News Archive

Volvo Ocean Race
A Kayam Concert Tent provided the main venue at the 2002 Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Volvos hometown of Goteborg (Sweden). Straddling the end of the harbor the 5,083 sq m Concert Tent was ideally suited to take full advantage of the limited space available.
But for once the Kayam was not the tallest structure on site - the Kayam was overlooked by the giant Eriksburg Crane which straddles the harbor on the seaward side.

Trouble in Turkey!
June 2002 saw a first for a Kayam crew when they erected the same tent on two different continents within 3 days! Booked as the main venue for a music festival just outside Istanbul (Turkey) on the European side, the Kayam was nearly erected when the Turkish army arrived and told us that the site must be changed “for military reasons".
With the aid of a lot of local helpers, we had the tent dismantled, transported 50 miles over to the Asian side and re-erected all with in 48 hours.

Valhalla's speedy moves
In August 2002 a 10 pole Valhalla was booked to go up at 4 different cities in Denmark over 4 consecutive weekends. With 7500 sq meters of cover and a stage height of 17m, the Valhalla was the only tent that could meet the requirements - and we only had one available.
Many months of planning went into moving such a large structure in such a short time but with the benefit of an additional set of masts the Valhalla met the schedule.

Victorias Secret - Valhalla flies the flag
Mayor Rudy Guilliani has been urging promoters to help get New York back up and running and open for business in the wake of the Twin Towers disaster and on November 13th he attended the first major outdoor event staged in Manhattan since September11.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show played to an invited audience in Bryant Park, Manhattan, before being broadcast nation-wide the following day. The annual event is much anticipated across the US as each year the promoters strive for more exotic locations and ever more extravagant productions.
This year designers Bureau Betak needed to install a sophisticated tracking system for a very ambitious flying act above the heads of the assembled great and good, and the only tent available that could give them the height and space they needed came from England!
At very short notice, a 75m wide Valhalla tent was loaded out from Oxford, shipped to the US and installed by a joint UK and US crew on the site adjoining the New York Central Library. Despite restrictions imposed by the historically sensitive site and severe access difficulties loading in from a major Manhattan thoroughfare, the 3000 sq m tent was erected and production in in less than 6 days.
A suggestion from the New York riggers that a Union Jack should accompany the Stars and Stripes on top of the tent caused some problems for the Valhalla crew, who haven't previously found this a necessary piece of equipment when on site at rock festivals in Europe. However a hitherto undiscovered patriotism came to the fore and enquiries were made with the British Embassy, Consul and Trade Bureau and Virgin Atlantic - all of whom unbelievably seemed unable to lay their hands on a suitable Union Jack - before one was eventually traced at a supplier in Maryland, arriving on site minutes before doors opened.

Gatecrasher
At Gatecrasher June, 2001we erected the largest Kayam Structure yet. Known as the 488 Concert Tent
it spans a massive 7550 sqm and it's footprint is in excess of 9000sqm

Radiohead Tour
At the end of August 2000, UK band Radiohead toured 9 European cities over 6 weeks in a specially designed Kayam Concert Tent. The 444 Concert Tent held audiences of up to 10,000 with a double barrier, and played to sell-out crowds over 2 or 3 nights at each venue.
With three crews, three full sets of masts and two complete sets of fabric the tent was up on time at every venue (despite fuel blockades, floods and high winds)
We were very pleased to be asked by Radiohead to provide a tent for this tour, and particularly pleased at being a part of the spectacular show which Radioheads technicians planned, fully exploiting the very special space the Kayam Concert Tent offers.

Valhalla at at Europe's oldest and newest Festivals.
Summer 2000 saw the Valhalla at 4 major European music festivals for the first time;
At Roskilde Festival, Denmark in July a 6 pole Valhalla replaced the traditional big green Roskilde tent while in August a 4 pole Valhalla formed the main Dance venues at both the first Witness Festival in Dublin, Ireland and for Dr Music at their new site near Leon, Spain
At V2000 in Stafford, UK a 2 pole Valhalla was used for the new Bacardi Vivid venue where the tents very high internal clearances were fully exploited with multilevel dance platforms and a full size Helter Skelter as centre piece of a sensational multi-media venue.
Meanwhile in South Africa in September a 4 pole Valhalla housed a major trade exhibition welcoming, among others, ex president Nelson Mandela..

Its versatile!