We're proud to announce that we have been appointed the sole supplier for outdoor stages as well as all audio visual (AV) equipment for a prominent holiday resort based on the South Coast. After a few months of discussions, Outdoor Stages has been given the contract to manage all manner of staging and AV equipment for at least the remainder of 2020, with the option to extend another year.

We're delighted to add another prestigious client to our roster, and with their permission, we thought it's worth just giving you a little bit of background to the agreement. So let's run through what we've been asked to provide as well as explaining why they felt we were such a good fit for this particular project.

COVID-19 Turns Travel Industry On its Head and Forces Holiday Resorts to Act Fast

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll already know the widespread impact the global pandemic has had on almost every industry. But it's fair to say that travel and tourism-based businesses were some of, if not the most devastated by coronavirus. With no-one able to go anywhere (never mind on holiday!) for months on end, holiday resorts have had to adapt their operations to thrive under conditions what many have dubbed the 'new normal.'

Our new client was anything but slow off the mark, and they made initial contact with us just a mere matter of weeks after the lockdown was imposed in late March. They realised very quickly that a) the virus would mean that there was an impending boom in domestic holidays with borders shut off to the outside world and that b) it was clear that the usual indoor entertainment performances weren't going to be feasible with mandatory social distancing in place.

They approached us to help them work out how they were going to shift those aforementioned performances outside, and we were only too happy to oblige. Over the following weeks, we worked together to build a schedule of outdoor events split into two categories. One consisting of traditional, frequent performances from on-site entertainers, and the other focused on one-off concerts and large-scale celebrations to mark special occasions.

We then set about creating stage hire packages for each, as well as providing a cost for all of the associated sound and lighting equipment. They were thrilled with what we came up with and awarded us the contract for 2020 with an option to extend for the whole 2021 season.

So let's take a closer look at what we're are going to provide in between now and Christmas.

Festival Stage Hire for One-Off Holiday Performances

The first and most pressing requirement was to organise a sizeable stage package for a few one-off performances that will coincide with the resort's busiest weeks of the year, such as October half term. For this type of event, we recommended our 12m x 10m Arc Dome stage to accommodate some of the well-known acts booked to perform later in the year.

These events, which include a bonfire night spectacular, will be ticketed in their own right meaning attendance will not be limited solely to those on holiday at the resort. With thousands of expected attendees, we felt this was the best option to house of all the necessary light and sound equipment for a crowd of that size and do the nationally-recognised performers justice.

Speaking of the associated AV equipment, the set up for these events will include about 30 moving head DMX fixtures, 17R beams, PAR tour cans, LED pixel bar systems, stage blinders, a state-of-art lighting desk, and a lighting technician on hand to run the light displays. That's the lighting taken care of, but what about the sound, we hear you ask.

One the sound side, we've agreed to provide PA wings on either side of the stage that will have d&b audiotechnik line arrays suspended from each. We will then deck out the stage with a full suite of stage monitors, amps, instrumental and vocal microphones, further speakers, all of the associated stands, and we'll also have a MIDAS 32 mixing desk for our sound engineers to bring everything together.

Finally, for these high-profile concerts, the backdrop to the stage will be an expansive outdoor LED video wall, which will help provide a stunning visual display during the performances. The stage will be fitted and secured within a large grassed area to accommodate the larger than usual audience size, with us taking care of all of the rods required to pin the stage in place. We will handle all of the assemblies and packing away over the course of a couple of days.

With this aspect of the requirements sorted, let's give you a little more insight into the flip-side of the contract, which involved the client hiring a stage for their more frequent and conventional evening entertainment performances.

Stage Hire for Evening Entertainment Requirements

In contrast, the ad-hoc largescale one-night events described above, another vital part of our commitment to this holiday resort is helping them move their traditional entertainment from their indoor auditorium to an outdoor space. The stage requirements weren't anywhere near as significant for this task since the performers are going to be predominately solo while on stage.

This stage hire will be required on at least a weekly basis for local singers, magicians, entertainers, comedians, and the odd small ensemble performance. For these requirements, we recommended our versatile 6m x 4m Arc Roof stage, which fits perfectly into the courtyard the client had allocated for the evening entertainment space.

As you might have guessed, the AV requirements weren't quite as extensive either. However, we still proposed a sound and lighting package that packed a punch. We designed a stage up with a few LED moving head washes, an array of Martin 5R beams, a couple of lasers, and a stage hazer.

Again, we didn't skimp on the sound side either, sticking to our trusted d&b audiotechnik kit. This time it was the Q1 series PA system, along with four stage monitors, a couple of wireless microphones, and a mixing desk for our sound engineer balance everything up perfectly.

They loved the setup, and we've provided this package for a couple of weeks now.

Technical Event Production Support

As we've eluded to, our provisions for the holiday resort includes all manner of technical event production support services. For the big one-off concerts, we will have a team of well over a dozen individuals spread across stage assembly, light and sound rigging, and setting up the LED video wall. During the event itself, the client wants us to handle all aspects of event production to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

By contrast, for the smaller stage, we will only need a few of our team to assemble everything, including the sound and lighting fixtures. We then have an experienced engineer on-site to run each of the weekend evening shows that take place on Friday and Saturday nights.

The fact that we can look after the running of all sizes of performances like this was a critical factor in the holiday resort choosing us to handle their requirements. Speaking of which, it may be useful for us to use this space to give you a little insight into their reasons for choosing Outdoor Stages.

Why Outdoor Stages Was Chosen for this Project

Usually, we get so wrapped up the planning, designing, and delivery of successful outdoor events that we rarely have the opportunity to either ask or follow up to find out what it was about our company that stood out. Fortunately, that wasn't the case with this holiday resort, who went to the trouble of explaining why they chose us, which will, of course, prove very helpful in our future marketing efforts.

Firstly, apparently we were always at the forefront of their considerations thanks to our holiday resort contact hearing about our work while running a different holiday park further up the South Coast. While she hadn't managed to get the chance to attend an outdoor event run by us, she had heard nothing but good things from a few of her fellow resort operators.

Our reputation as one of the best providers of outdoor and festival stages in England is something we've worked incredibly hard to attain over the years. We're incredibly proud to have exceeded expectations throughout our long history of operations, and it's great to know that it stood us in good stead for this contract award.

While our reputation no doubt got us off to a good start, we still had to impress. It's fair to say that our sheer inventory had a pretty significant influence on the client's impression of us. Our client had no idea that we had such an enormous range of stages, for a start.

But it's fair to say what blew her away, was the sheer scale of our inventory when it came to AV equipment. When it became clear that we could host both sides of the contract (big one-off event and small scale outdoor entertainment) on the same night, and still have plenty of personnel and equipment left over for other commitments, it became clear to them that we were the right fit for their resort.

They were also thrilled by the fact that we own every single piece of our equipment, we never 'sub' any of it in for a project. We take great care over our stock, regularly maintaining and servicing items every time they return to our warehouse.

Finally, they loved the convenience of having one supplier handle everything. From the initial stage construction to liaising with performers to configure sound and lighting riders, they'd never previously worked with a company that dealt with all aspects of event production, taking a sizeable workload off their plate.

Choose Outdoor Stages for Your Outdoor Events This Year Moving Forward

Whether you're a holiday resort or an event organiser looking to hire a festival stage for a music concert, Outdoor Stages is your partner for your outdoor events this year. With COVID-19 restrictions forcing the vast majority of performances outdoors, we can handle all aspects of event production on your behalf including stage hire, lighting fixtures, sound equipment, outdoor LED screens… quick note ref our video walls - we are able to supply outdoor LED video wall which will allow you to show live footage from the stage or we can deliver visual content to the LED wall or the screens can be setup for an outdoor cinema type event if your planning a drive in move night festival, either way, Outdoor Stages can help AND we have some of the most experienced sound engineers and lighting technicians in the business to make sure your event sound, stage lighting & LED screen content is faultless

Simply put, we are one of the only operators in the entire UK market that offer complete a complete end-to-end solution for event organisers. Better yet, we can walk you through every step of the process, conducting site visits and guiding you through your AV equipment choices.

So if you're planning an outdoor event that requires a stage and associated AV equipment, just give us a quick call to have a chat about what you're planning. We'd love to hear all about it!

Outdoor Stage Hire - London & Surrey Festival Concert Stage Hire
4 Minley Rd
Farnborough
GU14 9RS
https://www.outdoorstages.co.uk/
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