Festival Canopy

Lacey Lewis · 03-23-2006, 04:41 PM

I am not sure if this is really a question, or just a rant. Encouragement is just as welcome here as advice.

I've spent the last month, and absolutely all of my money, gathering a tent and gridwall, etc. and applying for outdoor festivals for this year. So far I have been accepted to a festival in May. Other applications requite a set-up picture, so I just went out to set up my tent and take the pic since my work will be off to a gallery Monday.

After putting on 2 walls, the tent flew away, got caught on a clothesline pole, and snapped in more than one place. I am so bummed.

Anyone care to share some optimism?

Enzie Shahmiri · 03-23-2006, 05:02 PM

Hi Lacy,

I am sorry to hear about your misfortune. I don't know what size of poles you have, but try a place like Home Depot and look at the long, white tubes ( PVC pipes) they use for the sprinkler system. They sell connectors as well.

We get the Santa Ana winds in California, where everything goes flying. My umbrellas have made the rounds through the yard as well, breaking in certain areas. I have purchased wooden dowels and forced them in between the original pieces that were broken. That works too.

Good luck!

Lacey Lewis · 03-23-2006, 06:24 PM

Hey Enzie, thanks for the encouragement and ideas. I read your post, and after some down time and some thought I went out, partially opened the tent back up, and got a closer look at the damage.

3 areas are broken like in the picture below, one side having the pole leading to this joint bent up pretty well. This is on the zig-zag part on the sides between the legs. I see where I can put in a new screw and bolt, any ideas on how I can reinforce these at the same time?

Once I put the sides on, it was like I had a sail boat as opposed to a tent. Any way to reduce this effect?

Enzie Shahmiri · 03-23-2006, 06:49 PM

I have no idea how you could reinforce this, other than using similar wide metal pieces, placing one over and the other under the main rod and screwing them together by means of nuts and bolts. If this is the place where the joints bend, than it will be difficult to fix it in such a manner that it can still open and close properly.

I would measure the piece and make a template. With that I would go to the hard ware store and see what options there are.

I am sorry that I can't be of more help.

Allan Rahbek · 03-23-2006, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lacey Lewis

Once I put the sides on, it was like I had a sail boat as opposed to a tent. Any way to reduce this effect?

Hi Lacey,
one way to reduce the wind effect is to place the opening away from the wind side,( at the lee side, I am not sure if this is the right word)

Alternatively, make an opening to let the wind through. Only the paintings will leave then, maybe.

Allan

Lacey Lewis · 03-23-2006, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan Rahbek

Hi Lacey,
one way to reduce the wind effect is to place the opening away from the wind side,( at the lee side, I am not sure if this is the right word)

Actually, the walls were on the side where the wind was coming from. I think that the stakes in the ground were just not enough... I will have to try lots and lots of weight next time.

Quote:

Alternatively, make an opening to let the wind through. Only the paintings will leave then, maybe.

Allan

ACK!

Heidi Maiers · 03-23-2006, 07:04 PM

Hi Lacey,
Bummer and I can sure relate. Had the same thing happen at my very first show. It was a 9 day show and the last night, the winds came through at over 50 miles per hour and destroyed the place. I had a 5 gallon bucket filled with rocks tied from the ceiling center rod, plus weights on all four corners. None held. Only lost about 4 pieces though, but when I saw it, we just packed up and left, as did most of the other artists.
Doing outdoor shows is a risk. It takes a little more time to set up and put away, but if you can put your work in waterproof containers overnight, that will cut down on damages. If you can sew, cut some "windows" near the top of the canvas on 3 sides and sew in some mesh screen to help let the wind blow through, similar to what Alan suggests.

Chris Saper · 03-23-2006, 08:43 PM

Hi Lacey,

The grid walls have no weight to them so they will definitely behave like sails. My tent experience is pretty limited but 100% has been in horrible winds.

I have Armstong carpeted walls which are a lot heavier than grid. Also much more difficult to handle on your own.

I made weights for each corner of the tent, out of 4 foot lenghts of 4-5" PVC piping from Home Depot. Buy one PVC cap for the bottom of each 4 ft length. . Buy long augers with sturdy handles to set into the tubes. Cap the bottoms, mix up cement and fill the tubes with augers in place. Let the cement set.

Attach the handles of the tubes to the tent corners with ratchet straps and bungee cords.

In one VERY windy situation my tent neighbors bungee corded my tent to theirs to add to the weight . If it is really windy, you might be better with the walls up. But is it's that bad, I'm with Heidi, head for the hills. Tent shows are REALLY hard.

Tomorrow I will pull out my weights and take a picture to add to this post.

Lacey Lewis · 03-23-2006, 09:23 PM

Enzie, Allan, Heidi, Chris, thank you all so much for all of the help and input (and keep it coming by all means!) I am starting to feel a bit better. My focus right now is just getting the whole thing set up to take pics BEFORE Saturday night. Then I can after that is done, I can think about if I just need to replace the tent, or what else creative I can do because I really need to get my work and myself out in the public. I'm determined!

The plan for now is this: I will get some nuts and bolts to put through the holes where the joints snapped, I'll brush off the dirt and such that ended up on the canvas part, and I will tie the tent down to some cinder blocks that I found I had right in my own yard. Then hopefully I can at least get a booth shot out of it! Winds for Saturday aren't expected to go above 5 mph, so my fingers are crossed.

Chris, actually I think my gridwall might be heavier than what you are thinking of. I bought some heavy-duty ones that are 2' x 6', and 3 panels come in a box. Each box weighs 40 lbs! I have a total of 14 2' x 6' panels, and 2 2' x 4' panels. I hope they don't budge!

Heidi, I remember reading on this forum about your experience. I am glad that this happened in my yard instead of at a show! Luckily the shows I am looking at are short, local shows with the longest being 2 1/2 days.

When I was a child, I used to do all of this stuff with my dad. He sold merch at carnivals, and I remember standing in his large, sturdy tent while we watched the kind of tents I have fly away.

Lacey Lewis · 03-27-2006, 11:24 AM

Update: I managed to get the tent set up to take pics, but I will need to buy a new tent for the actual fairs, the 1st of which is May 7th. For this picture, I put new nuts and bolts throuhg the joints, and since the sides were so bent up I tied some twine to the joints from the inside, strung it out through the side wall, and tied it to a fence. The side appears straight in the pic, and I don't think that you'd see the string unless I pointed it out.

Luckily the bright sun also blew out the dirt, grass, and rust stains on the cover!

I am looking at some of what they have at Dick Blick, so if anyone has any reccomandations about tents available there please let me know.

Also, Chris, how much would you say each of your home-made weights weighs?