The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials take place at Burghley House in Lincolnshire every Autumn, and are proudly supported by GL events which, for 14 years, has collaborated closely with event organisers to provide temporary equestrian event support and hospitality structures across the four-day cross country, dressage and show jumping event.

Burghley House is England’s greatest Elizabethan property, nestled within more than 2,000 acres of grounds and famously featuring historic parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. Every year the event, which ranks within the UK’s top-attended national sporting occasions, welcomes more than 160,000 enthusiastic event-goers; more than 600 exhibitors and retailers, as well as the world’s leading competitors, who compete for a £250,000 prize fund.

Such a world-renowned and well-loved event requires a large quantity and range of temporary structures, including equestrian event hospitality venues, temporary trade stands and pop-up stalls, and various temporary event infrastructure. This requirement is successfully delivered and managed by GL events, a specialist in supplying country shows, outdoor lifestyle events and equestrian competitions, from its Peterborough division.

A range of hard-sided and soft-sided marquees, pagodas and temporary structures are installed throughout the event, totalling more than 5,000sqm of space. As with all of GL events clients, protection and preservation of the site is critical, especially when the event takes place on grass, and often during or following plenty of rainfall! In the worst weather conditions, to preserve the quality of Burghley House’s grounds, this can mean hand-carrying large quantities of equipment, which must be manually put into place; but with careful planning, GL events’ product is consistently installed and signed off one week before the event itself.

Our temporary structures perform a wide range of functions, providing everything from essential event administration and control points to VIP hospitality. These include:

  • Premium, 12 x 30m sponsor’s hospitality suite
  • Fully-equipped competitors’ hospitality suite
  • 250sqm of self-contained pagodas, providing public restaurants and catering spaces
  • Stylish 12 x 20m media suite
  • The Country Living Magazine retail pavilion, a network of three large temporary structures, featuring the wares of more than 40 exhibitors
  • Major 25 x 35 retail structure for specialist supplier, Equestrian Vision
  • TV control centre, complete with blackout linings
  • A large, traditional pole tent featuring vented walls, serving as the event’s dog crèche
  • Covered public picnic areas
  • Temporary kitchens, staff facilities, and public washrooms

In addition to this wide range of structures, GL events supplies furniture, power, flooring, bespoke and standard glazed windows and walls, and numerous ancillaries throughout the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. This includes more than 1,200 garden picnic sets in natural wood, plastic and other materials, as well as hundreds of high-specification event banqueting chairs and hospitality seating solutions.