September 2021
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping, festivals and outdoor events
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping, festivals and outdoor events
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EVENTS<br />
› Limited capacity – we may be required<br />
to restrict and control the flow of people<br />
throughout the experience and to allow<br />
for social distancing.<br />
› Rebuilding – Believe Christmas is<br />
well placed to do this as each event is<br />
designed and rebuilt from scratch every<br />
year. We thoroughly assess all structures<br />
within the production and rebuild and<br />
redesign where necessary to provide<br />
appropriate space for all our guests<br />
throughout the experience.<br />
› Hygiene – we may be required to<br />
introduce enhanced cleaning measures<br />
throughout the production, to disinfect<br />
high-frequency touch points such as<br />
tables and chairs, service counters and<br />
work benches. We will install hand<br />
sanitiser dispensers throughout the<br />
experience for guest use. All areas<br />
including portable toilets will be cleaned<br />
regularly by both staff and appointed<br />
suppliers.<br />
What ground protection do you use for<br />
cars and footfall?<br />
Believe is an outdoor event and has<br />
a series of slight bumps and slopes<br />
however we do put down rubber matting<br />
walkways etc across as many areas as<br />
possible to make sure it is as pushchair<br />
and wheelchair friendly as we can<br />
possibly make it.<br />
How do you publicise the event?<br />
We are partnered with Ramside Estates,<br />
Metro Radio, TFM Radio and Greatest<br />
Hits Radio so we gain a huge amount of<br />
advertising and publicity. We ‘believe’<br />
that radio advertising and social media<br />
are key, and therefore we partner with<br />
Bauer Media (which owns the stations) as<br />
many families tune into local radio whilst<br />
on the school runs and they are our<br />
intended audience. We also make use<br />
of established North East bloggers that<br />
have a huge presence as their opinions<br />
matter to us and reach the masses.<br />
What challenges have you faced?<br />
Every year is a major challenge. From<br />
“WELL, ELF<br />
SPARKLE IS<br />
HEAD ELF<br />
AND MAKES<br />
SURE THAT<br />
ALL HER ELVES<br />
ARE RUNNING<br />
AROUND BUSY<br />
AND THAT<br />
CUSTOMER<br />
SATISFACTION<br />
REMAINS<br />
HIGH”<br />
getting the website live, going on sale,<br />
ticket sales, the planning of the event,<br />
research/finding both elf and actor<br />
costumes, gaining quotes, appointing<br />
suppliers, the site build, the mud,<br />
the rain, the snow and the long hours<br />
that go into making this event a huge<br />
success. But every uphill challenge is<br />
worth it when you see children skipping<br />
away with their families holding their<br />
present from Santa. Every challenge<br />
is worth it when you know that you<br />
have helped make a child’s or family’s<br />
Christmas magical.<br />
How have you financed the event and<br />
how profitable is it?<br />
Believe Christmas is a fully self-financed<br />
event based on ticket sales. Without<br />
the tickets selling there would not be<br />
an event. Every event is as good as<br />
the last one so if you don’t make it<br />
magical people won’t come, plus it’s<br />
not all about money! The event can be<br />
profitable but from these profits we<br />
reinvest into other events and future<br />
Believe Christmas events.<br />
What are your plans for next year?<br />
Oh, 2022 is going to be a very exciting<br />
year for Tainted and the Believe<br />
Christmas attraction. Due to the success<br />
of past Believe Christmas events we will<br />
be launching other magical seasonal<br />
events such as Believe Easter etc.<br />
What advice could you give to<br />
someone coming into the industry?<br />
Where do we start? There are so many<br />
things to take onboard: be organised,<br />
expect the worst to happen (as it<br />
usually does at some point), have<br />
weatherproof clothing and shoes, find<br />
suppliers that are loyal and you trust,<br />
‘believe’ in yourself, double check<br />
every detail (like Santa) and, most<br />
importantly, love what you do as it<br />
makes those long hours worth it in<br />
the end!<br />
ADDRESS BOOK<br />
MARQUEES<br />
The Tipi People –<br />
www.thetipipeople.co.uk<br />
STAGES, AV, POWER<br />
Alrose Productions –<br />
www.alroseproductions.co.uk<br />
FLOORING & GROUND<br />
PROTECTION<br />
Teesdale Event & Site Services –<br />
www.rentatoilet.co.uk<br />
TOILETS<br />
Teesdale Event & Site Services –<br />
www.rentatoilet.co.uk<br />
BARRIERS<br />
Speedy Services –<br />
www.speedyservices.com<br />
FIRE EXTINGUISHERS<br />
Safe and Sure Fire Protection –<br />
www.safeandsurefire.com<br />
WRISTBANDS<br />
Wristbands Plus –<br />
www.wristbandsplus.co.uk<br />
REINDEER<br />
Rent a Reindeer –<br />
www.rentareindeer.co.uk<br />
CLEANSING TEAM<br />
NTH Solutions –<br />
www.nthsolutions.co.uk<br />
ACTORS/STAFF<br />
NE14TV – www.ne14.tv<br />
INSURANCE<br />
Hiscox – www.hiscox.co.uk<br />
DETAILS<br />
Believe Christmas<br />
4-23 December <strong>2021</strong><br />
Hardwick Hall Hotel<br />
Sedgefield<br />
County Durham TS21 2EH<br />
www.believe-uk.com<br />
64 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM
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