In-Tents Events

The best tent companies are also proactive storm trackers—so you don’t have to be. “We listen carefully to the weather before any event,” Ewing says.

Graves always plans his tented events squarely between April and October. Bach concurs but adds that an particularly volatile spring or fall can lengthen—or shorten—the tenting season. “I always say that from May 1st to October 15th is the season. That varies though—it’s nicer in April than in May at some point.”

Winter is another story. No rental company worth its salt trucks would recommend that a meeting planner try a tented event in the dead of winter—though it is possible. Most local renters, for instance, have done at least one event on top of a frozen lake. Snow can be raked from the roof so that the fabric doesn’t sag. Heaters can be attached to ductwork to pump in hot air throughout the night so that the vinyl fabric doesn’t become brittle and shatter.

Après supplied tents to the 2004 Saint Paul Winter Carnival. “We’re always looking for ways to extend the season with heaters, but . . . if a meeting planner is planning a big event, they don’t want to take that risk,” Bach says.

Tent Style

Tents range in style from the sort of pop-up tents you can buy at Costco to high-peaked pole tents to highly engineered clearspan fabric structures—which are designed so the interior is unobstructed by poles. Clearspan tents can stand in place for several months. “You can create a certain size venue, and keep adding on,” Graves says.

“The basic structure is somewhat industrial-looking, but they can be really dressed up,” Ewing adds. “There are sidewalls that have cathedral-style windows. A clear top allows you to see the sky, which is especially nice at night, so you can see stars or city building lights.”

Tents act as a beacon—a way of drumming up excitement even before guests enter. But planners use interior décor to make a tented venue unique. They can incorporate carpeting, lighting, staging, and more. Wide-format digital printers can put corporate logos and designs right onto the tent walls and top.

“People ask me, ‘Have you done this before?’ and I’ll say, ‘No, we design specifically for you and create the ‘wow’ factor,’” Ewing says. “If we’re involved in the creative process, the meeting planner or client isn’t limited by what is possible in terms of design or execution.”