Forget The Prodigy and Julian Clary this festival season -- the hottest acts may very well be the shipping containers being ordered for pop-up bars and merchandise kiosks and the businesses supplying them.
Shipping container supplier, Royal Wolf, has hundreds of orders from a host of major events across the country, and Royal Wolf’s Chief Operating Officer Neil Littlewood said there has been a huge increase in orders this year.
“Shipping containers are no longer limited to traditional storage but have become an essential part of the festival scene,” he said.
Festival organisers are using the containers for serving alcohol, food band and festival merchandise as well as artist’s green rooms, public walkways and even obstacle courses.
“They are easily modified and transported to venues as a practical, secure and cost effective solution, and in the case of a tight footprint, can be stacked on top of each other.”
Festivals that have ordered containers include The Taste of Tasmania, Sunset Cinemas Canberra, Sydney Hills Outdoor Cinema, Opera on Sydney Harbour, Townsville’s Culture Fest and Greek Fest and Brisbane’s Soundwave.
Adelaide Fringe, a month long program of cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, film, theatre, music and visual art, has ordered 120 containers.
“The container has really come into vogue across the events market, now they’re seen as economical, trendy and cool,” Littlewood said.
Royal Wolf shows off its containers at an event in Melbourne to show they can be used for almost anything.