Guide
Events in a field: power, water, toilets and the real budget
Updated
A field is the cheapest venue in Britain right up until you count what has to arrive on a lorry. Done with open eyes it is still often the best value; done on assumptions it is where budgets break.
What a field does not have
- Power. No supply, so a generator sized to your actual load, with fuel, cabling, distribution and someone competent to run it.
- Water. No mains, so bowsers or a temporary supply for catering and hand washing, and a plan for grey water.
- Drainage. No foul drainage, so self-contained or serviced toilet units.
- Lighting. No street lighting, so route lighting from the car park to the marquee and back, which is a safety item rather than a decorative one.
- Hard standing. No firm ground when it rains, so trackway, ground protection and a wet weather parking plan.
- Shelter. No indoor fallback, so the structure has to cope with the worst weather your date can produce.
Sizing the things that get sized wrong
- Generators
- Specified from a load calculation, adding up catering equipment, heating, lighting, sound and everything else, with headroom for start-up loads. Undersized generators trip, and they trip during the speeches. Ask for the calculation, not a guess, and confirm whether fuel and overnight attendance are included.
- Toilets
- Specified per guest count and per hours of use, with more units needed for longer events and for events where alcohol is served. Longer events need servicing during the event. Accessible units should be in the specification from the start.
- Heating
- Sized to the structure volume and the season, not the guest count. British evenings are cold well into summer, and an unheated marquee empties early.
- Water
- Catering needs potable water and the kitchen needs hand washing separate from the guest facilities. Confirm who is supplying it and where it is being drawn from.
Access decides the labour bill
The distance between where a lorry can safely stand and where the kit has to go is one of the largest and least visible cost drivers on a field site. Every metre of hand-carry is crew time, twice, in and out. Soft ground turns that into trackway hire or a postponed build. Gate widths, overhead cables, low branches and turning circles all matter, and a supplier who wants a site visit before quoting is showing you they intend to price it accurately rather than optimistically.
The field checklist
- Get written permission from the landowner, covering the dates including build and breakdown, and check what their insurance requires of you.
- Identify underground services before anything is staked: water, electricity, drainage and septic systems.
- Agree the wet weather plan in advance: parking, trackway, and the point at which a decision gets made.
- Sort the licensing if there is a bar, live music or late hot food. See the temporary event notice guide.
- Plan the exit. Lighting to the car park, taxi arrangements, and how 150 people leave a dark field safely.
- Book the clear-up. Waste collection after the event, and someone responsible for leaving the field as it was found.
For anything beyond a small private party, the Health and Safety Executive's event safety guidance is a sensible read on crowd management, temporary structures and electrical safety (HSE). Nothing on this page is legal or safety advice; your council and your suppliers are the authorities on your specific site.