The Big City Squeeze
When Edinburgh is in full swing, the air is electric. Streets hum with music and laughter, every spare square of grass sprouts a pop-up, and visitors spill out of cafes and bars into the summer air. It’s glorious. It’s also… chaos.
Right now, with the Festivals in full flow, the Tattoo lighting up the Castle, and Oasis pulling massive crowds at Murrayfield, the city is bursting at the seams. For locals, it’s an annual spectacle. For event managers, it’s a logistical puzzle worthy of a military operation.
When the city is full, so are the roads, suppliers, and venues. The questions start before the first van leaves the depot:
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Will the supplier truck actually make it through the traffic?
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Will the crew arrive on time?
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Will our audience make it through the bottlenecks, or give up halfway?
We’ve seen it happen. A stage delivery running two hours late because of a road closure no one anticipated. A food truck stuck behind a procession. Crew members re-routed three times because there was nowhere to park within a mile of the site. These aren’t rookie errors, they’re the realities of trying to move people and kit through a city that’s already at capacity.
The answer isn’t to wish the crowds away. It’s to work with the squeeze.
Staggered build schedules
If your site needs to go up in stages, split it over multiple days and start with the elements that have the longest lead times or the trickiest access. That way, the essentials are in place even if the second delivery is delayed.
Hyper-local crew sourcing
When possible, bring in crew who can get to your site without crossing the city. It’s not just about speed; it’s about reducing your dependency on the same choked roads that suppliers are using.
Think small, move fast
In a city gridlocked with festival footfall, bike couriers and small vans can make the difference between having your essentials in place on time or missing the start. We’ve even seen events move critical tech in cargo bikes, it’s not glamorous, but it works.
And here’s the thing: no single solution will fit every event. Every site, every schedule, every audience is different. Which is why we’re asking you, the event professionals who live this every day, to share your best squeeze-beating strategies.
Drop your tips in the comments below, or send them to us directly. We’ll compile them into a shared resource for the whole outdoor events community. Because the more we share, the smoother our seasons run.
When the city is full, space is at a premium. But knowledge? That’s one thing we can always make more of.
