A season calendar for one stand kit is built from breakdown and build-up dates, not from show opening dates. On that timeline the clashes appear at once: points where breakdown at one show ends after build-up at the next has already started. A clash cannot be solved with transport, only by splitting the kit, hiring elements locally, or dropping one show.
How to build the season timeline
On a single line, mark two pairs of dates for each show: the start and end of the build-up window, and the start and end of the breakdown window. Opening and closing dates for visitors are irrelevant here, because transport does not touch them. Only on that line do the real gaps become visible, and they are often much shorter than the show calendar suggests.
To each gap add three figures: transit time between venues, the time needed to inspect and repair elements, and handling time if the kit passes through a facility. Their sum is the minimum below which a direct move stops being feasible. The method of counting backwards from a build-up window is set out in the build-up and breakdown calendar.
Where clashes arise
Usually in two places. The first is shows with similar dates in the same sector, because organisers plan them into the same weeks of the season. The second is the move between the EU and the British market, where transit time gains a crossing and border formalities, and those carry their own variability.
A clash has three solutions and none of them is a transport solution. Split the kit into two smaller configurations, each serving one show. Hire a stand locally for the less important event. Or drop one show for that season. The choice has to be made when space is booked, not during build-up week, because by then only the third option remains.
How much buffer to leave
We will not give a number of days, because it depends on the distance between venues, on whether the route crosses a customs border, and on the condition the kit comes off the show in. What the buffer is consumed by can be listed: an overrunning breakdown, the queue at the gate on the way out, the crossing, inspection of elements after the show and minor repairs, and finally the queue at the gate on the way into the next venue. Each is short, but they occur in sequence and add up. The queue mechanism is described in the marshalling yard and vehicle queue.
The practical rule: a buffer calculated without an allowance for repair is fiction, because a stand comes back from every show in worse condition than it left. A missing element has to be remade, and that takes days, not hours.
The between-shows inspection nobody plans
Between one show and the next, a stand kit should go through two operations: a check of the set against the list, and an assessment of the condition of the elements. Without the first, two missing panels come to light only during build-up at the next show, when there is no time to react. Without the second, a damaged profile travels on and fails completely halfway through the season.
That inspection needs space and a few hours, so it has to be given a point on the route: the Kielce facility on the Polish side, or the Milton Keynes warehouse on the British one, where we handle pallet receipt and release, short-term storage, cross-docking, repacking, and inspection and recovery of cargo.
Where the kit waits, and where it merely passes through
That is a separate decision from the schedule, and it is taken for each gap individually. A short gap favours standing near the next venue, a long one favours returning to the owner, and a medium gap usually calls for a facility on whichever side of the Channel the next show sits. The cost and risk comparison between returning and storing is set out in a fair season from Kielce to the UK, and the options after the final show in after breakdown: return, storage or disposal.
The customs document in the rhythm of a season
With several border crossings in one season, what matters is not only which procedure you choose but how long it stays valid. A temporary admission document has an expiry date, and every show consumes its vouchers. So the season schedule is worth laying against the document's validity before the first departure, because extending it mid-season is harder than planning it up front. The discharge rules are in the ATA carnet step by step.
What to prepare before the first departure of the season
A list of shows with build-up and breakdown dates, not opening dates. The volume of the kit in loading metres and its weight. An inventory of elements with numbers, the same one you will use on every return. A note of which elements could be hired locally in the event of a clash. And the expiry date of the customs document. With that set, the whole season fits into one plan.
Sources
- GOV.UK: using and discharging an ATA carnet
- Polish Chamber of Commerce: ATA carnets in Poland
- Association of Event Venues: the UK venue association
Running several shows in one season? Send the list of build-up and breakdown dates through the quotation form and we will build the timeline, flag the clashes and propose standing points. The scope is on our exhibition logistics page.
