Festival Tents???

len sherrard wrote: Most artist desire a white canvas top, so they can get the most natural color range on their palate, and subject.

I wish I had thought of that. I have a really great red one, I only spent $70 for at BigLots. Inexpensive, but I was just starting on festivals. They only had the red, and I thought the color difference would attract more attention. It stands out in a sea of white, but casts a red glow in the sun. Good point: red tends to make things look more attractive to the human eye (hence the red light district for haggard hookers). Bad points: all the boys thought I was about to put pink on them, and I have to edit my pix to compensate. A new tent will come after I makes some other much-needed buys (or this one falls apart... whichever comes first).

Just a quick note to everyone who uses weight on their tents. Yes, weights are necessary, but just be careful WHAT you use and know that NOTHING is ever a gaurantee. I ran a racing school for a number of years and we had the really expensive, heavy duty EZ ups ($4K each) and we lost 6 of them in wind. One time I had my mechanics tool box attached to it and it took the whole damn tool box with it over the top of the camper bus. That tool box was heavy enough that it took 2 people to lift in and out of the truck. Another time, we watched a canopy that was weighted with 4 five gallon cans of FUEL hanging on the corners take off. Anything you use CAN become a weapon, so be careful if you use for example the bleach containers with the tops cut off, those edges are sharp. When you do stake your canop down, make sure the stakes go in on an angle, imagine driving them in with the tip pointing towards the center of the tent, that way, a wind gust that pulls against one of them, is actually driving another one deeper. If they are all in straight, they just pull out in the wind. I thought my canopy was safe last year because I couldn;t pull the stakes back out by hand when I put them in, but one big gust of wind from an approaching storm pulled them straight up because I hadn't angled them.

Weight suggestion: There is ALWAYS some wind going where we live. Our plan is to use 5-gallon paint buckets, with a piece of PVC pipe inserted in the center which is slightly larger than the canopy legs. We will fill them with quick setting concrete. We should be able to slip the canopy leg into the pipe, drill a hole through the pipe and leg, then secure it with a bolt to keep updraft from lifting the canopy out of the weight. Yeah, it's gonna be a bit extra weight to carry with us, but I've been through too many days of fighting with some 1/2 weighted canopy or umbrella that wants to blow away. I plan to have at least 2 corners weighted, possibly 4 depending on how much wind there is. This is all in the planning stage, so I hope it works out, and won't pose too much danger of becoming weapons.

Another suggestion -- use some cast iron weights like those used for weight lifting.

I have an EZup that I got from Walmart (yeah I hate shopping there too) but it was only about $135 and it lasted through all of last year, so I think it was a good buy. It flipped over in the wind on me once (thankfully it didn't hit anyone) and since then I've tied it down to stuff that's not going anywhere. At the Farmer's Market where I set up, there is a metal bar cemented into the ground all along the wall where the tents are set up, so I tie down to that at least on the one side and it has kept it in place.

I use four 50lb weights that were salvaged from a truck scale that was being torn down, at first i thought this was overkill, but the wind around here can make life interesting. I found that if I fasten a cord from the weight to a cross bar in the roof, then the whole canape is stablized. A very popular weight system is a 3inch round pvc pipe, about 4ft long, filled with concret or sand, then capped with a eyebolt, or hookbolt, in the top cap. Then its hung from an overhead crossbar, and with a short bungee cord looped to the leg to hold it snug out of customers way. I've even seen them with colorfull slip covers on the pvc pipe, to draw more attention to your booth. I bought my canape from hayneedle.com

are you sure about that website link? I followed it to an online addiction site.

len sherrard wrote:I use four 50lb weights that were salvaged from a truck scale that was being torn down, at first i thought this was overkill, but the wind around here can make life interesting. I found that if I fasten a cord from the weight to a cross bar in the roof, then the whole canape is stablized. A very popular weight system is a 3inch round pvc pipe, about 4ft long, filled with concret or sand, then capped with a eyebolt, or hookbolt, in the top cap. Then its hung from an overhead crossbar, and with a short bungee cord looped to the leg to hold it snug out of customers way. I've even seen them with colorfull slip covers on the pvc pipe, to draw more attention to your booth. I bought my canape from haywire.com

Thanks for the explanation of the PVC pipe! I think this might be easier to tote along than my bucket idea. But does it hold up under strong gusts of wind? I would just put the eye bolt into the concrete before it dries completely, and paint the pipe maybe in a rainbow pattern -- similar to the old fashioned barber shop poles in red/white.

OK: when I started I got an EZ-up style tent as we had the industrial ones at work and they were FAB, used for years.

But I went to DIY shops and camping stores for my 1st FOUR. All broke or ben within 2 uses - often breaking after being carefully put up to test they worked, so when i arrived at my gig they were no use and would not go UP again. Disaster.

i did some reserach and ended up spending double the amount on a pro-quality pop up gazebo from a company on Ebay. It has been fab - did me 2 yrs of work before I left the UK, and my family in the Uk still use it - e'g' it was up for 3 mnths last summer when we visited to shade the baby. It is SO worth paying more. Ok its heavier but is also stronger & less likely to blow away.

re the graphics DO NOT print the tent - yu will get more use out of it if you have the graphics on separate banners or whatever.
And ONLY get white - I have had to work under coloured tents - not only is it hard to tell your colours, judging your blends is impossible and all photos are useless as even photoshop can't get the colours back to true.

Oh and make sure to get extra heavy duty tie-downs etc to keep it safe. Those weights that fill with sand or water and screw round the legs are good too.

And get this - not all tents are WATERPROOF! Check!

cat x

One other note is you may not want to stencil directly on the tent and get a sign instead. I read somewhere that some places may not want you to advertise they want you there representing them.
My 4 cents, 2 from someone else and my 2 to pass along.

I've had my EZ-up (a non-industrial one) that I bought at a wholesale store for $180- it came with awning, sidewalls, sign, wheeled case- for 3 years.
It's survived winds, rains, hail, dust devils and drunks.

I love it.

I upgraded the stakes it came with to ones a friend of mine made out of rebar so they dig deeper.
When I can't use stakes I have two 50 lb sandbags that I put on the sides, in the middle. I then take rope and tie each of the corners to the bags. When I have the sides open, I do this along the back and use the weights that are made for the tents (they have cut outs in them so they slide snugly down the legs and are stackable...found at sporting goods stores) on the front legs.

Also, commercial water-proofer made for camping tents. I buy a can and spray my top down with that every year and haven't had a problem with leaks yet.

here is a tent for 35 bucks, I wonder how good it would be...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Atlantic-Outdoor-8-x-8-Canopy-Color-White_W0QQitemZ110508572213QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19bad2fe35

Also, not sure if anyone has mentioned this... when looking for a canopy I recommend one with the vents/slits on the top so the wind flows through.

Our first canopy did not have the vents at the top and was horrible when the wind kicked up. This new one I have has the vents and it makes a big difference. I got mine at Wal-mart.

susy, that tent may be just fine for your area/needs/weather. Ive seen simular tents in action and they tend to be too weak to hold up when it comes to wind vs. weight to hold it down under exteme conditions, people passing by,(watching you paint,) tend to trip over the corners seeing they are on a slant instead of straight up and down, and you need to check the easy of erection, the ones i've seen take 2 people to assemble/disassemble. otherwise if that one works for you, sounds like a sweet deal!

I think I saw an EZ up tent for $100 on amazon.com Their directors chairs are awesome and light. I was thinking of charging the client like an extra $20 to provide my own tent if they don't have a suitable shaded area for outside events. This way I can get my money back too!

I think I saw an EZ up tent for $100 on amazon.com Their directors chairs are awesome and light. I was thinking of charging the client like an extra $20 to provide my own tent if they don't have a suitable shaded area for outside events. This way I can get my money back too! Smile

Just remember the effort of bring the very heavy tent and setting it up is not easy for an hour gig. I supply my gazzebo to parties 2 hours or longer, but after hauling it there and setting it up $20 doesn't seem to be enough for the effort.
I don't advertise I have shelter unless they ask, and then I charge $40.
Don't forget to check they have enough flat ground space for you to set up!