Nottingham Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival
With over 1,000 ales from more than 500 breweries on tap, the Nottingham Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival, organised by the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), is one of the biggest beer festivals in the country.
Requirement
GL events UK first supplied marquees to the event in 2008, when it out-grew its previous venue and became an outdoor festival by relocating to the grounds of Nottingham Castle.
The client required two large beer marquees to keep festival-goers dry and to also keep the ales at their optimum temperature.
Additional marquees were supplied to accommodate extra attractions such as music, food and entertainment.
Marquees
16 marquees were supplied in total, creating more than 3,000sqm of covered space. They included two aluminium frame marquees, measuring 700sqm and 900sqm and featuring flexible white PVC roofs and walls, which were used for the main beer area.
Elsewhere on the site, a number of Multi-Master aluminium frame marquees were supplied, ranging in size from 9sqm to 144sqm, with flexible green and white stripe PVC roof and walls. They featured roll-up wall panels and gutters to link them to neighbouring marquees which were put to use in a variety of ways, including a bandstand bar, viewing space and corporate beer annexe.
Many of the marquees were weighted on hardstanding ground. All were fitted with interlocking floor panels throughout.
Challenge
Nottingham Castle’s old foundations were still present on site, which meant the commercial team at GL events UK had to follow a carefully prepared site plan to avoid disturbing or damaging any sensitive buried archaeological remains.
The flexibility of the marquees made it possible to work within the confines of the site in order to obtain the maximum amount of coverage available.
The Castle is open to the public, which led to access issues and reduced the amount of time available for the site team to build the structures. To overcome this a larger than usual crew was deployed, in order to get everything in place in just one week.
Outcome
The Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival is a success, with a huge crowd drinking their way through thousands of pints of beer. The build and de-rig went smoothly and plans were made for the following year’s event.
The Nottingham Castle venue closed for renovations in 2018. This, coupled with the Festival’s continued growth, saw it relocate to an indoor event at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham.
