Marquee Hire in the Borders: Built for Your Next Crowd
Rain hammered the Greenyards. The Melrose Sevens clock refused to stop. We checked every ratchet, drove the pins deeper, and gave the event manager the nod. Party time continued. The crowd stayed dry (well the ones that could anyway).
We’ve done this work since vinyl gave way to PVC. Six decades along the Borders, from Melrose to Peebles, Kelso to Hawick, have taught one lesson. The right structure keeps the programme alive. The wrong one ends it.
You plan a match, a fair, a ride-out, a finish-line stage. Pressure builds. Site maps change. Weather laughs.
Our job is to see the hole in the plan before the hole sees you.
Site first: We walk it, measuring actual peaks and dips, not the drawing. Wet ground needs deeper stakes and wider pads. Tight hard-standing needs ballast not stakes.
Wind next: Record gust speeds, not averages. We check if your signage adds drag. Then calculate live load, then add ten per cent.
Crowd flow: Marking every pinch-point. Keep one clear metre by each exit. Separate catering power runs from data lines.
Build window: Lock lorry slots with the farm gate or council depot. If the gate opens at 06:00, rigging starts at 06:05.
Local rules: Speak to the local safety advisory group. Confirm the decibel limit, the lighting curfew and the livestock route (if relevant).
Consider the events you already trust:
Melrose Sevens sets up its festival village on soggy Borders turf every spring, the build stays on schedule because the footprint never surprises us.
The Tweed Valley gravel weekend (otherwise known as the Muck n’ Mac Fest) at Traquair, Innerleithen, rigs tech pits, rider village, and a press platform on uneven estate lawns without touching a single tree root.
The GWCT Scottish Game Fair moves fast: three retail streets, two demo rings, one riverside gun line. There needs to be the pre-fabrication of gantries to clear fishing paths too.
The 2027 Tour de France will sweep through Border towns. Roadbooks demand sub-four-hour build-and-strike windows for each fan zone. We have the kit and crew ready…
Ask yourself:
- Do you know your ground load once the last coach parks?
- Can your emergency exits clear in two minutes flat?
- Who signs off the anchorage log before doors open?
We bring sixty years of answers, from Royal garden parties to pop-up clinics.
Ready to stop worrying about the roof and start focusing on the show?
