A Guide to Event Shelters for your Street Party
By Gala Tent
When hosting a street or community party for any celebration, be it the King’s Coronation, Easter or a Bank Holiday event, the weather is always going to be an unpredictable factor that you’ll need to take into account, and have contingency plans for.
If you’re fortunate, it will be a dry, mild day and everything will go smoothly. If not, however, it will always pay to ensure you have a shelter or two, for people to get out of the gusty wind, torrential rain, or blazing sunshine.
The two most popular ways that you can provide shelter to your street party attendees come in the form of marquee party tents, and pop-up gazebos. Both will provide you with substantial shelter and shade, and both have their benefits.
Pop-Up Gazebos
Smaller in size, but arguably more versatile, a pop-up gazebo can be erected in a matter of minutes, often by just one person (depending on the size). Gala Tent supplies pop-up gazebos in twelve different colours, five different sizes, and with a selection of
They will often be manufactured using either steel, or aluminium framework, and PVC-coated polyester covers. Whilst they are an entry-level tent, the steel frames of a gazebo such as the Gala Shade Pro MX ensure they remain a heavyweight product and absolutely appropriate for an occasional party.
More lightweight, but stronger and better suited to events where there will be plenty of people around, aluminium-framed gazebos, such as the Gala Shade Pro 40 or Pro 50, are commercial quality, long-lasting shelters with warranties to match.
On top of being much easier to erect quickly, pop-up gazebos are also customisable, so you can add small walls, strengthening bars and even go for fully bespoke covers such as Union Jack designs, or get local businesses to sponsor your tents and get their branding on them.
Great street party applications for a pop-up gazebo:
• Drinks and Snacks Tent
• Party Games Shelter
• Trade or fundraising stalls
• Live Entertainment shelter
Marquees
The classic pole-frame marquee is an ideal solution for street parties where there’ll be plenty of people to cover. Gala Tent supplies marquees in sizes from 3m x 2m that would cover about four people, up to a massive 9m x 30m, which can cover close to five hundred people.
The most common covers for marquees are Polyethylene (PE) and PVC. PE is a woven plastic, tarpaulin-like material, double-coated to ensure it is waterproof. The heavier it is, the better it will perform, and at 240gsm, it will provide a low-cost, but fully functional tent. PVC marquees make a much more effective shelter, with robust and heavyweight materials used to ensure full weatherproofing. The wipe-clean walls and canopy mean that the marquee can be brought out for any other celebrations looking as good as new.
The great thing about marquees is that they are a blank canvas that you can decorate exactly as you like, whether it’s adorned with Union Jack bunting to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, or hay bales and pumpkins for a Halloween party.
Great street party applications for a marquee:
• Catering Tent
• Live Entertainment Stage
• Shelter for games and table-top sales
• Beer Tent
Staging is possible too:
Health and Safety Precautions
Whilst they are very strong and able to protect you and your party attendees from all manner of weather fronts, marquees and pop-up gazebos are not indestructible, and should always be anchored extremely well to ensure they don’t take off in a gust of wind.
If you have it erected on soft ground, then ratchet straps and heavy-duty pegs should be placed at each leg point. On hard ground, concrete or cast iron weights at the same points will help your party to adhere to health and safety requirements.