipping point — the frequency threshold where permanent infrastructure stops being an expense.  It becomes an obvious investment, something Mance has watched venue after venue cross. The ones that cross it and act on it end up with a cleaner, safer, more functional setup. The ones that do not keep improvising.

What the Ground-Level Cord Problem Actually Looks Like

Most people who attend outdoor events do not think much about the orange cords underfoot. They step over the plastic covers and move on. Spend time on those event grounds the way an electrician does, and the picture looks different.

The plastic ramp covers that protect cords at high-traffic crossings are a partial fix at best. They cover a section. They do not cover everything. At some point the cord comes out from under the cover and runs exposed across the ground. For vents with children in attendance, that is a real hazard. At an event during or after rain, it compounds.

Then there is the equipment side. Generators require fuel management, produce carbon monoxide, generate noise, and require exclusion zones to keep the public at a safe distance. For food trucks and vendor setups at a tight festival footprint, fitting the generator logistics into the site plan creates its own headaches.

Mance is not subtle about where she comes down on this. When asked what message she would most want to get across to anyone evaluating outdoor power options, her answer was immediate.

“I would stress safety.”

The Case for Permanent Power Infrastructure

Permanently installed outdoor power infrastructure — specifically, power pedestals run from underground electrical supply — solves the problem at its root. Instead of cords running from a generator or a distant building outlet across an open area, a power pedestal brings properly rated, code-compliant power directly to the point of use. Vendors plug in. Event crews connect their equipment. Maintenance teams have access without a setup process. And it is ready for the next event without any of the temporary power logistics.

The safety improvement is straightforward. There are no ground-level cords to trip over, no exposed conductors vulnerable to weather, no generator fuel to manage, and no carbon monoxide risk near the public. For facilities that have reached the frequency threshold Mance describes, the upgrade is a direct risk reduction.

There is also an operational benefit that is easy to overlook. Every time a generator-powered event setup goes up and comes down, there is labor and logistics involved: fuel procurement, equipment staging, cord management, teardown. Permanent power eliminates most of that. The infrastructure is already there, and events can focus on the event.

What This Means for Municipalities and Venue Managers

Mance’s perspective on this comes from the field. She has worked the job sites where outdoor power decisions get made, and she has seen the downstream consequences of underinvesting in those decisions. Her observation about cities and villages is telling. When she thinks about who has the budget and the ongoing need to make permanent outdoor power a real priority, she immediately points to municipalities.

Parks departments running summer concert series, sports complexes hosting weekend tournaments, city plazas that need vendor power for recurring markets — these are the facilities where the frequency of use is already there. The temporary workaround is costing them something every time. From labor, equipment wear, or the safety exposure they are quietly absorbing.

At Pedoc Power Solutions, our stainless steel outdoor power pedestals are built specifically for the high-use, high-exposure environments Mance is describing. UL listed under standard 1773 and NEMA 3R rated for outdoor wet locations, They are designed to handle the weather conditions that outdoor event infrastructure has to survive across seasons. The goal is a solution that is there when you need it, works reliably, and does not require setup every time.

The plastic ramp covers stop somewhere, Mance notes. Then you still have the cords. For facilities that have moved past occasional events into regular outdoor programming, the question is not really whether permanent power infrastructure is worth it. It is how much longer the workaround makes sense.

Michelle Mace

About Michelle Mance: Michelle Mance is the owner of Total Electric, Inc., a union electrical contractor based in the Chicago area. With 32 years in the electrical industry and more than 25 years running her own firm, she has completed projects for major institutions including the University of Chicago, Nestle, Kellogg’s, Chase Bank, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. Total Electric specializes in industrial and commercial electrical work throughout the greater Chicago metropolitan area.