Ichthus Festival Follow Up

Lessons Learned:

1. Pole Tents don't do well in 40 mph winds.

2. Stakes don't have the same holding power in Rock as they do in normal soil conditions.

3. The guys at Goff Southeast Tents are real pros.

Over all, the event went very well. There were some minor complications during the week due to weather (i.e. guy ropes loosening, stakes pulling, etc...) but the event was still able to go on. There were a couple of instances that we erred on the side of safety that we closed a couple of the tents until they could be re-secured.

Then the morning of tear down arrived. The grounds of the Ichthus festival (as described in our previous post) were a little challenging. Between the situation of staking into rock and the largest tents being on the top of a hill, we faced an overall losing battle. The weather on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service, boasted 30 mph winds for about 6 hours with gusts up to 40mph as well as steady rain. This combination of factors caused the pole tents we had on the top of the hill to be knocked down. Fortunately the tops weren't severely damaged and they will be repaired. One of our center poles wasn't as fortunate and was folded in half. This pole must be scrapped. If you've never seen a piece of steel 6" in diameter bent like play dough, please see below (now you might appreciate the precaution in shutting down the tents while they were re-secured).

We got a call from the folks at the festival, as well as our tear down crew, to let us know about the issue. Fortunately, like vendors at every other festival we work with, all of the vendors were packed up and out of town the night the festival was over. Also, no one was allowed on the grounds as the festival had closed. No one was injured other than our poor tops and center pole.

Finally, my comment about the guys at Goff Southeast Tents. When we had issues with stakes pulling from the rock bed and ultimately a tent coming halfway down in a storm, I called them to see if I could use their hammer drill and jackhammer to resecure the stakes and help put the tent back in the air. Without hesitation, they sent a crew of guys to help me out. Ian Goff, their manager, made sure I had all of the resources I needed to make sure the job was done and done right. Thanks to them, the Ichthus Festival could go on as planned. I hope one day to be able to return them the favor they gave me. Its nice to know that in the competetive industry that we are in, there are guys out there who will lend a hand, no questions asked. Those guys are real pros and we are certainly in their debt.

Moving forward, we have a few more crazy weeks of installs ahead before we get to catch a break after July 4th. After that break we head into the Ohio State Fair and the Dublin Irish Festival installs. With what we've learned at the Ichthus Festival, we'll plan to be as safe as possible for the foreseeable future.