Amazing Tents is proud to announce that the SaddleSpan S5000 will once again be the stage cover for the BBC Radio 3 Charlie Gillett stage at WOMAD 2015 festival.
Many internationally renowned artists have performed under the S5000’s protective roof in previous years, including last year’s extensive line-up. 2014’s festival saw Caci Vorba, Yaaba Funk, 9 Bach, Elemotho, Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys, Cigdem Aslan and The Chair all take to the Charlie Gillett stage.
The stage is named after the celebrated British radio presenter and musicologist who died in 2010 following a highly successful career promoting world music (and, incidentally, discovering legendary bands such as Ian Dury and Dire Straits).
What to expect at WOMAD 2015
The organisers of this year’s world music festival, held in Charlton Park in the Wiltshire town of Malmesbury, are so far keeping the details of the 2015 line-up under their hats.
Tickets are now on sale for the summer event, but the only act confirmed so far is the Australian blues singer-songwriter C.W Stoneking. We eagerly await more line-up news, but at least the S5000 is primed and ready for a bumper selection of talented world musicians. Around 40,000 music fans are expected on each day of the event, taking place on the last weekend of July, so if you’re one of them – look out for the SaddleSpan stage cover. You should be able to spot it by its unique ‘saddle’ shape.
Why are SaddleSpan tents so popularly used as stage covers?
There are quite a lot of reasons why so many of the UK’s top festivals, music and performance events make use of SaddleSpan S5000 tents as stage covers.
The first of these is obvious – the tent’s unique shape makes it the perfect frame for a live performance act. It shelters acts and crew from the elements, specially designed to withstand winds of up to 60mph, and provides the audience with the ideal focal point. It is also perfect for rigging lighting, sound and other effects –whilst still retaining a very modern, almost futuristic look. You could even go so far as to say that the S5000 is stylish, especially when branded with festival colours, logos or lighting effects.
The SaddleSpan S5000 is also very versatile, which is perhaps why so many festivals – including WOMAD – choose it. It comes in a canopy form, where both ends are open, and a canopy configuration, where a back wall is added. It can also be enclosed, when it instantly becomes a large marquee suitable for all kinds of special events. As well as being modular, so you can connect it to other SaddleSpan configurations, the stage cover is also safe and easy to build, saving festival organisers some valuable installation time.
Just as importantly – audiences seem to love the SaddleSpan stage covers, which get a fantastic reaction every time they grace a festival field during the day or when night falls. Long may it continue!
