If you asked a random person between the ages of 20 and 50 what they were going to do this summer, the answer of ‘going to a festival’ would probably be the most popular answer behind a foreign holiday. The explosion of large festivals over the past few decades has been remarkable; for older festival-goers, these big events are no longer just for young muddy people, as the popularity of family events and Glastonbury shows. Also, due to changes in distribution in the music industry, bands and acts make the majority of their money from via performing, and the festival circuit makes up a huge bunch of that.

Putting on a festival is no easy matter however, with potentially over a hundred thousand people attending over multiple days, each needing the vital infrastructure necessary to sustain them comfortably. We’ve all seen the terrible but fascinating ‘Fyre: the greatest party that never happened’ documentary on Netflix – festival’s can certainly go wrong if they aren’t planned well!

Here are five services that are needed for a successful music festival:

Mobile Crane Rental

There are a number of different structures that require a crane service in order to construct them efficiently and safely at a festival. For a music-focused event, the quality of its main stage can make or break a festival; it can provide a wonderful focal point for the event’s international headliner or could alternatively serve as a super iconic image of the festival itself – like Glastonbury’s distinctive Pyramid Stage for example.

Other constructions such as huge marquees, art installation, climbing towers and festival attractions enormous fire breaking spiders can all require the services of a good crane service firm. Choosing a reputable crane company is key though as there have been a number of deaths associated with stages, so ensuring that it is a good one for safety reasons is very important.

Toilet Services

One of the big dreaded features of the music festival is the ‘toilet situation’. With thousands of people often camping in a muddy field, drinking and indulging themselves too much over a period of days, the dreaded spectre of the disgusting portaloo raises its head – I’m sure you’ve heard of the terrible story of ‘poo girl’ who fell headfirst into a portaloo’s cesspit after trying to retrieve her dropped bag and was stuck for 20 minutes!

Ensuring that you have a reputable and adequately manned toilet service is high up on the priorities of any good festival. Portaloos often get a bad rap but as long as they are regularly cleaned and have the waste sucked out by an efficient team and their waste vehicle, they are perfectly satisfactory.

A good idea to speed up waiting times and reduce that irritating long queue is to install specialist gents urinals that can help festival-goers get back to the main stage and not miss the start of their favourite band.

Catering Services

One of the best things at a festival is all the food on offer – not everyone wants to eat heated up baked beans and sausages from a can! In the past, festival food used to be basic overpriced fare but not the modern festival has a huge range of different cuisines and dishes to choose from. Nowadays, most festivals have Indian curries, Mexican tacos and Neapolitan Pizzas, to name just a few. The usual set-up is for independent catering companies to pay the festival organisers for the right to establish a place to make and sell food for the festival goers. This is usually from specialist vans driven into the venue, large specialist tens or even make-shift buildings.

Medical Services

Staying up half the night dancing to amazing music is great fun but it can certainly take it out of you. Combined with alcohol and the heat and stress that comes with the modern festival, it is inevitable that there is a need for medical services at any major event. It is always a sad fact that a minority of gig-goers will also take drugs and other banned substances at your festival – having a medical service is insurance against this.

It is always good to have staff that are trained in medicine to pitch in if someone is ill but a specialised service is always a good idea in case the worse happens. Organisations such as St John Ambulance is a volunteer-led, charitable non-governmental organisation that is dedicated to the teaching and the practice of first aid in England – and would be a great idea to invite to your event.

Security Services

Unless you are running a classical musical event or a festival featuring the wonderful voice of Cliff Richard, you will need to hire a security team to police your event. Properly trained security staff do more than just making sure that people don’t try and slip into your event without a ticket. There are a number of different things that security services can perform such as making sure that the event is peaceable and dealing with people who decide to use violence. In a place that is full of emotional people who have often had a lot to drink, well-trained security staff who know how to deal with such people are causing trouble. In addition this, security staff will be able to protect the performers from gig-goers swarming the stage, know how to prevent crowd crushes and protect items of value from theft. By having a strong security presence you can also stop people who are acting suspiciously or are trying to sell drugs.

Armquest Industrial The Crane Contractors

Armquest Industrial was founded in 1989 and was formerly built with the mission to provide cranage and labour to erect and dismantle bailey bridges and move and install heavy machinery. Our business now specialises in a bigger selection of industrial services such as crane lifting and heavy-duty lifting of all types. Armquest Industrial is a Manchester-based industrial services business that has an excellent track record in helping its clients. It doesn’t matter what your industrial project requires, Armquest Industrial has the ability to deliver top service quality on time – every time. We at Armquest Industrial are proud to have an excellent staff of industry experts that are both superbly qualified at their jobs with years’ of experience behind them.

Armquest Industrial uses only the best in new technology and equipment while making sure that we keep up with the latest models and industrial techniques. Our head office is located in Manchester and most of our work is across the North-West of England. We still, however, have many varied customers across the United Kingdom who love our high-quality services and are regular clients. Our customers are the first to attest to our massive reputation in the sector, and have become we have become famous throughout the Greater Manchester region for our reliability, quality of service and never-say-no attitude. Crane hire cost is always affordable with Armquest Industrial.

Armquest Industrial’s main services include plant life & shift, plant dismantling contract lifting, crane rental and hot tub lifting. Regardless of whether you just need a free quote on your project or would like help and guidance on the different types of lifting options available, Armquest Industrial is always here to aid you. If you have a crane or industrial-related problem, then please get in contact our friendly customer service team today. Phone us on 01617 278 578 or email us via stevegroves@armquest.co.uk for a speedy response.