Case Study: Hay Festival
Case Study: Hay Festival
Expo Hire has been the equipment partner for Hay Festival for six years, supplying furniture, gazebos, kitchen equipment and refrigeration across the full site.
Hay Festival is one of Britain's most celebrated cultural events, attracting tens of thousands of visitors over ten days each May. The festival site in Hay-on-Wye requires a full temporary infrastructure — event furniture for hospitality areas, gazebos for outdoor spaces, commercial kitchens for food operators and refrigeration throughout.
We have supplied the festival for six consecutive years, building a working relationship based on knowing the site, the setup schedule and the standard expected at an event of this profile.
Hay is a broad supply — not a single category of equipment but a complete outdoor event fit-out. Delivering furniture, structures and catering equipment simultaneously across a festival site, to a tight build schedule, requires coordination across multiple product lines and teams. Over six years we have refined the delivery and setup process to the point where the Hay team know exactly what to expect from us.
The first year with a new client involves a lot of site familiarisation. By year two, we know where everything goes, what the access constraints are and what the event organisers want before they ask. By year six, the relationship runs almost on autopilot — good for the festival, and good for us.
Recurring festival contracts also mean better pricing for the organiser. Forward commitment on stock gives us visibility to plan, which we pass back as preferential rates.
