The 10th annual Harrisburg Brewers Fest setup got underway at 4:30 this morning.
The tent setup included over 550 feet of 10 ft wide tenting (marquee) along Locust and Third Street in center city.  The tents will house over 50 craft breweries who will pour samples for 2 separate sessions,  one at noon, and the other at 5:00 PM.

The event’s main sponsor is Tröegs Brewing Company, who developed the idea in 2003.  It has become one of the most popular beer festivals in the Mid-Atlantic area.  The event is expected to raise over $100,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Street closed at 4:00 AM for 10th Annual Brewers Fest Setup

550 feet of marquee pipe laid out on Locust and Third Streets,  Harrisburg

Framing completed, water barrels standing by

Skinning the frame with 40′ sections

Frame is lifted one side at a time, then attached to frame

Second side up, and tent is anchored to posts on one side, and water barrels on the other

170 feet completed, 340 feet to go

Take down will take place at 10:00 PM, and the street turned over to the city by 1:00 PM.

Marquee tents are very versatile.  Other typical uses are:

• Walkways between house and wedding tent
• Covered walkway from street to front entrance
• Rain cover between tents
• To form a que for an entrance or registration area
• To mark the entrance of a large tent complex

4000 white chairs will be setup to view the stage at Meade’s Headquarters

America honors the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War this summer. Because Pennsylvania was at the heart of the Civil War, we have the privilege of providing some of the “behind the scenes” rental services to help make the 150th Anniversary a more rewarding experience for the attendees.

 “Bethel Village Trail and Commemoration of
African American Patriots of the
Civil War”
Sunday, June 30, 2013 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Location: Harrisburg – Soldiers Grove (near the fountain at the Capitol Complex)
Admission: Free

We recently delivered a 40 x 180 ft. frame tent accompanied by 1,800 brown folding chairs and 225 tables to Commerce Bank Ballpark in Harrisburg, PA, where the Harrisburg Senators baseball team play their home games. The delivery required 5 trucks and 6 experienced people who arrived on site at 8:00 AM and were finished setting up in a little over 6 hours. The Senators maintenance crew performed the table and chair setup, finishing in 2 hours, just in time for the event that started at 7:00 PM. Following the picnic was an exciting ballgame where the Senators took on the Trenton Thunder, and won 2-0.

Olympic Tent 40′ x 180′ setup for Summer Picnic

Olympic Maxi Tent

Facing west from the Corporate Suites

Photo Credit – Harrisburg Senators

Jake hooking up ratchet straps for anchoring

Ethan tendering tables to fork lift truck for quick material handling

Stacks of tables staged under tent for later setup

1800 chairs on new skids – unloaded from truck in 20 minutes

Tables setup adjacent to grand stand

Chafing dishes staged on tables awaiting setup

Seven Big John Gas Grills just delivered for Senators Game

Chafing dishes setup for buffet under the Senators Grand Stand

Event Central can provide rentals for picnics most anywhere.  Here are some typical venues:

• Corporate property
• State Parks
• Mountain Adventures – Ski Roundtop
• The Harrisburg Senators Baseball
• York Revolution Baseball
• Key employees residence

Typical rentals include:

• Tents
  • dining
  • serving
  • cooking
  • games
• Tables & Chairs
  • seating at rounds or banquets
  • for serving
• Restroom facilities
• Accessories
  • grills
  • chafing dishes
  • fans

This photo essay illustrates the “behind the scenes” preparation for the graduation season.

Quality chair rentals start with the purchase of quality chairs. All our new inventory purchases within the past 8 years has been from Palmer Snyder Furniture, from whom we purchase chairs by the container load.

Event Central took delivery of 1 container on April 1st

For the 2013 season, we purchased 2 containers of chairs.             4,500 white and 4,500 brown

Panoramic shot of all the boxes unloaded from the first container-  waiting to be processed

Chairs are removed from the cartons

During the check in process, every chair gets an Event Central identifying sticker affixed under the seat.  We then place a colored pin stripe inconspicuously on the bottom of the leg.  This is a quality control marking which insures other rental companies do not swap other brand chairs into our fleet of newer higher quality chairs.

Our material handling system of specialty pallets minimizes the number of times a chair is handled.  A full trailer can be unloaded by 2 people using a forklift within 45 minutes. The 6000 chairs on 30 skids are then transported from the parking lot to the commencement area  in 90 minutes.  Depending on the complexity of the site, Event Central’s material handling system can reduce the man hours required from the time the truck arrives until the chairs are completely setup by 30-40%.  We even have a specialty forklift that allows us to carry the pallets of chairs across the sand-based grass soccer field without damage to the turf.

100 new metal pallets for 2013

Thousands of chairs on metal pallets waiting to be strapped and loaded on the truck

Tractor Trailers are loaded with up to 6000 chairs on 30 pallets.

Detailed load diagram

5250 white chairs ready for 2 hour transport to university

Truckload of brown chairs

Truckload of white chairs ready to roll the following week

Citing the Handbook Introduction:

“It is designed to educate novice as well as experienced tent renters on installation theory, with an emphasis on safety. This handbook may be used as a basic guide for tent installation. The goal is to clarify specific tenting theories, verifying as well as dispelling common tenting myths. The information presented here is based on the combined experience of the all volunteer Education Committee, with validated engineering data from an industry expert.”

The handbook covers 5 different types of tents:

• Pole-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Bail-Ring Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Pipe Frame-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Box-Beam Frame-Supported Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Tensile Structure Rental Tents

Within each type tent, it is further detailed by:

• Introduction
• Site Survey
• Layout and Staking
• Poles
• Tensioning
• Safety and Maintenance

Municipalities Adopt the Document

Some municipalities have adopted the IFAI handbook into their application processes as shown in this cutout from The City of Phoenix Tent Permit Application.

The City of Phoenix tent permit application referring to the IFAI Handbook for Safe Installation

Most-Frequently-Used Section

One commonly applied reference chart used by tenting professionals is the squaring chart. Only when a stake line is square can the tent be tensioned to look it’s best and have it’s greatest strength against the winds and weather it was engineered to stand up to.

IFAI Tent Squaring Chart using the Pythagorean Theorem

Why do We Dwell on Safety?

One sad reminder of how tenting jobs can go sour involved a rental company in Virginia on July 25, 2005. Under the neglectful direction of the rental company staff, four scout leaders were accidentally electrocuted when the tent’s center pole was raised up into a high voltage electric line. Soon after, the rental company went out of business, and the lives of thousands of young scouts were impacted forever as they witnessed this accident that should never have occurred. This speaks to the merit of why training and following industry standards is critical to a safe business model.

How do You Select a Professional Tent Rental Company?

When you are in the selection process of a tent rental company, look for signs that they are active in rental association operations and conferences, that they are willing to offer good quality references, and that they maintain field crews with sufficient experience and training to get the job done safely.

The 102 page handbook is available free to members and for $385.00 to non-members by visiting the IFAI Bookstore. The handbook can also be purchased by ARA members for $12.

The following is a Infographic produced using some of the technical data provided in the IFAI Proceedural Handbook for the Safe Installation of Tentage

Tensile tent education with drawings from from IFAI Handbook

You can also learn more about the 4 other common types of rental tents by linking to:

• Pole-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Bail-Ring Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Pipe Frame-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Box-Beam Frame-Supported Tents Through 100-Foot Widths

Clear Span education from IFAI Handbook

• Pole-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Bail-Ring Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Pipe Frame-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Tensile Structure Rental Tents

Frame tent education from IFAI Handbook

• Pole-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Bail-Ring Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Box-Beam Frame-Supported Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Tensile Structure Rental Tents

Infographic showing a bail ring tent

• • Pole-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
  • Pipe Frame-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
  • Box-Beam Frame-Supported Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
  • Tensile Structure Rental Tents

Pole tent education from IFAI Handbook

• Bail-Ring Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Pipe Frame-Supported Tents Through 60-Foot Widths
• Box-Beam Frame-Supported Tents Through 100-Foot Widths
• Tensile Structure Rental Tents