Author: Amazing News Editor

2018 – a year of ‘Amazing’ festivals

Monday 09 April 2018 by Amazing News Editor

The waiting is nearly over, the long winter is finally at an end, festival season is upon us and we can’t wait!

At Amazing Tent Co, we work across the whole event industry whether that is covering outdoor trade shows, corporate events and exhibitions, concerts and gala events, or festivals.

Over the years we have covered more and more amazing festivals across the UK and beyond. In the last decade hundreds of new festivals have popped up as the nation’s appetite for them grows. And in the UK and Europe, we have some fantastic festivals – not just music festivals but food, comedy and family ones too.

So, we thought we’d do a whistle-stop round-up of some of the amazing festivals we’ll be visiting this year to provide SaddleSpan tents, and we’ve picked out five of them to preview that we think are well worth a look this year – most of which still have tickets left if you’re quick.

(And if you’re organising a festival and you need cover for stages, bars or food areas this year or next, get in touch to discuss your requirements with us).

Festivals in 2018

We’ve picked out a few great festivals we’ll be providing cover to below – but these are just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll just mention that we’ll also be at Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend, Lounge Fest, Cornbury, Latitude, WOMAD, Blood Stock and Creamfields!

Electric Castle Festival – Romania

This is the first time we’ve provided cover for this festival in Romania and we’re very excited about it. It says it is one of Europe’s very few true 24-hour festivals. It is set in the grounds of the stunning Banffy Castle, in Transylvania and it is an eclectic mix of music, arts, technology, street performers and stand-up comedy. Headliners include Damian Marley, Jessie J and London Grammar.

 

Standon Calling – Hertfordshire

This is a fantastic festival, that has a dressing up theme every year – this time it’s ‘The Future’. It’s on a great site, not far from the M25, and has stunning and unusual boutique camping options available. The line-up includes Paloma Faith, George Ezra and Bryan Ferry. For electronic fans there is a big DJ line-up, plus there is comedy and plenty for children to do too – perfect for families.

 

Big Feastival – the Cotswolds

This festival is held at Alex James’ farm (former Blur band member) in the beautiful Oxfordshire Cotswold countryside. It’s a mix of a food festival and music festival, hence the name. You’ll find plenty of amazing street food stands, chef demonstrations and talks, cookery schools, tasting sessions, family activities and a huge fun fair. It’s a great family event and you can go for the weekend or just for a day. The 2018 line-up includes Raymond Blanc, Marco Pierre White and Mark Hix on the food side, and Basement Jaxx, Craig David and Clean Bandit for music.

 

House Festival – Hampstead, London

This has been dubbed one of the ‘poshest festivals in the world’ and the ticket prices are certainly not cheap. However, this is set in the beautiful grounds of Kenwood House in Hampstead and the organisers make a donation back to the owners English Heritage each year to go towards upkeep of the grounds. And you can expect the price tag to be matched with high-end food and drink, ‘well-heeled’ clientele, a chilled vibe and a great line-up.

 

Latitude – Suffolk

We thought we’d sneak in this old favourite, a festival with a big following and rightly so. It returns this year to Henham Park in Suffolk and it is such a fantastic mix of music, kids fun and family activities, food, comedy, poetry and more. We cannot think of a reason why you wouldn’t want to go to Latitude. The line-up this year includes The Killers, Alt J, Solange and The Vaccines. Expect late night DJ sets, lake swimming, street food and much more.

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Urgent! Rapid response to last-minute events

Wednesday 07 March 2018 by Amazing News Editor

Many events are annual affairs, some are single occasion or once-in-a-lifetime events that are planned far in advance.

Every now and then however, there’s the last-minute event scenario. The ‘little notice, no time to plan’ type event. Sometimes an event is well planned but an emergency might occur, a venue falls through, or something breaks, or a supplier suddenly can’t provide. What happens then?

You need suppliers and companies to be there at the 11th hour, people who can turn things around at a moment’s notice. You might think that as an event structure business we only deal with bookings placed far in advance, but we like to think we get behind our clients and support them at any time – even with last-minute event structures.

At Amazing Tent Co we have the largest stock of SaddleSpan tents in Europe, with a large range of sizes and configurations available, which means we’ve often got extra structures in stock to help in emergency situations. SaddleSpans are infinitely versatile because several can be put together to make a larger structure and they can be erected on any type of surface, from grass to concrete. That means no matter what the event, we can find a structure for it.

We barely have a week without an event, however when a client calls, we’ll do anything we can to try and help. We’ve had situations, for example, where a festival director that had tents booked with us suddenly needed an additional one, and we pulled out all the stops to make it happen. Another in which an event manager had a last-minute request for an event from their corporate client, and we provided all the cover they needed with very little notice.

We like to say ‘whatever the event, we’ll cover it!’

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Event structures – any size, anywhere

Thursday 18 January 2018 by Amazing News Editor

Every event needs a location and a venue. If you’ve got a site and need a structure, there is an endless world of possibilities, but often a list of problems and questions as well.

At Amazing Tent Co we are experts in temporary event structures, specifically SaddleSpan tents, one of the most adaptable and robust, yet impressive, temporary structures available for events. And we want people to know that you really can have your event anywhere and still have an amazing structure to cover it.

We have the largest stock of SaddleSpans in the UK, supplying them for major festivals, corporate events, parties and exhibitions. There is barely a location we haven’t been to or a situation our team hasn’t had to deal with – sloping ground, bad weather, difficult access, you name it, we’ve has seen it.

Simon Fookes, managing director of Amazing Tent Co, said: “When we are approached by event managers or festival directors, they have lists of requirements and we like to be able to say ‘yes’ to every one of them.

“We visit each one of their sites, and provide advice and guidance on the right structure, the exact siting of it, the different configurations and which parts to enclose or keep open.”

Simon added: “When Amazing Tent Co and Nomadic Spaces came together it formed the largest SaddleSpan installation team in Europe. Each team member brings a dynamic set of skills and experience to every project, ensuring its success.

“We want event and festival organisers to know, you don’t need to have all the answers when you come to us, just an idea of what you want to achieve at your event or festival.”

SaddleSpan tents can be put up on any ground surface from grass to concrete and they come in a range of sizes, catering for just a few hundred people up to 15,000- 20,000. They are often used for stage cover, festival tents, exhibition spaces, parties and balls.

The opaque fabric cover of the SaddleSpan is easy to brand with company logos and can even be used as a stunning film screen.

They can be entirely open, closed on one or two sides, or completely enclosed, depending on the needs of the event.

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2017 – An Amazing Year

Tuesday 19 December 2017 by Amazing News Editor

As 2017 comes to a close, it’s hard to look back and pick out favourite memories or events. It truly has been an amazing year for Amazing Tent Co.

What makes the job more fun and the year fly by are our clients and the event managers or festival directors we work with – all of whom are entirely dedicated to their events, ensuring perfection at every level.

Something else that gets us through the year is our team – a group of tough, strong, and hilarious guys who work dawn to dusk in the busy months to ensure every structure goes up, and down, on time.

A whistle-stop tour of 2017 would include: The Edinburgh Assembly Festival, Leopallooza Festival in Cornwall, Cornbury Festival in Oxfordshire, college balls at Cambridge and Oxford universities, Bloom Festival in Dublin, Countryfile Show Live at Blenheim Palace, BBC Breakfast News at the (very) last minute and WOMAD in Wiltshire.

It also included Creamfields, V Festival, Young Farmers, Silverstone, corporate events, exhibitions and the SAGA Christmas staff party (to name just a few).

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a great New Year celebration. We look forward to seeing you in 2018 for another AMAZING year.

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How to organise and run an eco-friendly outdoor event

Monday 04 December 2017 by Amazing News Editor

Eco-friendly festivals are growing in popularity, and Glastonbury is one festival well known for its environmental policies, with solar power, biomass and waste reduction campaigns.

Glastonbury isn’t on its own however. Improving CSR credentials is becoming a top priority for event organisers.  Any event, no matter what size – whether a food festival, a product launch, a trade show or conference – can reduce its impacts on the environment by making some simple changes.

Eco-friendly additions can cost more money, but equally many event managers see eco-friendly credentials as adding value to their brand. Some even claim it can allow you to charge a premium.

Either way, here are some top tips we’ve gathered for organising and running an eco-friendly outdoor event.

Implement waste reduction policies

The first thing to do is think about how you can reduce the amount of waste your event produces. Large events can create vast amounts of waste – and we can vouch for that since we return to site after events to take our structures down and we see plenty of rubbish around. Some events run public campaigns urging revellers to take their rubbish home with them. Try and extend waste reduction policies to your suppliers and contractors. Food stalls should be required to compost all their food waste for example. By mobilising your network of suppliers, contractors and attendees you can have a greater impact.

Recycling

Reducing waste brings us neatly onto recycling. Encouraging recycling is probably the easiest and cheapest way to reduce waste and improve your eco-credentials. Firstly, you’ll need a range of recycling bins and plenty of them. Clearly mark your bins with which materials they should hold – ie plastics, paper and card, aluminium and so on. Ask your suppliers and contractors to recycle their waste as well, including compostable food waste.

Switch materials

To enable a good recycling rate, ensure the materials being used on site are recyclable. There are plenty of options on the market for recyclable cups or compostable food boxes. You could add clauses in contracts requiring stall-holders to use certain recyclable materials and ban plastic cups for bars. How far you go is up to you, some event organisers have even implemented plastic cup returns at bars, giving drinkers 20p back per cup.

Green energy

Events and festivals sap a lot of energy, particularly music festivals, and it’s hard to get around this. Firstly, look at your energy usage and see if there are ways you can reduce it. For example, if you are using generators you need to ensure they’re being used to their optimal load, otherwise they are wasting energy, 80% load is about perfect, 50-80% is ok – anything lower and you are wasting a lot of energy. Secondly, consider investing in some green energy options, like solar panels or small wind turbines. Even if you only use it for a small proportion of your energy needs, it’s still a start.

Venue choice

As an event structure business, we’re used to travelling to green fields, parks, or anywhere outdoors really. This is fine, however when you choose your location, it’s worth considering how close it is to public transport links. This way you can urge your attendees to choose trains or buses rather than travel by car.

If you’d like more advice on organising and planning an outdoor event, get in touch with us at Amazing Tent Co. We’re experts in outdoor event structures for all types of events.

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From Scotland to Cornwall – a summer of tents around the UK

Wednesday 20 September 2017 by Amazing News Editor

From the high speed and loud noise of Silverstone racing to the peace and tranquillity of the lake stage at Latitude, and from wild college balls to chilled music festivals, our summer season so far has taken us the length and breadth of the country.

2017 has been our busiest year to date at The Amazing Tents Company. This season has seen us setting up our SaddleSpan tents as far south as Cornwall for the Leopallooza Festival, and as far north as Edinburgh for the Assembly Festival.

In between we’ve stopped off at the Cornbury Festival in Oxfordshire and WOMAD in Wiltshire, visited Cambridge and Oxford Universities for their college balls, been to Blenheim Palace for the Countryfile Show Live, and popped over to Dublin for the Bloom Festival, coming back via Swansea University, where we set up for BBC Breakfast News.

And that’s not all. In fact we’ve calculated that from the start of the season until July we knocked in 2,500m of stakes, which is eight times the height of the Eiffel Tower and the total weight (15,000kgs) of a herd of 75 wildebeest.

We’ve put up enough spans to cover 50,000 people (twice the capacity of the O2 Arena) and moved equipment totalling 100 tonnes – the weight of more than 33 elephants. And we just keep going. By the end of the year we’ll probably have moved the equivalent weight of several zoos!

Simon Fookes, managing director, said: “It’s been a fantastic season so far, and up until recently we’ve had great weather along the way. The only shame for us is that we set up and leave before all the fun begins – and we come back at the end to see all the mess, chaos and aftermath!

“But equally, it’s great to watch the events on TV and online and see everyone having fun in our tents – enjoying music, or talks, or plays, or food. What we see is the wealth of arts, culture and interests across the UK that people enjoy — and it’s great to see these events thriving.”

On top of the big festivals and events, we have set up structures for large weddings, corporate events and private parties, and even put together a pop-up restaurant for Rick Stein and Tom Kerridge in the New Forest.

If you’re finding it hard to follow all this activity, we don’t blame you – even we can hardly believe we’ve been so busy ourselves! But you can see many of the tents we’ve mentioned here – and keep up to date with where we’re going and what we’re doing – on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Five things to consider when hosting an event outside

Tuesday 04 July 2017 by Amazing News Editor

Whether it’s a music festival, a corporate event, exhibition or conference, hosting an event outside presents a range of challenges. You may be thinking about the theme, the guest list and the welcome drinks, but we’ve got some top tips for getting the basic rights and avoiding any dramas on the day of your event. As experts in outdoor events we’ve seen it from all angles, and we’ve dealt with every problem you can imagine. So, let’s start at the beginning…

  1. What’s the site like and the ground surface?

Sorry if it sounds boring, but you really do need to consider everything. Fundamental to a good outside event is a good site. You can hold an event anywhere, but it’s worth noting the location of the site; is it on a windy hill, is it in a valley, is the space large, or small and confined? Secondly, if you are going to have temporary structures like tents, what’s the ground like? Is it grass, or something else, is there good drainage, is the ground flat or steep? These are the kind of things we ask our clients.

  1. Access

This is so important. You not only need to get your guests to your chosen location, but you’ll likely be need a range of deliveries (some that will might even come on lorries or trucks), from caterers and event structures to music equipment and lighting. Make sure you have good access to allow deliveries in.

  1. How long do you have the venue for?

If you’ve hired a field, or piece of land, how long have you hired it for? You may only be planning an evening event, but you might want to consider hiring the site for the day before and after. Suppliers often need to drop things off the day before and if the party will be going on until late it’s likely you’ll need to return the following day to clear-up the site. Also, giving yourself the day before the event to set it up will really take the pressure off you on the day.

  1. Power

Are you having bands, caterers or lights? You need power then! If you have a power source at your venue then great – but make sure you check the wattage and get details from your suppliers about how much power they require and how many sockets. If you don’t have a power source you’ll need to organise a generator, or several generators. The supplier of generators should be able to guide you on what you need.

  1. Cover

Planning your outdoor event in summer? Hoping for blue skies and sunshine? Of course, but this is the UK and you simply can’t plan an outdoor event without some effective cover for your guests. Our SaddleSpan temporary event structures are versatile and ideal for festivals, corporate events, concerts, exhibitions and conferences. They offer cover from the elements whilst allowing the views of the outside to be seen by all. So, come rain or shine your guests can enjoy your event.

If you start with these five points, and get the solutions sorted early on you can be sure your outside event will run much smoother. Now you can start thinking about the fun bits – the decorations, the food and drink, the music, the people! Whatever you do, have a great event.

 

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Stacked-up summer

Friday 26 May 2017 by Amazing News Editor

 

The summer is upon us and so is a schedule full of events.

We’re really, really busy. And we’re not complaining. Our amazing tents will be host to some exciting artists including Tom Odell, Basement Jaxx, Bryan Adams, Craig David and The Killers. Not only that but we’ll be the home to some the UK’s biggest supermarket brands, festivals, car brands and much more!

We’ll be here, there and everywhere ensuring that our clients are satisfied with their venues and stage covers. We’ll be popping up all over, with our furthest destination being sunny Qatar (and no it’s not a jolly).

At the drop of a hat we pick up jobs for clients who need us and trust us. And most importantly, standards never slip. Which is why we’re relied on time and time again by the same clients and why we acquire new clients from those have seen us in action.

So keep up to date with us on social media, see what’s going on and get involved. If you’re at an event we’re at we’d love to hear about it!

Speak soon,
The Amazing Team

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Festival fashion: where’s it going this year?

Monday 24 April 2017 by Amazing News Editor

It all happens in the sunny season of the year, where everyone goes a little wild and wacky with their attire, and why not? Festival fashion is totally different to what you might wear
to a beer garden in the summer, or on an average night out.

It’s got to be fun, creative and out-there. We’ve seen it all at festivals, from multi-coloured Mohicans to zebra and leopard print combos.

Well according to Vogue, it’s time to get a little Kevin and Perry. You’ve basically got to look like you did when you went to the beach at five years old and your mum gave in and let you dress yourself. As we know, the classic brands really are making a come-back in 2017, it’s edgy and we love it! Get on your Fila fisherman’s hat, torn up shorts and backpack and be on your way.

Say “no” to body paint in 2017. After years of people spending hours painting dots and pretty patterns on their faces, it’s time to knock it on the head. For 2017, we predict it’ll be the biggest year for cutting down on the colour at festivals. Gothic-chic is where it’s at. Pull out your clothes that look like they’ve been eaten by moth larvae and get out there.

Send us your craziest photos from this year’s festivals, we can’t wait to see!

And of course, let us know if you #SpotOurSaddleSpan

Talk soon,
The Amazing Team

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How 2017 is your event?

Wednesday 22 March 2017 by Amazing News Editor

Is it retro enough to trigger memories of the good times? Can you enter different dimensions while standing still? Are you ready for the new age of technology? Because it’s ready for you…

2017 is the year of the technology gods (decided by us). We’re not driving hover cars just yet, but with driverless cars being tested now, how far off is that childhood dream?!

Virtual and augmented reality is taking the world by storm, and all the big boys in technology are releasing their own versions, we’re seeing more and more of it everywhere we go. Take your delegates to a new world, or show them the possibilities of what can happen in this one. 2017 events will be off the charts with this kind of kit, so why not give it a go at your event?

If stepping away from reality isn’t your thing, or won’t work for you, why throwback to a time once cherished. Not only is 2017 the most futuristic of all, but it’s also focusing on the ‘blasts from the past’ and tapping into that nostalgia emotion we all crave.

Think about your delegates. What’s their age demographic? What will make them never forget your event and make them talk about it more than any other? Why not have a retro sweet section, or a theme that focuses on a certain era? Play on the emotions of your delegates, excite them, wear flairs! Do something a little different, something memorable.

And let us know about it!

Speak soon,

The Amazing Team

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