CASE STUDY

EDINBURGH COCKTAIL WEEK

Situation

Following a very successful year in 2017 the organisers of Edinburgh Cocktail Week were looking to expand and improve their event by creating an established cocktail experience which would run on an annual basis.

Task

The aim was to create a cocktail village hub in Festival Square, Edinburgh in tandem with the 83 bars located around the city centre.

Action

A design was created for a 20m x 30m clearspan main marquee along with a 10m x 20m toilet marquee and relevant back of house areas. The marquee design required flooring and AstroTurf to be laid throughout. Clear roof sections along with flat white linings were included to ensure and create the high-end finished look.

Result

An outstanding venue was created in a complex city centre location with an impressive attendance from both locals and tourists.

Supporting an up and coming event such as Edinburgh Cocktail Week was very important to us. Building a vision to create a well established annual event in the city centre of Edinburgh that everyone could enjoy.

READ THE FULL STORY...

The Edinburgh Cocktail Week event was planned and designed around Festival Square in Edinburgh. The cocktail village created an enhancement to a very successful previous year (2017) event acting as a hub for 83 city centre bars.

Planning started well over a year preceding the event with a concept for sleek lines with an outdoor theme. The look and feel of the venue was key in the planning.

The Event Organiser, relied on Purvis Marquees numerous years of event management experience to assist through the process and to organise the majority of the infrastructure elements for the event. This included marquees, internal finishes, toilets, event water and waste, storage, lighting, power and production. We also connected him with the respective event contractors to provide and install the bespoke timber finishes.

The concept evolved into using aluminium frame marquees connected together to produce the main area of 20m x 35m with a 10m x 20m adjoining section housing the back of house areas and large toilet area. High-end finishes were provided such as clear roof sections, flat white linings, AstroTurf, bespoke branded gable triangle, glazing, festoon lighting, a large glitter ball, uplighters and a DJ booth.

With only a narrow single point of access to the square with weight and access restrictions, the delivery of this event needed to be coordinated very carefully with all the equipment delivered in a precise order. Once the toilets, containers and ticket office were in place the marquee equipment and ballast would come next, as the unloading area was in the centre of the marquee. Traffic management was used so that vehicles could access the site across the pavement from Lothian Road with a site perimeter installed for the build and adjusted for the event.

The complete build took only 3 days. This was designed to keep noise and disruption to the surrounding buildings and hotel down to a minimum.

The finished venue was breathtaking and once the bars were installed, including a horse box bar built into the marquee, Edinburgh had a cocktail festival they could be proud of.

The council carried out their inspection and the event was signed off without any issues.

Cocktail Weeks hub was a resounding success. The Event Manager and the Purvis team are now in the planning stages for 2019 with new ideas, themes and locations being discussed.

The Event Manager is keen to share his experience with other event managers regarding the level of support he received from Purvis Marquees throughout the complete process.

CLIENT FEEDBACK

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Purvis Marquee Hire this year. They were able to take our concept and deliver it to a standard that exceeded our expectations and delighted our attendees and stakeholders.

This was our first year for the Cocktail Village at Festival Square, and having not worked on a project on this scale before, some things were a little daunting. But James and Purvis were a fantastic support, working hand-in-hand and offering continuous support and guidance to help us design, plan and deliver a fantastic event on budget.

No job or request was too big or small for James and his team, both during the planning stages and while onsite. Everyone consistently went above and beyond their role and gave us the personal attention which was needed for our first marquee project.

James’ knowledge of the event industry is an amazing asset and has been incredibly helpful in delivering a successful event. He always had an answer to our questions and a solution to our problems and was always happy to join us for regular site visits and meetings with the council.

I can’t praise and thank the Purvis Marquee Hire team enough and I very much look forward to working with them again in the future. It feels like the sky is the limit when working with these guys!

Gary Anderson
Managing Director
Edinburgh Cocktail Week