Last Updated on February 16, 2026
Beautiful, festive décor brings visitors back to your town and encourages gatherings at local shops, in restaurants and throughout public spaces. If you don’t want your town’s holiday décor to fall flat, then you’re going to need aerial equipment. From hanging lights along busy streets to installing festive displays on tall lampposts, having the right equipment ensures that decorating efforts are both efficient and safe.
From bucket trucks to scissor lifts and more, there are many types of elevated work platforms to choose from. Selecting the right one can make all the difference in creating a dazzling display safely and efficiently. This guide will help operators, city managers and municipal crews understand how to select the right aerial equipment for holiday decorating projects this season
The Challenges of Decorating for Holidays and How Aerial Equipment Helps
Decorating a town is a major undertaking, requiring crews to work at significant heights, while handling bulky decorations and navigating challenging weather conditions.
Even simple tasks like hanging lights or banners can become risky when workers must reach tall lampposts or trees. These dangers can become even harder to navigate in crowded downtown areas or along busy roadways. Avoiding falls, tip overs and accidents while working at height is of paramount importance.
Plus, there are logistical hurdles, too. Many decorations, such as large wreaths and illuminated figures, are difficult to maneuver without mechanical assistance.
That’s where aerial lift equipment comes in. Mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs) such as boom lifts and bucket trucks help workers safely reach tall structures. At the same time it allows them to work at height efficiently, they can avoid obstacles like power lines or trees. With the right aerial equipment, crews can reduce risk and work efficiently during the busiest decorating season of the year.
How to Choose the Right Equipment for Municipal Christmas Light Decorating
Municipal and commercial Christmas decorating requires more effort and equipment than you would think. Bigger in scale than the standard residential decorating effort, municipal holiday decorating also comes with higher stakes like decorating around highly trafficked space while ensuring safety and accessibility.
The right equipment helps keep people safe while minimizing disruptions to everyone’s busy season. Follow these five steps to help determine which aerial equipment is best for your town.
1. Plan Your Layout
The first step in any decorating project is to plan the layout. Identify the key areas that will be decorated like light poles, trees, building façades and public spaces. Then, determine where power sources are located and how decorations will be distributed throughout the area.
Creating a detailed layout map can help crews visualize the project and allocate the right equipment and manpower to each area. A clear plan also prevents confusion, supports safety efforts and minimizes time spent repositioning equipment.
2. Determine Accessibility and Reach Height
Once the layout is planned, consider the accessibility of each decorating area. Are they easy to get to? Are there times of day when traffic or pedestrians may get in the way? What’s the highest point that workers will need to reach?
Some locations may be reachable with ladders or scissor lifts. Others, such as tall trees or rooftops, could require heavier machinery like boom lifts. Keep track of the height you will need to reach for each decoration so that you can get the right machines for the job. You want a lift that can position workers close enough that they won’t need to lean out or extend their reach beyond the lift platform.
3. Consider Carrying Capacity
Large decorations can be quite heavy or need multiple people to install. As a result, you need to know how big of an aerial work platform you’ll need and how much weight it will need to support.
The total weight a machine can lift is called its carrying capacity. Estimate the total weight of the decorations plus the workers and their tools so that you choose machines that can handle the load. When in doubt, overestimate. If you underestimate, the lift will be overloaded which can lead to tipping, falls and other damage.
4. Determine Which Machines to Use
Once you know the basic logistics of the layout, reach height and carrying capacity, you can choose which type of aerial equipment will work best at each stage of your project.
Different aerial lifts serve different purposes, so it’s important to match the equipment to the task. Selecting the right mix of equipment ensures that each crew can complete tasks efficiently and safely.
- Bucket Trucks: Bucket trucks are ideal for installing lots of decorations quickly or working in high-traffic areas. Learn more: How to Use a Bucket Truck to Safely Decorate for the Holidays
- Atrium Lifts: Atrium lifts, also known as a spider lift, allow you to work efficiently and safely at height in confined areas. Since they fit through standard doorways, they are great for hanging decorations indoors.
- Scissor Lifts: Scissor lifts are good for when you need straight vertical access and stable platforms when working at moderate heights. For example, scissor lifts make it easy to get decorations out of storage in a warehouse.
- Articulating Boom Lifts: Articulating boom lifts offer extended, flexible reach, perfect for working around trees, light poles or signage.
- Straight Boom Lifts: Straight boom lifts, also known as telescopic boom lifts, deliver maximum height and outreach. This makes them ideal for tall structures or wide-open spaces.
5. Make Sure Operators Are Fully Trained
The last step to choosing equipment is to make sure your team can be fully trained. For many aerial lifts, such as bucket trucks, OSHA requires that all operators be properly trained and authorized. View OSHA’s Aerial Lift eTool for more information.
Safety training teaches teams how to minimize the risk of falls, tip-overs and entanglement with nearby objects like power lines. If you’re renting, ask your equipment rental provider if they offer safe operator training on the specific model you’ve chosen.
Best Practices for Municipal Lighting and Decorating
With everything to keep track of during the decorating season, it’s easy for items to fall off the to-do list. Below is a quick list of reminders to keep in mind as you prepare for the holiday season.
- Use the Right Equipment and Hardware: Winter is known for difficult weather and decorations can take a beating before they come down. Likewise, if your teams have to work in bad weather, lift equipment still needs to ensure safety. Always inspect equipment and hardware before use. Make sure that anything re-used from previous seasons is still in good condition.
- Test Decorations First: Many decorations use lights or moving parts that need to be checked before they are installed. Getting this step done early, before anyone steps onto an aerial platform, will save time and potential headache when you make installations.
- Don’t Rush or Overload Lifts: Outside pressure and time crunches can cause people to take shortcuts. Those shortcuts can include overloading aerial equipment or turning a blind eye to faulty parts. Remind workers that taking the time to do things right, from daily equipment inspections to using proper fall harnesses and equipment, will save time overall.
Reach the Height of Holiday Cheer with Aerial Equipment from Herc Rentals
Municipal holiday decorating can be a massive undertaking that some expect to be done literally overnight. With the right equipment, such as aerial work platforms, you can make sure the job is done quickly and safely, so that everyone can enjoy the season with their loved ones.
At Herc Rentals, our equipment experts are ready to help you bring holiday cheer to your town with top quality bucket trucks and other elevated work platforms.
Explore our aerial equipment selection today, or give us a call at 1-800-432-6215 to discuss options with an expert.
