Thanks Timmmay, good point.  I'll do a bit more research on chainable or a series of lights ...

Thanks for your advice everyone.  I've decided on the Ryobi One+ string lights - they're on their way to me now!  :-)

Thanks Stu, I had to buy the One+ charger and battery too but figure it will be worth it.  I managed to get some good deals for new genuine items on Trade Me.  Husband is also keen to have the Ryobi One+ charger and battery for and future tool purchases so it's win-win  :-)

Thanks Kiwi, that's useful information I can refer back to if my new string lights aren't enough.  

k1wi: I saw it was mentioned that many watts would be needed for proper illumination, but don’t forget that there will be ambient/indirect sunlight coming in too (well until nighttime). Tent color makes a difference too.

We have festival tents that are 40x100 ft (370sqm) and our standard lighting is 5w equivalent led lights every foot along the perimeter (every 7th is a blue led), with an additional string of 60w equivalent bulbs every 10 ft. above service area. That handles the full range of illumination ranging from daylight through after sunset.

Before we went LED it consumed A LOT of power, but they are large tents and we are fortunate to have 11KW of mains power to each tent.

280 feet perimeter means 280 x 5W LEDs, which is 1400W of LEDs, which is a fair bit of power / light. Add in maybe half a dozen 60W bulbs, that's 1760W of power. You're lucky you have mains power!

timmmay:

k1wi: I saw it was mentioned that many watts would be needed for proper illumination, but don’t forget that there will be ambient/indirect sunlight coming in too (well until nighttime). Tent color makes a difference too.

We have festival tents that are 40x100 ft (370sqm) and our standard lighting is 5w equivalent led lights every foot along the perimeter (every 7th is a blue led), with an additional string of 60w equivalent bulbs every 10 ft. above service area. That handles the full range of illumination ranging from daylight through after sunset.

Before we went LED it consumed A LOT of power, but they are large tents and we are fortunate to have 11KW of mains power to each tent.

280 feet perimeter means 280 x 5W LEDs, which is 1400W of LEDs, which is a fair bit of power / light. Add in maybe half a dozen 60W bulbs, that's 1760W of power. You're lucky you have mains power!