Free or charged parking

For all but the smallest local event, the majority of attendees will almost certainly come by car. The logistical problems of car parking are dealt with elsewhere (see Chapter 14, ‘Event site’, Chapter 15, ‘Traffic management’, and Chapter 18, ‘Car parking’). This section discusses car parking fees.

Free parking is a major attraction to draw the public. You must remember that the logistical problems, space and resources absorbed by parking are considerable and so impose a significant cost and drain on resources. The decision whether to charge a fee for parking or to offer free parking has to be made for your particular event. If you decide to charge for car parking, you need to consider the following:

• As with gate fees, the parking fee should be a sensible rounded sum. A fee of £1 per car is easier to collect than 94p per car.
• Each car park attendant will require a cash float and collection tin, belt or bag.
• You need to instruct the attendants about cash security – you don’t want them to leave their collecting tin at the gate while they help to search for a lost car! Equally, sure that legitimate staff either know the person sent to relieve diem, or that staff carry some sort of identification. It has been known for a cheeky thief to ‘relieve’ a gate person or car park attendant and simply vanish with the collection tin and the contents.
• Cash collection will need to be arranged from each car park gate person and pedestrian gate person. Cash collection might also be combined with a security check in that car park, increasing security awareness in the car park and ‘hiding’ the cash collection run.
• Car park and vehicle security is another major consideration. If potential visitors think that there is a high risk that their car will be stolen or damaged while they are at the event, they won’t come (see Chapter 22, ‘Security’). Visitors would be more enthusiastic about paying reasonable parking fees at larger events if the event manager could advertise that vehicle security was catered for with advertised security patrols. As with everything, the event manager has to make the final decision. Simplicity is best. Don’t make it too complicated and use common sense, possibly with a slightly higher parking fee covering the associated costs.