Site layout/planning

The layout of the site is important. For one thing you want to arrange the stalls etc. so that the public are drawn into the middle of the event site and then encouraged and allowed to circulate freely. The layout of stalls and access paths must meet the regulations imposed by the fire and rescue service. It should also be wide enough to allow cars and trucks through during set up and strip down, as well as allowing free circulation of the crowds attending when the gates are open to the public.

If any stalls are running displays, remember that crowds will tend to gather in front of those stalls to watch the displays. The access paths will therefore need to be wide enough to allow the public to circulate around and past any crowd that does gather to watch a display.

Similarly, any central arena space will have to include areas for members of the public to gather to watch the events in the arena while still allowing for free movement around the site.

Draw up a scale plan of the site and discuss the proposed layout with stallholders, local authority, first aid staff, the police and fire and rescue staff etc. Make sure that everyone is in general agreement with the design/plan.

Stalls/plots

A key consideration is the size of the stalls/plots that you are going to supply to stall . The size they require will vary depending on their purpose and the type of event you are running. While a school fÉte will require most stalls to be the size of one or two school tables, at a steam show a stall will almost certainly be considerably larger.

An autojumble stallholder may well require sufficient space to lay out and display a lorry full of car parts and spares. They may also wish to keep their lorry on their plot to act as a base of operations, shelter and store for more valuable or fragile items.

You may wish to consider ‘selling’ different size plots to stallholders at your event, with sizes ranging from 3 × 3 metres, up to 6 × 12 metres. You could then allow stallholders to state their requirements and lease them the plot(s) that meet their requirements. It is possible that a stall holder will want to ‘buy’ two adjacent small plots or possibly a small and a large plot side by side, to accommodate their goods and displays.

Another option often used for travelling funfairs is that they are assigned a designated measured area of an event site and set themselves up in the space allocated.

Emergency access

However you design the access paths, gates and layout of the stalls, make sure that there is sufficient space to allow emergency service vehicles to reach every part of the event ground. If they are needed, they are needed in a hurry and nobody wants to stand around and wait while a cattle pen or burger stall is dismantled, before they can pass through.

Make sure that a burger bar, for example, does not rent a 10 ft ×10 ft plot and then use the whole access path to set out picnic chairs and tables for the use of their . If they want an area of tables and chairs, that should be included in their plot and they must rent sufficient space to do so.

Early consultation with the local fire and rescue service and the licensing authorities will be to the advantage of everyone involved, will reduce your workload and eliminate a host of potential problems.

Stalls, attractions and displays

Consideration should also be given to the grouping and location of stalls, attractions and displays. If there is an arena for the display of steam engines for example, it is sensible that the parking area for the steam engines is located near to the arena, or at least with free access to the arena. You don’t want to accept the increased dangers involved with steam engines travelling the whole length of the site, weaving in and out of the stalls to get into and out of the display arena. (You almost certainly wouldn’t be allowed to do that anyway.) Some displays may hold inherent dangers, such as the boiler fires and hot steam in steam engines.

In other displays, restricted access may be required for another reason. For example with highly polished and expensively restored vintage cars, the owners will not want the public to be climbing all over their display vehicles, so you must give consideration to erecting fences around displays, to exclude the public and where necessary provide marshals to keep the public out.

You may wish to consider grouping certain types of stalls, or putting all rides in one location. On a larger site, this will help the public to orient themselves, so that they can locate those things that are of particular interest to them.

An outline site map on the programme or ticket will also help, or you could sell a site map to the public for say 50 pence – proceeds minus costs to a local charity.

Food outlets need water, power, food stores and waste-food bins, so it could be argued that they could all be located together in one area of the site. However, owners of burger and ice-cream vans would probably prefer to be scattered throughout the site. That would have multiple benefits for them. They can spread their enticing aroma over the whole event and hopefully entice the public to ‘browse’ their way around the site, from burger van, to beer tent, to ice-cream van, to cold drink stall. Wherever they are the pubic will have access to fast food. Being located individually, the stallholders also have less immediate competition.

For obvious reasons a food outlet would almost certainly not want to be placed next to the dung heap from an animal event. Similarly, a choir would not want to be located next to a very noisy fair ground ride, or loud generator engine.

Though you won’t be able to please everyone, at the planning stage you can make sure that simple mistakes are not made. Remember that during the planning stage, it is really easy to rub out a section of the plan and redraw several stalls. It is a matter if you find you got it wrong when the event is open and the sewage tanker can’t get through so you have to move a burger bar and dog grooming studio or leave the toilets to flood!

Central offices

Remember that both the event manager’s office and the cash office need to be in a fairly central location to make them conveniently available to everyone. You must ensure that vehicles can gain easy access to the cash office for cash distribution, delivery and collection. You must also remember to allow sufficient space for cash collection vehicles to enter, turn and leave safely and easily.

Because of the need for vehicular access, these offices are probably best located near a main vehicle entrance. Your walk through, on the draft site plan, will highlight problems with your planned location.

The first aid station also needs to be conveniently located in a fairly central location to make it easily available to everyone and if possible near a visually identifiable landmark on site, so it is easy for members of the public to find it. There is a possibility that serious casualties may need to be removed in an ambulance. To facilitate this, the first aid point should also be located near a vehicle access point, with sufficient space to allow ambulances to enter, turn and leave safely, with easy and potentially fast access to the main road.

Emergency helipad

If your event involves potentially risky pursuits, such as car racing, motorcycle racing, horse-riding etc, you may wish to consider setting aside a secure area for helicopter evacuation of seriously injured casualties. Consult the local health authority, fire service, police and air ambulance organisations for advice on the size and location of such an emergency helipad.

You must also make sure that appropriate information is available to the crew – such as longitude and latitude, landmarks (such as a motorway junction) and nearby risks (such as radio masts or power lines). The helipad itself should also be clearly marked to help the crew find it in an emergency from 600 metres.

Remember that the helipad will have to be staffed to keep it clear for use and to protect the helicopter and equipment from nosy and possibly ‘souvenir collecting’ visits while the crew are working on the casualty.

Police control room and parking

If there is a police presence on the event ground, they will probably require a site they can locate (or you can supply) a temporary control room. Depending on the size of the event and the police presence on site, this room may need to have power and water supplies connected. As mentioned elsewhere as a courtesy you should try to provide separate toilet facilities for police officers, near their control room (or possibly shared with the event manager’s and cash offices).

The police will also require parking for a number of vehicles, such as crew buses, patrol cars and the vans and any trailers used to distribute and collect signs and no parking cones. (Check with the police liaison officer to agree how much if any parking is required.)

The police control room should be located near a road gate to allow quick and easy access to police vehicles. If the police control room is located near the event manager’s and cash offices, you gain multiple benefits, including increased security and a simplification of the power supply to the services that need it.

Vehicle-free zone

Once all of the stalls and displays have been set up, declare the event site a vehicle-free zone. There will be children around, and remember that even adults don’t always look where they are going when they are deep in conversation and fascinated by the wonderful event you have arranged. Before the gates open to the public, remove all vehicles and ban vehicle movement on the event site.

With emergency services and necessary vehicles such as cash security vans and sewage tankers serving portable toilets etc, you may have to allow access. If so drivers be instructed to keep to walking pace, have their hazard warning lights and other lights on and may even have to be escorted by a spotter to help the driver negotiate the crowds – especially when reversing.