Open Air Business June/July 2017

EVENTS
safe for someone visiting for a gig
or other event. The team manage
the door, but we like to keep it
pretty low key. For the Deepdale
Hygge we went for wrist bands,
partly as a collector’s item, partly as
security and tickets.
What ground protection do you
use for cars and footfall?
Being a farm, we have quite a few
hard-standing areas, so don’t worry
too much about ground protection.
However, we do note what others
do in case of very inclement
weather. We make sure that one
of the team is available to tow cars
out if there are any issues, which is
a lot cheaper than hiring acres of
temporary road ways.
How do you publicise the event?
Facebook and Twitter are massively
important to us. The interaction
from customers, performers and
local businesses really helps too.
Our own website is vital and we use
other specific websites depending
on the nature of the event, eg. gig
guides for gigs, craft sites for our
markets, etc.
What challenges have you faced?
Being at the end of a road, we
have to draw people to us, so have
to make ourselves a destination.
One of the biggest issues though is
with our county council highways
department. They say no to most
signage, won’t cone for busy
events and generally are hugely
obstructive, which makes planning
and running the events so much
harder. Bearing in mind the huge
“THE HYGGE
WILL BE
ESTABLISHED
AND BEGIN
TO GROW,
AND THE
FESTIVAL
WILL
HOPEFULLY
FIND ITS
PLACE IN THE
CALENDAR
AND BECOME
SOMETHING
MAJOR”
positive impact we have on the
local businesses, bringing in
hundreds and thousands of extra
visitors, I would have expected the
council to be supportive, but the
officers are just obstructive all the
way.
What are your plans for next
year?
The Christmas Market will be a
little bigger, but with new traffic
management. The Hygge will be
established and begin to grow, and
the festival will hopefully find its
place in the calendar and become
something major. We have a whole
series of gigs planned and there are
other ideas up our sleeve.
What other outdoor hospitality
sectors do you operate in?
We offer camping for tents,
campervans and motorhomes, a
backpackers hostel with private
en-suite rooms and dorms, and a
groups hostel. We offer bike hire
too, and often guided walks and
cycle rides.
What advice could you give
to someone coming into the
outdoor event industry?
Think carefully about customer
flow; don’t make it too easy, but
likewise don’t obstruct. You want
people to discover and explore.
Ask yourself, is the event adding
to your existing facilities or is it a
detriment? I am a great believer
that all events, unless they are
hugely profitable in themselves,
should work in harmony with
existing facilities.
ADDRESS BOOK
MARQUEES
Abacus Marquees - 01328 701331
www.abacusmarquees.co.uk
LIGHTING
Abacus Marquees (as above)
HEAT AND POWER
In house (Tim Murrell)
SOUND AND STAGE
In house (Tim Murrell)
BARS AND CATERING
Wide and varied depending on event
- Norfolk Brewhouse, Hushwing Café,
Travelling Bluebird, Proper Pizza Co,
Pie Central, Duck Truck, Squilla &
Squidge
TICKETING SYSTEMS
Yapsody - www.yapsody.com
INSURANCE
NFU Mutual - www.nfumutual.co.uk
DETAILS
Deepdale Farm, Burnham Deepdale,
Norfolk, PE31 8DD
01485 210256
www.deepdalebackpackers.co.uk
44 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM