Open Air Business February 2017
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping businesses and outdoor event organisers
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping businesses and outdoor event organisers
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EVENTS<br />
Events on<br />
Your Land<br />
Whether you go DIY or rent your property to organisers,<br />
events on your land can be a profitable enterprise if you<br />
follow some golden rules, says Linda Krawecke<br />
GETTY IMAGES<br />
SAY THE WORDS “outdoor event” to<br />
someone and what springs to mind can<br />
be quite varied. Some will think of a music<br />
festival. Others will think of a fair or show<br />
such as a game fair, garden show or food fair.<br />
There are also weddings, company parties,<br />
sporting activities, team building days and<br />
historical re-enactments.<br />
Outdoor events are popular and can be<br />
profitable. You may have entertained the<br />
thought of using your property to run such<br />
events. It’s a good idea. But what are the<br />
first steps? How do you begin if you’ve never<br />
ventured into this area before? Here are a few<br />
basic steps to consider.<br />
STEP 1. KNOW YOUR PROPERTY<br />
You probably think you know your land but<br />
consider it from an outdoor event point of<br />
view. What are ground conditions like when<br />
it rains? Is there easy access to open spaces<br />
for non-farm vehicles that need to drive on<br />
the land or park for a duration of time? How<br />
much level space is there?<br />
Are there features on the land that would<br />
help or hinder an event? An area that stays<br />
wet or muddy is great for mud runs/sporting<br />
events but not so great for weddings. A<br />
lake or pond can be a beautiful feature but<br />
hazardous to events with small children<br />
running around.<br />
Think through what it would take to bring<br />
marquees, stages and hundreds, or even<br />
thousands, of people on to your land. Is it fit<br />
for purpose?<br />
STEP 2. YOUR EVENT OR THEIR EVENT?<br />
There are two ways an outdoor event can be<br />
organised on your land: you run the event<br />
yourself, i.e. you decide the nature of the<br />
event, organise all the contractors, and make<br />
a profit or loss on the outcome. Or you hire<br />
your property to someone else who organises<br />
the event and makes the profit or loss.<br />
STEP 3. THINK SAFETY<br />
Whether it is your own event or one someone<br />
else has organised, you as the land owner<br />
have the ultimate responsibility for the safety<br />
of any persons that are invited on to your<br />
property. Do a bit of research. Make sure you<br />
understand the safety laws and regulations<br />
that cover events. There is much useful<br />
information on the internet and several<br />
professional organisations that can support<br />
you, some of which are listed at the end of<br />
this article<br />
Investigate insurance for your event or<br />
the insurance of anyone hiring your land.<br />
You may even want legal advice from your<br />
solicitor on making sure you have a good<br />
contract with any outside organisers so you<br />
both know where your responsibilities lie.<br />
STEP 4. PERMISSIONS<br />
This is a big one. By inviting the public on<br />
to your land, you will very likely need to get<br />
permission for the event from your local<br />
authority. It will be the primary body making<br />
sure you’ve taken the steps necessary to have<br />
a safe event with as little impact as possible<br />
on your neighbours and local resources such<br />
as the police, ambulance crews, fire and<br />
rescue services. Here are some of the things<br />
they will want to know:<br />
› Is your event going to unreasonably disturb<br />
your neighbours?<br />
› Will the local roads leading to your<br />
property be jammed with vehicles coming<br />
to your event?<br />
› Will your event be serving food? If so, will<br />
it be prepared and served so that no one<br />
is harmed by food poisoning or allergy<br />
reactions?<br />
› Will your mains water or bore hole water be<br />
used? If so, is it potable?<br />
› Will your event be serving alcohol? How<br />
will you make sure that children don’t get<br />
access to alcohol? Or that those who are<br />
drinking don’t cause a social disturbance?<br />
› Will you have thieves, pick pockets or<br />
trouble makers at your event? How will you<br />
prevent them from being there or causing<br />
trouble?<br />
› Have you thought about potential fire<br />
hazards?<br />
› What if there is an emergency; flooding,<br />
lightning striking a marquee, collapsed<br />
stages, a bomb threat etc. What will you do<br />
to make sure people are moved to an area<br />
of safety?<br />
If people are invited to your property<br />
either by yourself or by an event production<br />
organisation and the event is “for a<br />
consideration or with a view to a profit”, then<br />
you are responsible for ensuring it is safe.<br />
Your local authority is the body responsible<br />
for seeing that you meet this responsibility by<br />
issuing the event with a licence.<br />
LICENSING AN EVENT<br />
There are certain activities carried out at<br />
events which must be authorised - also<br />
called ‘licensable activities’. The licensable<br />
activities which may be authorised are:<br />
selling or serving alcohol, serving late night<br />
refreshments (after 11pm), or providing<br />
regulated entertainment e.g. music, dancing<br />
or indoor sporting events. These activities are<br />
covered in the Licensing Act 2003 in England<br />
and Wales, and by the Licensing (Scotland)<br />
Act 2005 in Scotland.<br />
Regulated entertainment includes:<br />
› a performance of a play<br />
› an exhibition of a film<br />
› an indoor sporting event<br />
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