Events come in all shapes, sizes and as we know all too well, locations. Marquees are so popular because of all the weird, wonderful and unexpected places they can be used, their versatility makes them perfect for the likes of festivals, fairs, open days, weddings, extra storage and so much more.
A big part of this comes from what surfaces they can be placed on, and most of all how the tents are secured safely to each surface. The type of surface we assemble your Marquee on is crucial for deciding whether you may need flooring, carpeting and more. Here’s a breakdown of the most common suitable surfaces you can put a marquee on and our recommendations for each one.
Grass
The first, most obvious and common of all surfaces we put marquees on is grass. From huge open parks, to hillsides and beautiful gardens we have assembled marquees on a near endless mix of different grassed areas. We use floor plates with secure stakes on each one that pin the marquee down to distribute the weight, preventing the marquee from digging into the ground whilst keeping it firmly grounded at the same time. If your event is on grass, a marquee will be fine on it, there are some considerations to account for.
The key one of course is how wet the ground is. Given the British weather you may want to consider flooring your marquee if it’s on grass, depending on the nature of your event. We can supply flooring and carpeting as a package if you feel the rain could make or break your event. The only exception to this is if the grass is extremely waterlogged from excessive rain prior to assembling.
Uneven surfaces are perfectly fine as these can be accounted for on assembly, even sloping ground on an angle can be accounted for by using a frame to level the surface which the marquee can be placed on top of, such is the beauty of using a marquee.
Concrete & Gravel
Concrete as a surface for a marquee is also perfectly fine to be used. The main consideration for concrete surfaces is how to secure the marquee down. We use large weights to rest over each footplate of the marquee to keep it firmly fixed down without having to damage any of the tarmac to do it.
There is less of a requirement with concrete surfaced marquees to use flooring like there is with grass, and your event is less susceptible to be impacted by the rain but flooring can still give you a more finessed look, especially when it’s carpeted as well.
Gravel is also secured with the same process of using the weights to ground the marquee, even though it’s a slightly more uneven surface a marquee is perfectly fine to be placed on it thanks to the foot plates that are used to level it off. We also use tension adjustments on the inside of the marquees that help to keep the frame aligned to give the canvas a taught and secure look.
Stages
For live events and shows it can be common to use a marquee positioned on an elevated stage. This can keep any equipment on the stage dry and safe. Because of the elevated area we position the marquee on we can use weights in some circumstances but we can also use tension straps attached to the marquee that are then staked into the ground to keep it secured down.
The main consideration with a stage assembly is ensuring that clear communication between the stage size and us is made so that the perfect size tent for the stage can be assembled safely with a buffer in there.
We’re able to bring a complete package beyond just a marquee to weatherproof your event no matter the surface you’re hosting your event on, get in touch with us here and we can curate the perfect package to make sure your event runs smoothly anytime of the year.
