Holiday park security during large events: handling peak load

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On an ordinary weekend you know the people on your park: guests with a key, regular staff and a few suppliers. During a festival, a sports day or a themed weekend, that changes within a day. Holiday park security during large events is all about that peak: far more people, different routes and temporary facilities that are not there for the rest of the year.

1Why the peak is the weak spot

A security plan for a holiday park usually assumes normal occupancy. The cameras watch the barrier, the reception and the car park, and access is arranged with a pass or a number plate. A large event suddenly brings day visitors, performers, caterers, stallholders and extra staff. Some of them come in through an entrance that is normally closed.

That is exactly when the gaps appear. A gate left open for the build-up, a temporary parking field with no view over it, a store of drinks and equipment behind a marquee. The build-up days are often the most vulnerable, because arrangements have not settled yet and nobody knows exactly who is supposed to be there.

2Access and visitor flows in holiday park security during large events

It helps to split visitors into flows and give each flow its own entrance. Guests staying on the park, day visitors for the event and suppliers for the build-up each need a different route. That way you keep an overview and avoid a catering lorry driving between the chalets.

• Guests. Keep their own access, so they do not experience the event as an intrusion on their stay.
• Day visitors. Come in through a separate entrance, with a clear boundary to the accommodation area of the park.
• Suppliers and crew. Report to a service entrance with registration, at fixed times.

For larger events, the municipality often asks for a safety plan as part of the permit. In the Netherlands, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities and the regional safety authorities give municipalities frameworks for this, but the requirements differ from one municipality to another. So talk to your municipality early about what it expects from you.

3Fire safety when the crowds grow

An event brings fire risks the park does not normally face. Temporary kitchens, generators with fuel, marquees and material storage sit close together. Around the chalets, summer brings barbecues and gas cylinders, and more and more guests charge an e-bike at their accommodation. A fire in a lithium-ion battery develops quickly and is hard to extinguish. The Dutch fire service gives advice on safe charging and on fire safety at events.

Temporary structures usually have no permanent fire alarm. Temporary detection with a direct alert to a monitoring centre fills that gap for as long as those facilities are in place.

4Welcoming yet visible

Nobody on a holiday park wants to feel they are staying on a guarded site. Too much visible security feels unwelcoming, too little feels unsafe. At an event, security can be a little more visible than usual, because visitors expect it. A camera tower at the entrance to the event area also works as a signal. In the accommodation area you are better off with cameras that stand out less and with people on site who can also show guests the way.

5An example from practice

Suppose a park holds a big weekend every month during the summer, from a sports day to a music festival. A permanent base stays in place all season: cameras at the barrier, the reception and the technical rooms, and access control at the service entrance. For each event weekend, a mobile camera tower is added on the parking field and a second one at the rear entrance of the festival area. Temporary fire detection goes into the storage marquee and the temporary kitchen. After the weekend the extra layer is removed and the base stays.

6How Darwin secures parks with large events

Darwin focuses on projects of four months or longer. For a park with events, that means a permanent base for the season or for several years, which we scale up around the busy weekends. For the base and the extra layer we deploy towers from our Darwin Site Security portfolio, such as the compact Darwin Mini on a parking field. We handle the service entrance with Darwin Access Control, and temporary structures get detection with Darwin FireProtection.

For the technology you get one fixed project price and one managed system. Scaling up around an event is agreed separately. Alerts go to your own monitoring centre or to that of our regular partner. If you need extra security officers at the entrance or on site, we put you in touch with one of our regular partners, who contracts and invoices directly. Read more about this sector under recreation and holiday park security.

7Frequently asked questions

Can I come to Darwin for a single event weekend?

For a single weekend we refer you to a reliable partner and arrange a warm handover. If you hold several events per season, a permanent base that you scale up around the peaks is usually the more logical choice.

How do I keep day visitors out of the accommodation area?

With a separate entrance for the event, a clear physical boundary and cameras at the points where that boundary is vulnerable. Guests keep their own access.

Why temporary fire detection at an event?

Marquees, temporary kitchens and storage have no permanent fire alarm. Temporary detection reports a developing fire for as long as those facilities are in place.