Martyn's Law: what it means for events using marquees
This article is designed to outline how Martyn’s Law will shape the future of event planning and production in relation to event marquees. While the Act focuses on strengthening public safety and security against terrorism, its practical implications are relevant to events that use marquees and temporary event structures.
What is Martyn’s Law?
Martyn’s Law is formally know as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act. It was named after Martyn Hett, a 29-year-old man who was one of the 22 people tragically killed in the Manchester Arena attack on 22 May 2017.
Its purpose is to make sure venues and events are better prepared for, and protected against the risk of terrorism. Event organisers should expect it to come into effect from 2027 onwards, once the implementation window ends. However, adopting best practice now strengthens safety and improves visitor experience.
Does Martyn’s Law affect “temporary” venues?
Yes, Martyn’s Law will affect temporary venues. The Act will apply to “qualifying premises and events” that are accessible to the public and have a capacity of 100+ people. It applies to both permanent venues such as stadiums and temporary venues such as event marquees.
Temporary public events such as festivals and concerts, outdoor shows and sporting events, as well as other types of event that meet the capacity criteria are included because of the number of people attending, not the type of venue the event is held in. The law applies to both permanent venues and temporary event sites, making it directly relevant to public gatherings in marquees.
How will it affect event marquee provision?
For events that use marquees and temporary event structures, Martyn’s Law will place greater emphasis on allocating dedicated space for security, crowd management and event control infrastructure. It will soon become a major consideration for event organisers across the UK, reshaping how Event Managers plan, deliver and operate large-scale outdoor public events that require temporary event infrastructure.
While marquees are often thought of as the “main venue” for an event, Martyn’s Law makes infrastructure marquees just as important. You will need to consider:
- Ticketing and entrances: Secure, weatherproof spaces for ticket scanning including covered queuing areas with appropriate capacity.
- Search & screening: Provision of marquees for bag checks, search lanes, and screening equipment as well as shelter for security staff.
- Event control & security operations: Dedicated event control structures with the correct infrastructure provision for security coordination, CCTV, and communications.
Finding the right marquee solution for your event
For temporary events, it means factoring security, search, and event control into early planning and event specifications. It will directly affect the type, size, and layout of marquees and supporting structures required for your event.
Weatherproof ticketing structures
A typical clearspan ticketing structure should be wide enough to hold multiple ticket-scanning lanes and generally open sided to support throughput. These structures can be customised with banner rails for wayfinding and are generally suited to long runs. For example at the Big Festival, we provided two large ticket checkpoint marquees of 6m x 24m and 6m x 27m.
Search and security tents
Search and security screening is one of the areas where organisers will see the biggest structural changes. Bag checks, metal detectors, and advanced screening equipment all need to be under cover to ensure staff and guests are protected from the elements.
In addition, appropriate high bay lighting can be installed to ensure searchers are conducted thoroughly. Depending on the nature of the search required, a standalone structure such as a pagoda marquee can offer a sperate and private search area. For equipment like walk-through metal detectors, they also need to be kept dry and stable.
Event control marquees
Martyn’s Law puts real emphasis on planning, coordination, and clear lines of responsibility. That means a temporary event control hub becomes essential. There are many options when it comes to specifying an event control structure, at the recent Oasis concerts and Parklife festival we provided a 9m x 12m clearspan marquee, fitted out with solid ABS walling, level cassette flooring, lighting and glazed, secure doors. Inside. You’ll want partitioned spaces for radio comms, CCTV monitoring, welfare, and security briefings. Temporary power should come from a reliable source with redundancy provision.
The event marquee experts
We specialise in supplying high quality event marquees and temporary structures to festivals, shows, and corporate events across the UK. Our expert Project Managers will work with you to design, plan, and deliver the right marquees and temporary structures to support your event, making it safe, professional and seamless. We can help you integrate Martyn’s Law requirements into your event planning when it comes to specifying your marquee solution.
Further helpful resources
This article is provided for general information only and reflects our understanding of Martyn’s Law in relation to the use of marquees and temporary event structures. It is not legal, security, or health & safety advice, and should not be relied upon as such.
Event organisers remain responsible for ensuring full compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and guidance. For detailed advice on counter-terrorism measures, event safety, and security planning, please refer to official resources such as:
Martyn’s Law Fact Sheet (Gov.uk)
Martyn’s Law Overview (Police.co.uk)
We recommend that all organisers seek specialist legal, security, and health & safety advice to support compliance with Martyn’s Law and broader event safety obligations.
Our team are happy to help discuss your site-wide marquee requirements.
