How Many Portable Toilets a Baltimore Festival Needs

Why the busiest hour sets the number

A festival crowd is not an even flow, and the restroom demand peaks for an hour when the gates open, the act starts or the food line forms, so the count is set for that hour.

A festival that draws three thousand people across a day may have a crowd of a thousand in the first hour and a far larger one at the headline act. The count that covers the average will queue at the peak, and the queue is what the guests remember. A count set for the peak is more units for a short time, but it is the number that keeps the lines short.

The plan records the expected peak, the hour it falls in and the pattern around it. The organizer can then see why the number is what it is, and the office reviewing the permit can see the same figure.

What the organizer should give us

The organizer should give the expected crowd, the event hours, the stage and food pattern, the accessible need and the layout of the site, so the count is built from the event's own facts.

The expected crowd is the first figure. Where the organizer has a ticket count, that is the firmest. Where the event is free, the organizer's own estimate is used and labelled as one. The hours and the peak time follow from the programme.

The food and drink service matter because they add a second flow to the restrooms, usually at lunch and in the evening. A stage pattern that starts all acts at once changes the peak as well. Each of these goes on the plan with its effect on the count.

• The expected crowd and the source of the figure
• The event hours and the busiest hour
• The stage and food programme
• The number of guests who may need an accessible unit

Layout that keeps the lines short

Units are placed in blocks with a clear walkway, not in one long row, so no single line grows too long and the servicing truck has a route that does not cross the crowd.

A row of twenty units at one end of a festival site makes one long queue. Blocks of four or five placed at two or three points keep each line short, and the crowd spreads between them naturally.

The servicing truck needs its own route, usually a service lane that runs round the site. A truck that must cross the main walk at the peak will be blocked, so the route is agreed with the organizer before the day.

Servicing through the festival day

Servicing is set for before the crowd, during the peak and after the close, so every block is clean and stocked when the crowd arrives.

The first visit of the day makes sure every unit is clean and working before the gates open. A supervisor walks the blocks through the peak and calls for a pump-out where a block fills early. The close-out visit clears the spot at the end of the day.

Multi-day festivals repeat the pattern each day, with a check after each day's close so the next day starts clean.

Accessible units and the festival crowd

Accessible units are counted with the rest and placed on the shortest flat route from the gate, since a festival crowd includes guests who need them.

No Baltimore share of accessible units is set in the guidance, so the number is agreed with the organizer. The organizer knows the likely need from the audience, and the plan records the figure.

An accessible unit on a festival site is placed on the firmest route from the gate and the main walk, with its door and bars checked before the gates open.

When the crowd is bigger or smaller than planned

A crowd that is bigger than planned is handled by adding units or a supervisor's pump-out, and a crowd that is smaller is handled by holding units back, with each change recorded.

A supervisor at the peak can call for extra units if the truck can reach the spot. Where a count has to rise sharply, the change is agreed with the organizer and noted on the plan.

A smaller crowd is handled by collecting units that are not needed, once the organizer agrees, so the cost matches the use.

A short worked example

A worked example shows how the count, the blocks and the servicing fit together for a single afternoon festival on a city park, using the organizer's expected figures.

Suppose a park festival expects a few hundred people through the first hour and a larger crowd at the headline set. The plan takes the larger figure, sets the count from the peak, and splits the units into two blocks at opposite ends of the lawn.

Servicing is then set for a visit before the gates, a supervisor at the headline set and a close-out after the last act. The record for the day shows the count, the blocks, the visits and any change, and the organizer keeps it for the permit file.

Test the count before the day

A count can be tested on a walk-through of the site with the organizer, using the expected peak, the layout and the walking times between each block and the stage or food.

A walk-through at the expected peak shows where the lines would form. A block that is a long walk from the main stage will be ignored in favor of one nearer the crowd, and the plan moves the block to match.

The test also checks the servicing route at the peak. A truck route that is clear at nine in the morning may be blocked at three in the afternoon, and the plan is adjusted for the busiest hour.

Festival food and the handwashing count

Food stalls add a second demand on the restrooms and need handwashing beside them, and the count for the restrooms and the handwash stations is set together.

A food stall with a queue draws people to the restrooms as soon as they leave the stall. The handwash station placed at the restroom exit catches them on the way out and keeps the food area clear of washing.

The count of handwash stations follows the number of stalls and the peak hour, and it is shown on the drawing with the restroom blocks.

After the festival: the record

The record of the festival day is the basis for the next plan, showing the count, the peak, the blocks that ran short and the visits that were needed.

At close the supervisor writes a short review: the block that ran short, the time it ran short, the visit that was needed and any change that was made. The review is kept with the plan.

A review written the same day is the most useful record for the next year's festival, and it can be shown to the office if it asks how the count was reached.

Why a small count can cost more

A count that is too small causes queues, complaints and emergency visits, and the cost of those is often larger than the cost of a few extra units placed from the start.

A festival that runs out of units at the peak pays for emergency pump-outs, extra trucks and staff who spend the afternoon managing a queue. A count set for the peak costs more units for a short time, and it usually costs less in the end.

The honest way to set the count is to plan for the peak and then discuss with the organizer what can be scaled back, rather than starting low and hoping.

Working with the organizer's own figures

The organizer's figures are the basis of the count, and the plan shows where each figure came from, so a change in the crowd is traced to a known source.

A ticket sale count updates as tickets sell, and the plan is revised when the count changes. An organizer's own estimate for a free event is updated after the programme is published, since the programme changes who comes and when.

Each figure on the plan is labelled with its source and its date. A reader can then see whether the count rests on sold tickets, a venue's capacity or an organizer's judgement, and weigh it accordingly.

A final check is to read the count aloud with the organizer and ask what would make it wrong. If the answer is a change in the headline act, a change in the weather or a change in the food programme, the plan records what would trigger a revision and who makes the call on the day.

The last step on the day is a quiet count of what was used against what was placed, which the supervisor writes at the close. That figure is the first input to the next year's plan for the same site.