The sights and sounds of Animal Fest envelop attendees as soon as they step onto the festival grounds. Costumed performers dance through crowds of families while vendors hawk sweet treats and event merch. However, unknown to visitors is the monumental coordination required behind-the-scenes to pull off Surrey’s beloved Animal Fest each year. The logistics of equipment transportation, storage space for costumes and props, and organization of promotional giveaways present unique challenges for the event’s organizers. This is where Surrey self storage units have proven to be an invaluable asset in recent years.
Juggling the Moving Parts of a Major Event
Planning any large-scale event comes with its fair share of logistical headaches. When that event is expected to attract over 15,000 guests for a weekend of amusement rides, educational shows, and talent competitions themed around animals, those headaches can become migraines.
The months leading up to Animal Fest see organizers orchestrating a range of critical components key to delivering an exceptional event. These include things like booking performers, coordinating vendor partnerships, marketing promotions across media channels, preparing equipment and amenities across the festival site, and organizing volunteers. With so many moving parts to manage, having the flexibility to store important items securely and then access them efficiently is paramount.
Over the last decade, the Animal Fest planning committee has increasingly utilized Surrey’s self storage facilities to assist with the festival’s logistical demands. The storage units provide ample space to house items by type and date needed, allowing much easier access during the frenzy of event execution.
Costume and Prop Storage
In the initial planning stages, self storage units house the elaborate animal mascot costumes and handheld creature props used in parades and performances across the event. Given their vibrant colours and intricate detailing, properly storing these items prevents damage and fading before performers have a chance to bring them to life.
As show date nears, organizers can conveniently access the stored costumes from the climate-controlled units and transport them to the site. The ability to quickly stash the costumes after performances also helps preserve the magic for guests visiting multiple times over the weekend.
Equipment and Promotional Storage
Weeks before the festival, organizers stash audio and lighting equipment, vendors’ booths, amusement ride tools, and maintenance supplies in available storage units. Storing these bulky items at a self storage facility right outside the event grounds allows everything to be easily transported during load-in and load-out.
Additionally, self storage offers ample room for the vast amount of promotional products that help keep Animal Fest top of mind all season long. Collectible plush animals, t-shirts, hats, bags, and other giveaway items are loaded in storage upon delivery before being taken to the designated distribution booths and merchant shops.
Securing Sponsor Materials
Another benefit self storage provides Animal Fest is securely housing sponsor assets used across the event until organizers dictate their placement. This includes things like custom-printed signage for sponsored attractions, product samples or coupons for distribution, banners and flags to marker sponsored zones, and more. With shared access between planners and sponsors via unique access codes, approved contacts can add or remove materials as needed with the assets safely stored otherwise.
Supporting Smooth Event Execution
Once Animal Fest kicks off, the versatile storage units continue facilitating efficient operations behind the curtain. For instance, should inclement weather or technical difficulties cause an unexpected cancellation, fragile props and equipment can be quickly transported back into secure storage rather than left vulnerable on the event grounds.
The units also provide backup inventory storage for sponsor giveaways and maintenance tools in case of shortages or malfunctions. When broken rides need quick fixes or popular prizes run out faster than expected, the remedy is as close as the self storage site just down the road.
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Closing the Curtain with Self Storage
As Animal Fest organizers wave goodbye to attendees at the end of the last day, their closing duties are just getting started. The bulk of event materials from vendor booths to amusement park rides must be swiftly transported off the grounds that night. This is when access to spacious self storage units just minutes away proves clutch once again. Equipment and delicate costumes and props can be driven directly to long-term storage, eliminating the scramble to coordinate pickups from a cramped facility.
Everything is methodically loaded into units to simplify inventory counts needed for future Animal Fest planning. Marked storage bins streamline categorization so items are easily retrievable the next year based on type. With ample storage purchased through contracts, organizers can rest assured their assets are secured as they turn the page toward planning Animal Fest’s next season.
Why Self Storage is a Game Changer for Event Planners
After seeing firsthand the logistical advantage self storage lends Animal Fest year after year, it begs the question why all large-scale event planners aren’t tapping into these services. For organizations that only host annual or semi-regular festivals and conventions, the flexible leasing terms make financial sense versus maintaining expensive permanent storage warehouses. The customizable storage configurations and climate-controlled units also ensure assets stay protected regardless of events’ unique needs.
Additionally, the security features offered by modern storage facilities grant planners peace of mind whether they’re storing expensive equipment or priceless costumes. Access credentials allow organizers to grant and rescind access as vendors and personnel change over the years as well.
Of course, the convenience of driving event materials directly into secure units situated close to the venues themselves can’t be overstated in simplifying logistics. Festival planners no longer waste time coordinating unwieldy pickups and transporting items to distant warehouses before and after their events. It’s this operational edge that will likely make self storage facilities ever more popular players behind future Animal Fests and similar productions looking to up their organizational game.
Other Events Following Suit
While Animal Fest stands as one of the largest recurring public events leveraging self storage units in Surrey, it is far from the only one. Organizers from nearby food and culture festivals have taken notice of their asset management success and adopted similar approaches. Corporate parties, university events, concert series, and conferences across the region now regularly utilize storage rentals for their temporary equipment and archival needs as well.
The creative ways events make use of the customizable spaces proves the sky’s the limit. Some even transform basic storage units into makeshift wardrobe and makeup studios to support on-site talent. Others have partitioned their units to house different categories of rental equipment in easily accessible sections near their event venue loading docks.
Stashing More Than Just Stuff
Self storage undoubtedly provides tangible logistical and financial benefits that make renting units worthwhile for organizations hosting major events. However, perhaps the greatest value comes from the peace of mind it grants planners behind the scenes.
Knowing months of preparation can be securely stored just minutes from event sites allows organizers to focus on curating exceptional attendee experiences rather than fretting over the safety of their critical assets. It also ensures investments into equipment, costumes, signage, supplies, and more can be reused reliably for future events rather than needlessly discarded each year. This positively impacts local communities and the environment.
Most importantly, seamless access to organized event necessities enables smooth execution that delights guests during festivals like Animal Fest. So while attendees may not ponder the miles of cables, stacks of giveaways, and racks of vibrant costumes stashed securely nearby as they gleefully partake in the weekend’s amusement, they do get to enjoy the fruits of this concealment each time crowds collectively gasp during an acrobat’s daring stunt or grin widely snapping a selfie with a colorful mascot.