Car Park Stewards for Festivals

From Latitude to Glastonbury, Burning Man to Creamfields, festivals attract millions of visitors. Nor is it is not just music festivals – millions more head for festivals like Hay on Wye Book festival or the countless food festivals held across the UK.

Visitors travel from far and wide to enjoy the ambiance, the performers, the music, the literature, the food and more. Festivals have become big business popular with consumers and businesses alike.

All these festivals have one thing in common – most visitors still arrive by car or van. They all need to get into the venue and park their vehicles as quickly as possible so as to maximise their presence at the event. Stallholders, exhibitors, performers and all the associated companies involved in setting up and maintaining the facilities also need to park as close as possible.

Organising this vast array of vehicles is a massive job

t is not one that can be left to a group of volunteers, no matter how well intentioned. Saving money and cutting costs on parking arrangements is a bad mistake.

Parking is quite simply an intensive logistical exercise, requiring expert assistance. Get it wrong, and you have a nightmare situation on your hands. First impressions count – businesses and festivalgoers alike do not want to spend hours sitting in gridlocked traffic waiting to enter the site then have to deal with inexperienced traffic marshals resulting in untidy, potentially dangerous parking. Such a situation creates an instantly poor impression that will affect the way in which people view the event as a whole. The long term implications also have to be borne in mind – will people choose to come again in future years if they have had a bad parking experience? What about local authorities, police and highway authorities? They will certainly not be pleased to encounter reports of vast traffic problems caused by people waiting to enter a festival site. Local communities will also be extremely unhappy – and liable to complain volubly. making it harder to use the site in future.

Traffic marshals and parking staff need to be fully trained to cope with the sheer volumes of vehicles at such events. It is, after all, essential customer service in every respect. Vehicle entry needs to be carefully managed to get cars off the road quickly, and parked rapidly. Staff need to be able to identify the different types of vehicular traffic such as exhibition stand holders, performers and ordinary visitors ensuring that they are quickly diverted to the appropriate car parking areas thus minimising any hold ups on leaving the highway.

Above all the traffic marshals and stewards need to regard themselves as being ‘front of house’, the visible face of the festival. Management of this front of house activity is crucial, everyone needs to know what they are doing, how they should be working, when their breaks are and what to do in emergencies. This involves a clear line of staff management.

It should not be forgotten that the marshals and stewards equally act as a form of basic security. Car parks need to be monitored to make sure that cars are parked safely and securely, that animals are not left unattended in vehicles. If the weather turns nasty – as it so often does at festivals – the car park staff have to be ready to deal with muddy areas and even push vehicles that get stuck in the mud so as not to impede the traffic flow.

The provision of safe, secure car parking has to be a priority with every festival organiser. Without it, problems are inevitable and can be avoided by simply hiring a good team of experienced marshals and stewards!