Author: Amazing News Editor

The clash of the festivals – covering the August bank holiday

Wednesday 17 March 2021 by Amazing News Editor

To say the summer of 2021 is shaping up to be busy is an epic understatement. But is there such a thing as too busy?

With some events that were originally scheduled for early in the season choosing to reschedule, rather than cancel for a second year running, the calendar is beginning to look quite busy later in the summer. August bank holiday is traditionally a fairly hectic period, but this year it could be on a whole other level.

As seen on BBC today it looks like lovers of live music have an abundance of choice for the end of August. But what does that mean for the events industry? Scanning the schedule, the holiday weekend is hosting no less than seven major events including the likes of Reading, Leeds, Creamfields and the Big Feastival. With such an unprecedented demand on the suppliers to those events, there could be a scarcity of temporary event structures and associated supplies to cater for so many festivals at once.

Thankfully at Amazing Tent Company, we are confident in our ability to deliver. As a major UK supplier of SaddleSpan tents and with an expert SaddleSpan installation team, our customers know that by working with us for their events, they are assured of availability, smooth installation and no hassles in what promises to be an exhilarating time as our fabulous industry returns with a bang.

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Good things are Worth(y) waiting for

Thursday 28 January 2021 by Amazing News Editor

Last week the events industry was hit with yet more bad news as the organisers of Glastonbury confirmed they had no choice but to cancel the Worthy Farm-based festival for a second consecutive year.

As has been widely reported, the live music and events industry has been hit particularly hard by the necessary restrictions imposed in light of the global pandemic, and perhaps it was too optimistic to think that the event could go ahead this year. But at the same time, we all need a sense of optimism, something to look forward to, that we will get through this… but perhaps we have to look a little further ahead for the light at the end of the tunnel.

While Glastonbury has cancelled, it’s not all doom and gloom for the live events industry, and there are some organisers still hoping to proceed with their 2021 schedule with proper precautions in place. The cancellation of such a big name will surely unsettle many, but the scale gives us some indication as to why this decision had to be made, when many smaller events are planning to go ahead.

Glastonbury is a tightly-packed gathering of almost 150,000 festival goers. That’s the equivalent population of the City of Oxford, gathering in an area of just 900 acres – less than 8% of the size of Oxford. So many of the UK’s smaller festivals – El Dorado has a maximum capacity of just 9,000, as does London’s GALA Festival – currently plan to take place. Even WOMAD is currently slated to be held, with its daily limit of 40,000 guests. So while it’s clear that 2020 was a dearth for live music, 2021 is showing some signs of an early recovery, and with any luck, 2022 will enjoy a live events calendar much closer to normal.

What’s also clear, is that as well as smaller events having a better chance of being able to go ahead, the logistical task of instigating social distancing at smaller venues is much more feasible, and the use of temporary event structures that can provide flexible cover to festival goers from the oh-so-reliable British weather, while allowing good air circulation can also help to minimise the risks of attending a much-needed musical escape.

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How to choose the right cover for your outdoor event

Monday 27 January 2020 by Amazing News Editor

If you’re hosting an outdoor event in the UK, there are probably a few key concerns that you’ll want your temporary event cover to resolve. Chief amongst them will be the weather. Rain can lead to cancelled events, but also sun can be an issue if you don’t have enough shade, so temporary cover is essential come rain or shine.

When you’re looking to hire temporary cover, you might also be thinking about capacity, what it looks likes, how you can use the space, where you can put it and maybe even aspects like the acoustics if you’re holding a concert or music festival.

The beauty of a SaddleSpan is in its flexibility. Saddlespans come in different shapes and sizes, but most Spans can connect to each other to create bigger areas and different shaped spaces (such as the TriSpan and the QuadSpan). They can also be erected on any surface, be it grass or hard-standing, which means you’re not restricted on location.

Here are some key event considerations, and suggestions for cover:

Weather

The UK’s weather isn’t best known for its predictability, and summer is no guarantee of sunshine either, so any outdoor event needs some form of cover from the rain and sun. All SaddleSpan tents are waterproof and will shield the sun, creating plenty of shade. If you simply want some cover to keep the rain off, then open smaller spans like the S1000 TriSpan, or the S2000 SaddleSpan are a good choice. If you really want to keep guests dry, warm and protected, or create fully shaded enclosed areas, then the S5000 with enclosed sides would be a good option.

Number of guests

The number of guests you need to accommodate will really inform the choice of your temporary event structure. As we’ve mentioned above, SaddleSpans are flexible, and with the S5000 we can create a range of size and shaped structures to suit your needs. Our SaddleSpans have been hired for parties for around hundred guests, right up to 5,000+ people. Speak to our friendly team to get an idea of what floor capacity you need for your number of guests.

The wow-factor

Just as important as anything else is making sure your event looks fantastic, and your event cover plays a big role in that. SaddleSpan tents are uniquely smooth and stylish in their shape and appearance. They are used for everything from college balls, to outdoor broadcasting, to festival stages. And they have been used in beautiful surroundings like Woburn Abbey, for their annual garden show. You can brand your SaddleSpan to enhance a corporate event, or ask about internal coloured swagging for a party look.

Acoustics

SaddleSpan tents are routinely used for stage cover, at concerts and music festivals. They not only look great, and ensure the stage is fully covered from the elements, but they also have excellent acoustic properties. The S5000 is the most popular stage cover, followed by the S2000.

Space and flexibility

How and what your event is for will dictate the space you need inside your cover. Unlike standard rectangle marquees, SaddleSpans can create a range of flexible spaces and unique shapes for all types of events. For example, the TriSpan is fantastic for exhibitions and trade events, creating separate zones to use for displays, networking or catering areas and stages. We recommend you talk to our team for ideas on unique spaces and configurations for bigger events. We’ll always do a site visit and give you advice and guidance on the best cover.

Call us on +44 (0)7778 835 207.

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All-round outdoor event specialists

Wednesday 20 February 2019 by Amazing News Editor

At Amazing Tent Co we supply every kind of SaddleSpan structure, from small to impressively big, in every configuration for any type of outdoor event.

But we also pride ourselves on being the all-round outdoor event specialists, and that’s why we have a large selection of ancillary structures in our range to complement main structures for all outdoor events.

For most events there is a requirement for the ‘main event structure’ such as a SaddleSpan tent, whether they are for concert stages, beer tents, conferences, exhibitions or parties, but quite often there will also be a range of smaller temporary event cover requirements for the site.

You may not be aware but we can supply most ancillary structures for your event, to save you booking through a range of suppliers.

This includes:

  • Chinese hat marquees
  • Capri marquees
  • Traditional marquees
  • Clearspan marquees

These could be used for a range of purposes including; VIP areas, backstage tent, catering annexe, storage area, bar or additional outdoor shade cover. Capri marquees are great for casual standing areas, to add a bit of structure and height to your site and provide extra shade from the sun, or cover from the elements. Standard marquees can be provided with all four sides off depending on your requirements and they are extremely adaptable, coming in a range of sizes.

Find more details and specifications on our products page, or contact us with your outdoor event requirements.

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Amazing Tent Co – 2018, a year in review

Friday 21 December 2018 by Amazing News Editor

Every year we think we can’t have a better summer, and then the next one comes along and it’s even more ‘Amazing’! 2018 was no different. Fantastic weather, an extended event season with more bookings than ever before and some dazzling events to be a part of.

We’re really proud to be part of an exciting and eclectic UK events industry, from food festivals and outdoor opera to Highland events and heavy metal, our calendar is a real mix of the very best in outdoor events.

At the end of a busy year it’s nice to stand back and reflect on the year gone by and give thought to the year ahead. As a business we have been gradually moving towards bringing our whole business under the Amazing Tent Co brand. Some of you know us as Nomadic Spaces – in fact we’re one in the same business – same people, same tents. The two companies came together several years ago and today we mainly take our bookings through Amazing Tent – so you’re likely to see us under that name. Never fear we are the same friendly people!

Before we share our 2018 highlights, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our employees, our suppliers and our clients (agencies, event professionals and festival directors) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, we look forward to seeing you in 2019.

Amazing Tent Co – 2018 Highlights

Amazing Tent Co supplies cover for Luna Kids Cinema across the UK

We were delighted to strike a partnership with Luna Cinema to provide event cover for their new set of outdoor kids’ cinemas around the UK in 2018. We provided SaddleSpan tents for six events in Dulwich Park, London; Hatfield House, Hertfordshire; Hampton Court Palace; Priory Park, Surrey; Heaton Park, Manchester and Tatton Park, Cheshire.

Radio One Biggest Weekend – providing tents in 3 locations over one weekend

With the absence of Glastonbury in 2018, Radio One aimed to fill the gap with their biggest event yet, called, you guessed it Radio One’s Biggest Weekend. It was held over 4 locations in the UK, of which we provided SaddleSpans for three of those in Perth, Swansea and Coventry – all on the same weekend in May!

The Time Out Magazine 50th birthday party!

We were delighted to provide two SaddleSpans for the 50th birthday party of this iconic magazine. The Time Out Magazine Party was held in central London with an amazing and eclectic line-up from music and street food to a women’s wresting ring.

Live opera in a SaddleSpan tent

Scottish Opera hosted a world first this year – live opera in a tent in Paisley. They used one of our QuadSpan structures for this unique event, with live orchestra, and a cast that moved around the tent.

Unique event space for UK tech event

This year we provided two SaddleSpan tents for PT18, the UK’s flagship technology trade show and conference. The event space was filled with incredible tech on display and the purple carpets and lighting really added an ‘other-world’ effect to the event space.

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Amazing Tent Co provides cover for iconic London magazine anniversary party

Wednesday 21 November 2018 by Amazing News Editor

This year one of London’s most iconic magazines, Time Out, celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The magazine was created at a kitchen table in 1968 and grew to be a weekly guide to the very best things to see and do in the capital city, from art, film and music to theatre and restaurants. Today, Time Out it is truly a global brand, with publications in 315 cities in 58 countries around the world.

To celebrate, Time Out threw a massive party in Granary Square, London on 29 September – a one-night birthday bonanza that celebrated the best of London across food, drink, performance, comedy and music.

Amazing Tent Co was delighted to be the temporary event cover supplier of choice for this event, working with event agency Bearded Kitten.

Our S2000 SaddleSpan was the cover for the main stage, whilst our large and imposing S5000 SaddleSpan was utilised entirely open for general cover and grandeur, and as a gateway to the ‘main ring’ area where crowds enjoyed wrestling shows by feminist wrestling group EVE.

Hundreds of people attended and the line-up was eclectic and fun, with Notting Hill Carnival favourites Mangrove Steelband, top DJs and party crew The Glory.

In the street food area delicious food was provided by stalls handpicked by Time Out London’s food editor, plus guests could enjoy cocktails from the curated Time Out Bar, featuring the city’s finest drinking institutions.

We’d love to say we saw and enjoyed it all on the night, but we erected the SaddleSpans during the day and came back the following day to take them down. However, it certainly looked like everyone enjoyed the event from the photos we’ve seen.

What a fantastic celebratory event, we certainly feel privileged to have been a part of the birthday celebration of the year! Happy birthday Time Out.

Photos by David Tett

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Live opera in a SaddleSpan tent

Friday 12 October 2018 by Amazing News Editor

Every year clients amaze us with the inventiveness of their events, the setting, the staging, the lights or the performances themselves.

But Scottish Opera really won the prize this year for the most unusual and inspiring event – a performance of Pagliacci in a tent.

And not just any tent, but an Amazing Tent Co QuadSpan tent, which accommodated the live orchestra, all the cast who moved around the tent and the audience who were mainly standing to enjoy the whole movement and sense of the opera.

This was Scottish Opera’s attempt at bringing opera to a wider audience, attracting many people who had perhaps never seen one before. It has widely been recognised as a huge success, and a world first in terms of the format and staging of the opera.

Take a look at this video on the Scottish Opera YouTube account of the set-up of the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0kIih01ELc

And this video of the news coverage on STV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BMUIni7UFU

We certainly had our challenges – being in Paisley, Scotland, we had to contend with those strong Scottish winds. But what a successful event! The QuadSpan offered a vast space for the performance, that worked well with the lighting and the orchestra. We were very proud to support this unique event and provide event cover for Scottish Opera.

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WIN! 5 tickets to the Time Out London 50th birthday party

Friday 21 September 2018 by Amazing News Editor

Time Out magazine is turning 50 and to celebrate it’s throwing a massive party. Amazing Tent Co is pleased to be providing the temporary event cover for this event in London, on September 29.

We have five tickets to give-away to a lucky person and their friends – instructions via Facebook and Twitter.

The party takes place in Granary Square, King’s Cross on Saturday, September 29 – a one-night birthday bonanza celebrating the very best of London across food, drink, performance, comedy and music.

 

Tuck into the city’s most amazing street food, handpicked by Time Out London’s Food editor and brought to you by Kerb. Grab a cocktail from their curated bar, featuring the city’s finest drinking institutions and former winners of the Time Out Bar Awards. Then feast your eyes and ears on boundary-pushing, soul-enriching performances, and finish the night shaking it to some ace London DJs.

Tickets cost £30, including a welcome drink. Find out more about the event via Time Out Magazine here.

 

Prize draw to win 5 tickets to the Time Out 50th Party – Terms and Conditions

The closing date for entries to the prize draw is 26th September 2018. Entries received after this date will not be entered into the competition.

One winner will receive the prize of 5 tickets to the Time Out 50th Party. There is no alternative prize and no interest is payable.

All prizes are subject to availability, and Amazing Tent Co Ltd reserves the right to replace the prize with an alternative product of equal or higher value if necessary at its discretion.

No purchase necessary.

The prize draw is open to everyone, except employees and contractors of Amazing Tent Co Ltd, who is a UK resident aged 18 years or over.

The winner will be selected at random after the closing date by an independent judge from all entries. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

The winner will be notified by direct message by Thursday 27th September 2018. Following such notification, the winner will be required to contact Amazing Tent Co with their full name and names of four people they nominate to join them

If Amazing Tent Co cannot: (i) contact the winner (via email, phone or messaging) within a reasonable period of time (to be established at Amazing Tent Co Ltd’s sole discretion); or (ii) the winner does not respond with their contact details, Amazing Tent Co Ltd reserves the right to re-draw winners and thereafter until another winner on these terms is found.

It is a condition of entry that the winner’s name will be used for promotional purposes. This will only be in summary.

Unless otherwise stated, the promoter is Amazing Tent Co Ltd, a limited company.

 

 

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PT18 – a unique venue space for a flagship technology event

Wednesday 29 August 2018 by Amazing News Editor

In June this year, over 600 tech professionals gathered in Wakefield for the largest technology event in the North of England.

The event, run by pure technology group, was called pt18, and at Amazing Tent Co, we were delighted to provide the event cover for this unique expo.

The event was aimed at going beyond the realms of traditional IT expos – showcasing everything from IoT and 3D printing, to robotics, cutting-edge automotive advancements and assisted reality. It was held in the grounds of the historic Chapelthorpe Hall, and with it being the largest ‘pt’ event to-date the organisers needed a large and impressive structure to match their unique and modern exhibition.

We provided a S5000 enclosed duo span, an imposing 1000 sq. metre structure, along with a S1000 single span which acted as a grand entrance to the main exhibition space. Purple carpets were laid throughout, which were enhanced by the lighting inside, a bold and strong look to set off all the exhibition stands.

The structure worked well for this event, since it created different areas for exhibitors and the stage all under one roof, as well as an entrance area.

View the video to see a round-up of the event and the SaddleSpan in action.

SaddleSpans are one of the most versatile event structures available, offering a range of sizes, shapes and configurations for any type of event, on any surface. Talk to our team today about your next event, and we can make sure it’s covered!

Photos courtesy of pure technology group

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Amazing Tent Co to supply cover for the UK’s number one outdoor cinema event company

Thursday 21 June 2018 by Amazing News Editor

We are delighted to announce that this year we’ll be working with The Luna Cinema to provide temporary event cover for their brand new open-air cinema season designed specifically for kids.

Luna Kids Cinema will be touring six venues across the UK from July to September, screening family-friendly classics alongside this year’s blockbusters, as well as the first ever outdoor screenings of The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Stick Man. All the screenings will utilise the highest definition outdoor screen in the country, meaning a crystal-clear picture even in full daylight for an amazing cinematic experience.

We are providing SaddleSpan tents for six children’s cinema events in Dulwich Park, London; Hatfield House, Hertfordshire; Hampton Court Palace; Priory Park, Surrey; Heaton Park, Manchester and Tatton Park, Cheshire.

Simon Fookes, director of Amazing Tent Co, said: “We are really pleased to be working with the team at Luna Kids Cinema. These are seriously cool events at fantastic locations around the UK. But the focus is on a quality experience for the audience, from the sound and lighting to the food and drink suppliers, so we are delighted to be working with Luna Kids Cinema to help provide that experience.”

George Wood, founder of The Luna Cinema, said: “We are delighted to be working with Amazing Tent Co for the very first Luna Kids Cinema this summer. Luna Kids will celebrate all that is great about cinema for children of all ages – this last year has been so fantastic for kids’ films, with pictures like Paddington 2, Coco and Despicable Me 3 topping box office charts and delighting adults and children alike. To experience these films, alongside timeless classics such as Aladdin, Up and The Incredibles, on a giant high definition screen will make for a truly unique summer family outing. No one wants to be cooped up in a darkened room during the summer holidays – Luna Kids encourages us all to get out in the open air and enjoy some of the most stunning parks and historic sites in the country, and Amazing Tent Co’s SaddleSpan tents will only enhance the experience.”

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