Festival design · Trend report
The future of festival design isn’t just inside the tent. It’s what happens before you even step through the doors.
We’ve noticed a shift in the festival world.
Gone are the days when a tent was simply a tent. Festival organisers are looking for more ways to create immersive environments, build unforgettable worlds and give audiences something they’ve never experienced before.
And one trend we’re seeing more of?
Bespoke tent facades.
BESPOKE STRUCTURES. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD.
Why settle for a standard festival tent when you could transform it into a retro cinema, a Wild West saloon or a disco straight out of another dimension?
Most festivals hire their marquees from the same handful of suppliers, so the structures themselves look much the same from site to site. The inside gets the lighting, the staging and the decor, but the outside often stays plain white canvas. That’s the first thing people see when they walk across the site, and it’s the part they photograph while they’re queuing.
A facade changes that. It’s a scenic front built to fit the tent you already have, designed so the area has its own identity from fifty metres away.
What we built at Kendal Calling
Kendal Calling asked us to develop the creative direction for their festival, with one overarching theme:
Back to the Movies
.
Working across 11 festival areas, we developed new bespoke facades, each designed to transport festivalgoers into a different cinematic world.
Desert Island Disco
Art deco meets picture palace, finished in turquoise, orange and magenta. Glitterball not optional.
The Blind Badger
A rustic Wild West saloon in weathered timber and brick, with a light-up marquee sign across the front.
The Soapbox
An old-school picture house, with a light-bulb marquee and neon trims.
Let’s just say we bought a lot of pink paint for this one.
From the neon-lit Soapbox picture house to the rustic Blind Badger saloon and the vibrant Desert Island Disco, each facade gave an existing festival space an entirely new identity.
More than just a pretty front.
Bespoke facades aren’t just about looking good. They’re about creating that moment of excitement before anyone even steps inside.
They help festivals:
-
Build immersive worlds.
Turning ordinary structures into extraordinary experiences. -
Create iconic landmarks.
Giving festivalgoers recognisable places to meet, explore and remember. -
Maximise existing infrastructure.
Transforming standard tent structures without needing to reinvent the entire venue. -
Work day and night.
Painted detail reads in daylight, and neon, festoon and LED trims take over after dark.
From render to field
Every facade starts as a 3D model built around the tent’s real dimensions, so the client can see exactly how it will sit on site before anything is made. From there it’s fabricated at our factory in Denton, Manchester, and installed by our own crew.
Because design, build and install all happen in-house, one team is responsible for it from the first sketch to the moment the gates open.
Planning 2027?
Give your tents a front worth queuing for
Bespoke facades need design and build time. The earlier we see your site plan, the more we can do with it.