Spring Activities to Bring Your Custom Canopy

Spring is a time of changing weather and lifting spirits. Amidst April showers, May flowers, and everything else going on outside, spring ushers in the start of the outdoor events season. Barbecues begin, festivals fire up and sporting events abound. To take advantage of spring weather when it cooperates, and to stay safe and dry when it doesn’t, it’s an excellent idea to invest in a custom canopy for your next springtime event. And to ensure that your event goes off without a hitch, you’ll want to have a host of spring activities planned in and around your new custom tent. In this guide, our event experts here at Extreme Canopy have created a list of creative spring activities you can do with your custom canopy. Read on to learn how you can electrify your next springtime event, and shop the industry’s top custom tent products with our team today!

 

Start by Setting Up Your Space

If your next spring event is going to center on a custom tent, you’ll want to make sure that custom tent is set up according to your event’s specific parameters. These parameters include crowd size, weather and terrain specifics, event type — and, most importantly for this guide, activities hosted. If you’re buying a new tent for the event, you’ll have the luxury of tailoring your tent exactly to all of these parameters.

Start by choosing a custom tent product with enough size to house your tea or customers, as well as your merchandise and general supplies. From there, you’ll want to consider ease of use. Instant canopies (also known as “pop up tents”) are among the easiest tents to carry and set up. Inflatable tents are another portable and labor-attractive option. For larger crowds, crest tents, pavilion tents, and pinnacle marquees are among the best choices. As you search for your new tent, research the materials used with every product you’re considering. You want high-quality, coated polyester fabrics and weather-resistant metals like aluminum or galvanized steel that will stand up to the worst spring showers and sunny days alike. As a final consideration, research the custom options available at each of the manufacturers and retailers on your list. Custom tents will allow you to draw more people to your event and will make the event itself that much more captivating.

Already own a tent? Take the time to set it up according to the event you’re hosting or attending. If you’re planning on hosting a crowd for a sustained period of time, bring seating. If you’re planning on displaying merchandise, bring racks, shelves, and other display furniture. Expecting rain? Consider investing in extra tent walls, floors, or a gutter system to keep the water out. Tent accessories like wall liners and floors can also increase the aesthetic appeal of your tent, adding to the appeal of your event as a whole. Overall, it’s most important to consider the types of spring activities you’ll be hosting within your tent. This will help you set up properly and ensure that your event goes off without a hitch. Explore the following sections for fun and inventive ideas for hosting in your custom tent at your next springtime event.

 

Get Things Going with Giveaways

Everybody loves free stuff. Hosting a giveaway within your tent will attract curious customers, exploring event attendees, and those in search of free swag. Advertise your giveaway with ample signage, and get people to sign up with an inexpensive raffle ticket system. Schedule your giveaway for a set time. (We recommend after lunch, so giveaway attendees won’t skip or scurry away in search of food.) Once the giveaway gets started, use ample amplification (ideally, a microphone and PA system) to keep the crowd involved and announce a winner. Most importantly, make sure your prizes don’t suck. Sure, free stuff is good, but free stuff that people actually want is even better. Allocate a bit of event budget to invest in at least one grand prize, or give away a premium piece of your organization’s merchandise or services. The more attractive the prize, the more people will get involved. That’s a priceless upside for businesses, spring BBQ hosts, and everyone in between.

 

Draw a Crows with a Competition

Giveaways are great — but sometimes people want to work for their prizes. And by work, we mean mostly have fun. Hosting a competition at your event tent is sure to increase traffic for your booth. You’ll get those looking for a fun challenge (your competitors) as well as those in search of an entertaining spectacle (your spectators). Wondering what kind of competition you should host? Here are a few ideas.

• A dance-off. Get people dancing to draw a crowd, and then let the crowd decide a winner.
• Target practice. Host a small target practice game in your custom tent using safe objects like bean bags or water balloons.
• An eating competition. An eating competition is a bit more intense than the other events on this list, but if you have your waivers ready, it’s a great way to get people to gather around your booth. Supply the food — your competitors and crowd will come.
• Relay races. A short relay race involving puzzles, stacking, or other space-efficient games is an excellent way to adrenaline flowing for event attendees. Keep your course small to ensure safety and stay on your turf.
• A brand-related guessing game. Guessing games are one of the easiest types of competitions to host. Trivia isn’t far behind. Bring your brand into the game to increase exposure by asking brand-related questions to determine your winner.

 

Feed Your Attendees with Great-Tasting Food

There are few things more appealing than food. Snacks, treats, and even full meals are a great way to bring people out to your event. You can easily turn your food or drink into part of an activity by making the food-preparation process interactive. If you’re offering large meals with lots of ingredients, give your customers access into the meal-preparation process with front-and-center ingredient containers protected by glass or plastic. Frying, pouring, or coating your food? Let your customers see by making these steps the center of attention. You can also get patrons in on the action by offering a topping stand, build-your-own meal or drink option, or interactive booth. Offering seating will also help attract potential patrons and prompt them to stay longer.

 

Amplify Excitement with Music and Videos

In today’s tech-driven age, some of the most powerful tools at our disposal are music and video — and they’re more accessible now than ever. Bringing music and videos to your custom tent will help make your space seem more animated and your organization feel more official. Both also provide ample opportunities for activities such as dance-offs, interactive trivia, scheduled film shorts and more. To bring crowd-sized sound to your tent, invest in a strong speaker, studio monitors or personal amplification system (PA). You might also want to look into a microphone if you’re going to do any live speaking. To broadcast video, a flat-screen TV (or several) will do the trick. If you’re tech-savvy, you can stream live music and video to your patrons’ phones. You can also use the event as an opportunity to launch your app, making it free to download for everyone who visits your tent.

 

Always Offer Merchandise and Services

It’s no secret that structured activities are great ways to bring people to your tent at any event. But sometimes, the best type of event is one that people do on their own: shopping. Whether you offer physical goods or specialized services, you always want to give people the opportunity to shop for them at any event you attend. Goods-based industries should always carry a selection of their most popular items in their tents, with tents themselves arranged with attractive displays and spacious aisles to facilitate a pleasant shopping experience. Service-based industries should always offer scheduling for their services at the event. If possible, they should also offer live demonstrations and proof of their work. Those events that don’t always offer vendors — such as sporting events and community gatherings—should still offer attendees a place to check out merch, food, and anything else they might want to purchase. Set up a custom tent with commemorative apparel, snacks and relevant services to bring shopping to your next spring event.

 

Supercharge Your Next Spring Event with Extreme Canopy

As spring rolls around, so does event season. Whether you are hosting a small community BBQ or attending a large trade show, you want to start off on the right foot to ensure maximum success. At Extreme Canopy, we’re here to help. Contact us to speak directly with our event experts and learn how you can supercharge your next spring event. Also, be sure to explore our website for more information on our industry-leading event tents, flags, banners, and more. With top-of-the-line materials, innovative designs, and best-in-class engineering, our custom tents and other event products are sure to make any event a hit. Order online with us now!