Sefton Park Test Pilot Event

Over 5,000 people attended the six hour long outdoor gig and ticket holders had to provide a negative Covid test to be allowed entry. Scientists monitored the gig and everyone who attended was asked to take a voluntary PCR test afterwards. 

Once through the gates, gig-goers did not have to wear face coverings or maintain social distancing as it formed part of the Government’s Events Research Programme testing the transmission of COVID-19 in an outdoor, music festival setting. This was the first of a series of pilot events designed to test safety at mass gatherings and provide data into how events can be permitted to safely reopen as part of the roadmap out of lockdown.

The event was organised by Festival Republic who organise events such as Reading Festival, Download, Latitude, Leeds Festival and Creamfields. For many years, Festival Republic has relied on Sunbelt Rentals to provide a wide range of equipment for prestigious events around the UK.

The Challenge 

This was a landmark event with the largest number of people to have legally gathered together since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Festival Republic chose Sunbelt Rentals to provide a wide range of rental equipment due to our events experience, long-standing relationship, scale, the depth of our product range and our ability to provide additional equipment to help ensure a safe event.

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The Solution 

We worked hand-in-hand with Festival Republic to provide a wide range of equipment. Our aluminium Trakway was used to provide ground protection for the grassed areas at Sefton Park and ensure the event was easily and safely accessible to vehicles, plant equipment and pedestrians.

We also supplied all the barriers within the perimeter of the site. These included Crowd Control Barriers which were especially important to help direct the 5,000 people in attendance and due to the increased scrutiny and security. Our Police Barriers were also used for controlling the flow of people and heavy crowd surges, as this was an outdoor event and the first such event to be held in more than a year. In addition, we supplied Heras Fencing, plus two Telehandlers and a Forklift Truck to assist with the build and de-rig of the event.

To enable the Production Team to implement the highest standards of hygiene, we supplied and installed 30 Hand Sanitising Stations and also supplied a total of 13 S400 Air Disinfection Devices. These units have the ability to complete an air change and whole room disinfection in a matter of minutes, with a powerful combination of HEPA filtration and UV-C light exposure to eliminate particles and disinfect the air. The S400 Devices were installed inside cabins on the site.

This event is the first step in getting festivals back on track and it will create a universal blueprint for reopening and demonstrating how events can be carried out safely.

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