Small Addition, Big Visitor Impact

What makes a visitor attraction memorable? Often, it is the unexpected moments that families discover and enjoy together.  Outdoor musical instruments provide a fun and distinctive way to introduce interactive play into holiday parks, farm attractions, glamping sites, wedding venues, and visitor destinations. They invite people to stop, explore, make music, and share an experience, even if they have never played an instrument before. From a single eye-catching feature to a complete musical trail, outdoor music can give visitors more reasons to explore your site, spend time together, and remember their visit.

Give Visitors Something Different to Discover

Families are always looking for experiences they can enjoy together. Outdoor musical instruments offer something refreshingly different from conventional play equipment, bringing sound, colour and creativity into the landscape.

There are no complicated instructions, and no musical experience is required. Visitors can simply pick up a mallet, strike a note, and begin creating their own rhythms and melodies.

Many of the instruments are tuned to simple pentatonic scales, making it easy for complete beginners to create music that sounds good. Instruments across the range are also designed to complement one another, so they can be played together without unpleasant clashing notes. This is particularly important at busy attractions, where the music should enhance the atmosphere rather than become an unwelcome distraction for visitors, staff, or nearby guests.

That instant sense of discovery makes outdoor music particularly effective for visitor destinations. Children are naturally curious, while parents and grandparents often feel just as comfortable joining in. Instead of standing at the edge and watching, adults can become part of the experience.

Add More Value to the Space You Already Have

Introducing a new visitor experience does not always mean developing a large attraction from scratch.

Outdoor musical instruments can be added to an existing play area to extend its appeal and introduce a sensory, creative alternative to more physical play. A single instrument can bring interest to an underused corner, while a carefully chosen group can create an inviting musical space where families gather and play.

They can also be positioned beside cafés, picnic areas, accommodation, and waiting spaces, giving children something engaging to do while adults relax nearby.

As ground-level play features, outdoor instruments generally do not require the expensive impact-absorbing surfacing associated with equipment that poses a fall risk. Each site and installation should be considered individually, but this can make outdoor music a practical and relatively affordable way to introduce a new activity without major infrastructure work.

Encourage Visitors to Explore

Outdoor musical instruments do not need to sit within a traditional playground. They can be placed throughout a destination to encourage movement and turn the journey around your site into part of the experience.

Use them as:

• Musical waymarkers leading visitors towards key areas
• Interactive stopping points along woodland or nature trails
• Sensory features within gardens and landscaped spaces
• Playful additions beside cafés and picnic areas
• Unexpected features near holiday or glamping accommodation
• Standalone attractions at wedding and event venues
• Memorable focal points within theme parks and family attractions

A musical trail can encourage visitors to follow a route, explore areas they may otherwise miss, and look forward to discovering the next instrument. Different sounds, shapes and colours make each stopping point feel distinctive, creating a playful journey through the site.

Make Play More Welcoming and Inclusive

Not every visitor wants or is able to climb, run, or engage in energetic physical play. Outdoor music provides another way to participate.

The instruments are intuitive and can be enjoyed at each visitor’s own pace. Someone might lead a lively family performance, experiment quietly with a few notes, or simply enjoy listening to the sounds being created around them.

Thoughtful positioning allows children and adults with different mobility needs, including wheelchair users, to approach and play comfortably. Instruments can also offer a rich combination of sound, movement, colour and touch, creating valuable opportunities for sensory exploration.

For neurodivergent visitors and people with sensory, cognitive, or additional needs, the open-ended nature of musical play allows for different forms of participation. Visitors can repeat a rhythm, focus on an individual sound, play independently, or make music alongside others. There is no score to follow, no pressure to perform, and no single correct way to take part.

This makes outdoor music a welcoming, non-competitive activity through which visitors of different ages and abilities can express themselves, connect, and enjoy a shared experience.

Create Impact Without Creating More Work

For busy operators, every new feature needs to earn its space without creating a demanding maintenance schedule.

Percussion Play instruments are designed for permanent outdoor use and constructed from durable, weather-resistant materials to withstand the changing British weather. Once installed, they require minimal ongoing maintenance, providing an engaging visitor experience throughout the seasons.

Most instruments can be:

• Fixed directly to a suitable wall
• Installed in the ground, much like a fence post
• Supplied with surface plates and securely fixed to an appropriate surface

This choice of installation options makes it easier to introduce outdoor music into existing destinations. Instruments can be fitted into established play spaces, positioned along pathways, added to landscaped areas, or installed where excavation may not be suitable.

They can also be introduced individually, grouped into an ensemble, or added gradually as your site develops. Smaller venues can start with one or two standout features, while larger attractions can create complete musical play areas, themed trails, or destination installations.

Whether you are diversifying a farm, refreshing a holiday park, or seeking a distinctive addition to a major visitor attraction, outdoor music can be tailored to your available space, setting, and ambitions.

Bring the Landscape to Life

Percussion Play’s Inspired By Nature collection is particularly well-suited to farm attractions, holiday parks, gardens, woodlands, and rural visitor destinations.

Featuring musical flowers, a giant butterfly, colourful ladybird and woodland-inspired bell trees and toadstool, these instruments do more than provide play opportunities. They become part of the landscape itself. Beautiful sculptural forms attract attention from a distance, while the interactive musical element encourages visitors to stop, explore, and engage.

Imagine a trail of musical minibeasts leading families through a wildflower meadow, vibrant Harmony Flowers adding colour and sound to a garden path, or Sylvan Bell Trees creating moments of discovery along a woodland walk. These installations can transform ordinary routes into memorable experiences, encouraging visitors to explore further and spend more time within your attraction.

For destinations looking to create distinctive photo opportunities, sensory experiences, and family-friendly attractions, the Inspired by Nature collection offers a unique way to blend play, placemaking, and the natural environment. The result is an experience visitors are more likely to remember, share, and recommend long after their visit.

Create More Reasons to Stop, Play, and Remember

Outdoor musical instruments can help transform an ordinary space into an experience.

They provide a relatively affordable, durable, and low-maintenance way to introduce accessible, sensory, and intergenerational play. They can refresh an existing playground, guide families around a trail, animate a quiet area, or become a memorable attraction in their own right.

Most importantly, they create moments of connection. Children, parents, grandparents, and friends can all take part, sharing the simple enjoyment of making music outdoors.

Meet Percussion Play at the Land, Leisure & Tourism Show

Visit Percussion Play at the Land, Leisure & Tourism Show to discover how outdoor musical instruments could enhance your attraction, encourage visitors to explore, and create experiences they will remember.

Explore our Inspired by Nature collection and discover how easy it can be to make your destination sing.