Big Foot Festival

How many people does it take to rig 33 stretch tents and 17 pagodas in four days? This was the question asked of our logistics manager in the months and weeks leading up to Big Foot Festival; an independent, boutique beer festival nestled in the grounds of Ragley Hall near Stratford-Upon-Avon.

This is how we set up these festival stretch tents.

Stretch & Tents was proud to be the sole supplier of canvas for this event and sent twenty of our best riggers to carry out this gargantuan operation. In typical English fashion, they endured scorching hot weather during the installation only for the forecast to change to torrential rain for the weekend of the festival (18-20 June).

Big Foot’s organisers must have had access to a crystal ball and foreseen this epic downpour as our tents and pagodas provided close to 5000 square meters of shelter which kept everyone dry (except for those knees deep in the mosh pit at Primal Scream).

As a predominantly hop-centric festival, the pièce de rèsistance had to be the two colossal beer hall’s that our riggers built. One of the many great features of stretch tents is the ability to join tents together to create larger and more impressive structures.

Here, we did just this and combined three tents to form a 40 x 20 dimension for each alehouse; one in white and one in chino. These two behemoths were a warm and dry Mecca for all those who had ventured out into the rain and who required some dutch courage before braving to do so again.

A vast number of smaller tents further contributed to the square meterage of cover at the festival. These were to house the independent vendors who all came to sell their wares to an eager, post-COVID crowd. Tents of different shapes and sizes were built to fit the needs of the individual vendors, colouring the rural landscape in a medley of white, chino, pink and black. From all tent sides down to all sides open and in between, the Big Foot festival truly showcased the versatility and adaptability of the stretch tents that we have to offer.

Alongside our magnificent stretch tents runs our sister brand Premium Pagodas. These nifty, charming structures have two great qualities (as well as looking stunning); they can squeeze into the tight spaces that a stretch tent can’t and have a high canopy which makes them ideal candidates for catering tents. We installed 17 of these at Big Foot and their signature Chinese Hat style considerably added to the festival aesthetic.

If you’re in the process of planning a large event or a festival, and you don’t feel like placing your trust in the rain gods right now – give our office a call and we can individually tailor a plan to suit your requirements. From the mammoth to the minute, we’ve got you covered.

Find out more about hiring marquees for festivals.