How to incorporate temporary roadways into UK festival planning 

Over our years of planning and installing trackway, we have accumulated ample knowledge on best practices, efficiency, and creating a safe and conflict-free workspace with the use of our products. We have also seen what worked well in the planning of festivals we have worked on. More usefully, we also saw what did not work so well. Fueled with this information and eager to help our current and future clients, we have created our best tips of how to incorporate temporary roadways into UK festival planning.

Your event planning timeline needs to be concrete 

You should have a full and complete timeline of all key dates, tasks, and activities which will take place prior to, during and following your event. Your event planning checklist should be very detailed. Temporary roadways need to be booked in advance, particularly in British summertime when festival season is occurring. Time should be set aside in advance of the event. This is to ensure we can complete site surveys with access and an appointed person available to meet us onsite.  

Preempt potential conflicts between third parties 

Your temporary roadway should be the first thing laid on site and the final thing to be removed from the site. Overlaps of third parties on-site should be avoided where possible. E.g. it’s not a good idea to have the stage team set up on the same day as the temporary roadway team. Each will arrive with their own trucks, equipment and staff which may get in each other’s way. You should ensure you book third parties appropriately and share a timeline with all teams you are working with. This prevents overlap. 

Share contact details  

To ensure smooth running, when you send a schedule out to third parties, include the contact details of all companies onsite. You should also include a direct number to each engineer or coordinator then you, as the middleman, will not always be needed. It is sometimes easier for third parties to be able to go directly to one another. This can also help suppliers build relationships. Bonus tip, this is great for marketing and networking purposes later down the line for them, you and us. 

Consider your event demographic to save costs on temporary roadways

Even if it is a free event, you should make your event ticketed. This allows you to acquire as much data as possible on the attendees (besides last-minute walk-ins). The data will likely include their age, gender and if any special requirements or access are needed. It will also allow you to see if they are parking at the event or travelling via public transport. Enabling you can assess the amount of car parking space required. Using this information you can accurately measure how much space will be needed. We will also be able to use it to assess the amount of ground protection required. 

Consider external factors which could disrupt your temporary roadways

UK weather is of course, so very unpredictable. Areas of the site which could potentially become muddy or slippery upon torrential downpours should have a temporary roadway contingency plan. You should pre-book the extra ground protection to cover this and then reassess when a more accurate weather prediction is available before the event. If you have an open-access event, you should also consider any other events within close proximity to yours. These events could increase your footfall and require more parking or ground matting.

Timing your event correctly 

Damage to land often happens because vehicles have driven into areas they shouldn’t have. When drivers are queuing to enter an event along one of our temporary roadways, if this is not a seamless, time-effective process drivers become impatient, drive off the temporary roadway, try to make U-turns in fields, or abandon cars on the grass in out-of-bounds areas. Of course, the ideal is to prevent this with efficiency but in areas where you suspect this could be unavoidable, more temporary roadways to widen the road or create a turning circle may be required.

Do a mock run-through to add lighting alongside temporary roadways

Things can easily slip through the cracks on event day. To be prepared you should include a run-through of the event prior to the start date and time. This is a good time to identify any issues. If this is conducted the night prior to the event, it is a good way to spot areas which become pitch black with limited light.This means you can mark the spaces that require temporary lighting added along the temporary roadway. This is for the benefit of vehicles and pedestrians to stop people driving or walking onto the grass and creating land damage or having accidents when it is dark. 

Speak to our team today, if you would like any support with temporary trackway hire for your event.