MARQUEES

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A Marquee has always historically been seen as a symbol of luxury and wealth, of elegant white weddings in the grounds of a country manor. In 1999, when our founder and CEO Jason Mace, was looking to hire one such structure for the millennium celebrations to extend his parents’ pub, but struggled to find one that was high quality and cost effective, he was forced to purchase components for a party tent to own, it sparked an idea. Why couldn’t they become an item that anybody could afford? More than twenty years later, and Gala Tent has become synonymous with high-quality, affordable party tents and marquees for commercial and recreational use

What is a Marquee?

Gala Shade Pro Gazebo with printed canopy

A Marquee is a tent that is used for eating and drinking in at events held outside, mainly events that involve a lot of people, according to the dictionary. However, here at Gala Tent, we can absolutely testify that they are so much more than that. They are a way of extending premises, of creating outdoor working spaces, of putting on a music festival and entertaining hundreds of people, or of creating a retail environment anywhere you like. Simply put, a Marquee can be anything you want it to be.

Typically, a marquee will be manufactured using steel or aluminium framework that is made up of beams or poles that will slot into joints to build a house-like skeleton of a frame.

There will usually be smaller party tents that tend to be 3m, 4m, or 6m in width, and will extend lengthways in 2m bays, usually to around 12m in length, although some are available longer. This type of tent would have steel framework.

Wider marquees, sometimes known as Clearspan, can be erected up to 9m in width, sometimes wider, without the requirement for supporting central legs and posts. Due to their massive size, the framework will be manufactured using industrial strength aluminium girder-like posts and beams. Because of their size, they are often supplied in modular form, which means that the frame and covers are all set up in individual 3m sections, enabling the builder to adapt the size according to the need.

WHAT IS A GOOD MARQUEE MADE OF?

A good marquee has two defining components which dictate its quality, and compromise in either can cause a major headache for the owner.

FRAME

A frame will be either robust powder-coated steel poles and beams, or industrial-strength aluminium. The wider the poles and beams, as well as the thicker the metal used, the better for the structural integrity of the frame.

COVERS

There are a few different types of covers that a marquee will have, depending on where you get it from. One such material that we used to supply at Gala Tent was a soft canvas-like material called Poly. It was luxurious and elegant, but our customers found that it was much more difficult to keep clean than other more robust materials, and therefore the cost of replacing them was somewhat higher. As a retailer who takes our customers’ feedback on board, the decision was made to remove that model from our range, and we focused on those which are much more cost-effective and simpler to maintain.

The alternative cover materials that are much easier to maintain in the long-term, are polyethylene (also known as PE), and PVC. We recommend looking at these materials and considering a the-heavier-the-better approach. Some retailers use a 200 grams per square inch (gsm) weight of material and suggest it is a premium quality. Gala Tent commit to commercial quality, even on our entry level structures, and as such offer 240gsm PE covers on our marquees, some 20% thicker than the nearest competitor. When it comes to PVC used in the top-of-the-range structures, again an industry standard appears to be 500gsm, so Gala Tent commits to 30% stronger covers, with a superior 650gsm in our PVC range.

DID YOU KNOW?

Gala Tent uses a strong Dutch-lacing mechanism in our PVC sidewalls. The reason for this is that the PVC material is so thick and robust that zips wouldn’t hold. This method ensures longevity, as well as a firmer connection between walls, which means you get a more comfortable environment within the marquee.

WHAT CAN A MARQUEE BE USED FOR?

Whilst the first thing that comes to mind might be a swish soiree in the grounds of a country manor, the different uses for a marquee, as well as the situations they have a purpose, have multiplied many times since Gala Tent brought affordable structures of this kind to the UK. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, those uses multiplied further, and Gala Tent was central to a nationwide news story around the increased popularity in outdoor structures. Here is our list of nine popular places that you can and will see a marquee:

The Garden

Absolutely. Since launching the original Gala Tent marquee in 1999, hundreds of thousands of families have purchased a party tent marquee to create a special place in the garden, so that the outdoors can be enjoyed, even if the rain is pouring. A marquee in the garden is also a great way of extending the house when you’ve got a few people round.

Popular sizes for the garden: 3m x 6m, 4m x 6m and 4m x 8m

Weddings

Of course, the wedding marquee is a classic use of these kinds of structure, and one of the oldest purposes for a marquee since their invention, and one which has grown in popularity even more over the years. A marquee allows for a cost-effective function room that can be decorated exactly as the happy couple would like it, acting as a completely blank canvas onto which they can apply their distinct personalities. We have an excellent resource, including marquee capacity guides, decoration inspiration and more, which can be found here (link to /marquee weddings)

Popular sizes for a wedding: 6m x 12m, 9m x 15m, 9m x 30m

Beer Festivals

For years, real ale and cider associations and community organisations have used marquees to great effect for hosting beer festivals. Clearspan marquees in particular, such as the Gala Tent Fusion marquee, are erected for a week and become filled with happy drinkers tasting craft beers and lagers. This kind of structure is far more cost-effective than hiring out a large function space for that space of time, and can often fit more people in. A 9m x 30m Fusion marquee, for example, can squeeze almost 400 people in alongside the bar itself.

Popular sizes for a beer festival: 6m x 24m, 9m x 21m, 9m x 30m

Beer Gardens

A relative newcomer, in terms of widespread use, the government announcement of early 2021 that pubs and restaurants could only serve their products outdoors led to a massive demand increase for marquees, which allow overhead shelter alongside vital airflow. This demand led to a nationwide shortage, even with suppliers like Gala Tent which holds the largest stock in the UK. Landlords and pub owners up and down the country created inspirational spaces that people would feel at ease in, and became an unrivalled force in rejuvenating the national economy.

Popular sizes for a beer garden: 4m x 10m, 6m x 12m, 9m x 9m

Music Festivals

Whilst the largest music festivals have massive stage set-ups to enable musicians to perform to hundreds of thousands of people, there are always either smaller stages where comedians and more low-key artists will play to an intimate crowd, or smaller community-based festivals that local acts will headline. Commercial quality marquees make great cover for such occasions, and with thick PVC covers, the acoustics are really great. The outer stages of Tramlines music festival in Sheffield are always packed with Gala Tent marquees, which we love to see each year we attend.

Popular sizes for a music festival stage: 6m x 12m, 9m, 9m, 9m, x 30m

Outdoor Trading

Not quite as popular as a pop-up gazebo when it comes to setting up a stall at a craft fair or something similar, largely because they take that bit longer to erect and dismantle, the marquee is nevertheless a very popular method of protecting your products. They provide a classic and light atmosphere, and the windows in the marquee sidewalls allow more light in than the sometimes-darker pop-up gazebo walls do.

Popular sizes for a trading tent: 3m x 2m, 3m x 3m, 3m x 4m

Motorsports

Believe it or not, marquees have a growing popularity within motorsport, which is an incredibly cost-conscious arena, and it is not cheap for anybody. As many competitors in motorsport are there for the pure passion of it, and using money from their own pockets, the choice can often be between getting shelter to work on the vehicle beneath, or buying tyres to actually be able to race. There’s no point getting the shelter if there are no tyres to race with, obviously. So, club racers opt for a marquee because they are typically much cheaper per m² than a pop-up or a heavy-duty specialist awning.

Popular sizes in motorsport: 3m x 3m, 3m x 6m, 4m x 8m

Country Shows

Each spring, summer and autumn, up and down the country, there are hundreds, if not thousands of country and agricultural shows held. Places where farmers and suppliers of fresh produce can sell their wares to people who will often travel from miles away to get involved. At these shows, large temporary commercial grade marquees are often erected for livestock presentations, dog shows and equestrian contests, amongst other spectacles. In spaces that are quite muddy and wet, thick PVC covers that can be wiped clean are usually the marquee cover of choice.

Popular sizes at country shows: 6m x 12m, 9m x 21m, 9m x 30m

Scouting

Gala Tent has worked for many, many years with the Scouting Association, and has provided marquees for various uses. A Gala Tent marquee has been in use at several of the annual jamborees, for applications such as break-out and activity tents, and have even been used as temporary dorms. One of our most proud moments, however, was when a Gala Tent marquee was used as a shelter for the main stage where Chief Scout, Mr Bear Grylls, gave a rousing and inspirational speech to thousands of young scouts.

Popular sizes for scouts: 4m x 6m, 6m x 12m, 9m x 12m

There are of course many other uses for a marquee, but these are the popular ones that stand out for us here at Gala Tent. The point is that they are not simply for eating and drinking beneath anymore, despite what the dictionary might tell you, but they can be applied to almost any situation that you might need temporary shelter from the elements. If you’re not sure which kind of tent is right for you, then please visit our Advice Centre, or why not give our team of experts a call on 01709 242454 and they’ll do their best to provide honest and reliable advice.

Which Marquees can I buy from Gala Tent?

There are three defined models of Gala Tent available to buy, which differ according to either the frame type, of the covers they use.

GALA TENT ORIGINAL PE

Our entry-level marquee, but one which uses superior quality materials. The PE has a strong, powder-coated steel party tent framework which uses up to 44mm diameter poles, depending on the width of the tent (which would be 3m, 4m or 6m wide). We do not compromise on quality, so the entry level PE uses the same robust framework as its superior PVC sister-product. The main difference is in the covers used. 240gsm woven PE material with double-sided coating to ensure no rain can get in. It is a perfect party tent for any occasion where budget is a primary concern. Both the frame and the covers come with a 12-month warranty, and a comprehensive range of spare parts are available for rapid dispatch, meaning that even in the event of accidental damage, you can simply repair it instead of being faced with the expense of replacing it.

GALA TENT ELITE PVC

Our most popular marquee and a serious piece of kit. The Elite PVC Gala Tent uses super-strong, 650gsm wipe-clean PVC, and is as popular with home and garden users as it is with serious commercial hirers. Each structure is available in widths of 3m, 4m or 6m, up to a length of 12m, although by using specialist equipment in the gutter kits and infills, you can add potentially unlimited numbers to one another either side-by-side or end-to-end to create any size you like. Each of the 2m sidewalls comes with a window and privacy blind to offer versatility according to your needs. The frame has a 12-month warranty and the PVC covers have an industry leading 3-year warranty, to give you total peace of mind. As always, you could build an entire structure from the spare parts available at Gala Tent, so there’d be no reason to need to replace it ever again.

GALA TENT FUSION

The absolute top-of-the-range event structure available to buy from Gala Tent. The Fusion is a clearspan tent available in widths of 6m or 9m, and uses industrial grade T6061 Aluminium beams and girders in the framework. It is a seriously robust structure and one which is not for the occasional marquee builder. The modular aspect of the Fusion means that each section of the frame and the canopy is set in 3m sections, and it can be added to countless times. For example, if you purchase a 9m x 18m Fusion, the modular design enables you to simple remove a bay and erect a 9m x 15m tent, all the way down to 9m x 3m, if you were so inclined. You can also take it in the opposite direction and purchase an add-on bay and increase your tent as you go. We must stress that it is a professional structure, and as such we recommend that you enlist professional help when erecting one of these.