For the 69th year, The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival brought together literature lovers from across the UK for a 10 day programme consisting of 500 events including talks from literary greats, celebrity speakers, workshops, family-friendly activities, global street food, free pop ups and late night events.
Over 141,000 tickets were sold this year, breaking previous Box Office records, with the festival welcoming its guests to the Festival Village at Cheltenham’s Montpellier Gardens and other local venues including Cheltenham Town Hall. It was our job to transform these public spaces into festival sites capable of hosting bustling crowds and festival-goers, whilst still remaining sympathetic to the surroundings and local residents.
We worked alongside Cheltenham Festivalsfrom the very early planning stages of the event, arranging and confirming all of the site contractors, including marquee providers, power suppliers, security and the all-important toilet company.
We were on-site from Day One of the build, using our logistical skills to mark out the festival site and manage the construction and infrastructure aspects, overseeing suppliers and working with them to solve any arising issues. Tarren also sited all on-site traders and partners.
Throughout the live event Tarren worked behind the scenes with our team of energetic staff to provide event production services, including the management of the VIP Lounge. Our long history of event experience, and health and safety knowledge, also came into play as we managed the effects of Storm Callum on the festival site. This required us to make quick, critical assessments so that we could make the necessary changes to the site to ensure that it was safe for all who attended.
Our team stayed on site long after the crowds had left to oversee the festival de-rig and ensure that the gardens and venues were returned to their former glory as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Highlights from this year’s festival included talks from David Attenborough, Graham Norton, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Sebastian Faulks, as well as the Tarren-produced Attenborough themed Jungle Boogie in the House of Fraser basement.