- When the Sun Sets at 4pm
At a summer event, lighting is mostly for the build and breakdown. At a festive event, most of your visitors arrive after dark. Walkways, car parks, entrances and exits all need to be well lit for the whole evening, and your staff need to be able to work safely.
GAP Tower Lights keep your event bright from the first visitor to the last. Our fleet is one of the newest and most eco-friendly on the market. It includes 250 new hybrid units added this year, which cut fuel use, emission and noise while delivering the same reliable lighting every evening.
- Longer Nights, Bigger Loads
Winter events run for months and need the power to do so effectively. Food and drink vendors, rides, sound systems, heaters and festive displays all require power for hours on end, often in parks and open spaces with no mains supply nearby. If the power drops, so does the festive atmosphere.
GAP’s Super-Silent Generators provide reliable power across large or remote sites. Sound-proofed to comply with noise regulations, they’re significantly quieter than conventional models. That makes them ideal for town centres, residential areas and events where atmosphere matters. Our team can help you work out your power requirements and size the right generators for your site.
- After the First Thousand Footsteps
A green space that looks perfect at the site visit can look very different a few hours into opening night. In winter the ground has little chance to dry out between rain showers, so heavy footfall quickly turns grass into mud. That slows visitors down, increases the risk of slips and trips, and can leave you with a hefty bill once the event is over.
GAP’s Trackway and Flooring range creates stable routes over grass and soft ground. Our Track Mat is made from tough, recycled polyethylene with non-slip traction on both sides and is unaffected by cold, so it performs in all weather. For pedestrian areas, Supatrac flooring installs in minutes. For delivery and trader vehicle routes, aluminium trackway takes the heavier loads.
Top Tip: Lay ground protection at the start of the build, not once the ground starts to suffer.
- Big Crowds, Busy Moments
Festive events tend to draw their biggest crowds at a few key moments: the light switch-on, the countdown, the fireworks. Those moments almost always happen after dark, when it’s harder for your team to spot congestion building and for visitors to see where they’re going.
Clear queuing systems, defined walkways and secure perimeters keep people flowing safely. GAP’s Crowd Control Barriers guide foot traffic and prevent pinch points around entrances, stages and popular attractions. Our temporary fencing secures your perimeter, restricts access to back-of-house and trader areas, and keeps the site secure overnight on multi-day events.
- Cold Visitors Don’t Stay Long
The longer visitors stay, the better your event performs, and comfort plays a big part in that. Clean, well-serviced toilets with handwashing make a real difference on a cold night. They’re one of the first things visitors notice most when they’re done badly.
GAP’s Event Toilets come with hot or cold hand-washing, alongside wheelchair-accessible units and urinals designed to reduce queues. Every unit on hire is serviced weekly, with more frequent and janitorial servicing available for busy events. Behind the scenes, our Welfare Units give your crew, stewards and security staff a proper place to warm up, dry off and take a break during long winter shifts.
Be Winter-Ready with GAP
GAP Event Services brings together the expertise of multiple GAP divisions to deliver complete event infrastructure from a single point of contact. Our Events Team provides a fully project-managed installation and recovery service for everything we supply. Each event comes with a dedicated contact, so someone is always on hand to help.
From a weekend Christmas market to a month-long light trail, our team will help you plan the right infrastructure for your site this winter.
Get in touch with GAP Event Services at events@gap-group.co.uk or explore our full Event Services range.
