This is a repost of a post from our former Concord Arts Market blog, from back in 2013. It's a classic, and a good reference...enjoy!
You may be a market veteran, or you may be working on gearing up for your first market, but it never hurts to revisit the topic of tent weights. Tents weights are addressed on the Vendor Info page on each of our market websites, and they are referenced in the set-up emails that go out to vendors each week. This email, however, provides more detail about methods for weighing down your tents. WHY ARE TENT WEIGHTS IMPORTANT? Tent weights aren't really intended to protect YOUR tent. They do, in the face of reasonable gusts, keep a tent from flying away, that's true. But when a tent flies away, the least of your worries should be "oh no, I lost my tent". The larger potential problems include tents busting the windows and property of nearby businesses, your tent smashing into the tent of another vendor and destroying their inventory or injuring them, tents going through car windshields, tents causing traffic accidents that could injure or kill people, or indeed, a tent hitting and either injuring or killing someone. In a high wind situation, your tents weights (as we learned recently thanks to Artmageddon 2013) are actually likely to damage your tent...however, they will help to prevent property destruction and injuries. SO HOW DO I WEIGH DOWN MY TENT? There are many ways to weigh down a tent. All tent weights must be attached to the tent. That means clearly and firmly attached to the weight AND clearly and firmly attached through the tent frame, not just around a leg. Rope, clothesline, bungee cords, nylon strapping and many other strong materials can be used to attach them.
HOW MUCH WEIGHT DO I NEED? Concord Arts Market and Kitty Productions,LLC requires at LEAST 25-lbs of weigh on EACH LEG of your tent. Many other events require a higher amount (if you have 40-50 lbs on each leg you should meet the requirement for most events). CAN I JUST REST MY WEIGHTS ON THE FEET OF MY TENT? No. This will do absolutely nothing to secure your tent when a gust comes through. CAN I JUST TIE DOWN A COUPLE OF LEGS OF MY TENT? For best results, you need all legs weighted. CAN I JUST TIE THE ROPE AROUND THE LEGS? No. This will not secure your tent. The weight must be attached through the frame of the tent. BUT I CAN'T CARRY 25 - lbs OF WEIGHT?! Neither can I. That's why you will want to bring larger numbers of smaller weights. Make your weights lighter and just make more of them, so that you achieve the cumulative weight. WHAT ABOUT JUGS OF WATER? You can use them. Some people find that large, office sized water dispenser jugs work. You can also use gallon jugs - however, you need to know that a gallon of water weighs just about 8 - lbs. That means you need at least four of them tied securely to each corner of your tent frame. It looks like a giant cluster of grapes if you hang them, and it can create a trip hazard if you pile them on the ground. I would not call this an ideal option. OMG, THIS ONE TIME, MY TENT TRIED TO FLY WITH WEIGHTS ON! True, it can happen. There are two ways to deal with this type of situation.
Contact the market if you have any questions about how to weight your tent.
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In order to better synergize with other arts events in the downtown Dover area, during the warm weather months, we have moved Dover Arts Market to Friday nights! Dover's monthly Art Walks are on the first Friday of the month, and the Chamber's wonderful music series downtown runs throughout the summer. So mark your calendars, come on down, check us out, check THEM out, check out the fantastic downtown shops in Dover, grab some dinner at one of the many fine restaurants in the vicinity...all that good stuff. See you there!
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AuthorKaty Brown Solsky is the Founder of Granite State Arts Market. Archives
April 2015
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