AfroNation 2023 - Building a world class event on shifting sands

Afro Nation 2023 – Building a world class event on shifting sands

Afro Nation - it’s the largest music beach festival in Europe, boasting top-tier artists, dedicated fans, and a vibrant, rhythmic pulse that echoes across the sunny Portuguese southern coastline.?

The 2023 event brought together the best artists in Afrobeats, Amapiano, Hip Hop, RnB, Dancehall and more. The line up included Nigerian giant Burna Boy, US hip-hop royalty 50 Cent, French-Senegalese rapper Booba and acclaimed British singer, rapper and actress Little Simz. It’s a truly international event.

Yet, before the rhythmic beats and revelry could even begin, the organisers Event Horizon had to overcome a monumental challenge - converting a stretch of sandy beach into a fully functional, world-class event venue. This wasn’t the first time they’d staged this event, and they’d learned from experience that when it came to the flooring, they needed a partner they could trust.

The complexities of transforming a beach into a concert arena are staggering. Sand isn't a stable surface like concrete. It shifts under the pressure of weight and can, of course, be blown away by wind - which can make it difficult to safely and securely install the heavy equipment needed to host live music.?

Stages, sound systems, and lighting rigs, as well as catering equipment and supplies all require a solid foundation; get it right and the rest of the preparation for the event can align and succeed – get it wrong and the repercussions can be catastrophic.

For example, at Afro Nation 2022 (before we were involved) some of the catering logistics at the event had been less than ideal, as the ‘artics’ were unable to get to the right areas to resupply the site. Which meant that the all-important beer (amongst other vital supplies) had to be unloaded and re-loaded onto smaller vehicles and then driven onto the site at incredibly low speeds, to ensure the trackway wasn’t damaged. The last thing you need is a truck stranded on a beach, blocking the supply route!

A more robust solution

So that was the challenge for us here at The Box Group: source, transport and lay flooring equivalent in area to twice the size of Wembley Stadium, that could offer the strength and stability needed as a platform for the stage, bridge and backstage areas, as well as the trackway needed to provide safe access to all the vehicles involved in the build. Including a 120 tonne crane.

We needed a solution that could handle 12.5 tonnes Axle weight, and we needed a staggering 14,500m2 of it.

Our aim was to ensure that at Afro Nation 2023, every aspect of the on-site logistics had the best chance of running smoothly – because we’d put exactly the right foundations in place for success.

We knew the challenge

From experience, we knew that there would be some major obstacles to overcome – both the ones we knew about, and the unforeseen ones too.?

Of the known issues, the first is supply. In the height of summer, music festivals are big business, so the demand on rental stock throughout Europe is enormous; leading to lower availability, longer lead times and higher prices. Our equipment sourcing strategy necessitated the application of rigorous research to ensure we could acquire the right kit, while staying within budget.?

The next known issue was location. The vast majority of stock for the grade of flooring required ‘lives’ in the central European belt of the UK, France and Germany. It’s the type of kit that’s in high demand for infrastructure projects such as HS2, wind farms and solar farms and all the big renters are based in this region.

Need kit in Norway? You’ve got a long expensive journey ahead of you.?

Need it in Southern Portugal? The same.

That was the issue we needed to deal with.

It’s all about teamwork

Our first step was assembling the right team.?

For the equipment hire, our primary partner was Autotrak who pulled out all the stops for us to supply what we needed. For transport we teamed up with Orbital Freight and from there, we dived headfirst into an exhaustive process of planning transportation logistics, negotiating with suppliers, coordinating schedules, and dealing with inevitable curveballs along the way.?

And that’s one of the things that I’m really proud about when it comes to the team we’ve got here at The Box Group – we plan meticulously, using all our experience to anticipate and prepare for challenges – but when obstacles arise, we maintain a ‘can do’ attitude; we find solutions, we don’t give up and we don’t let anyone down.

To illustrate the point, here are some extracts from our team’s project diary for the Afro Nation project – I think it really shows what we’re about:

John Davy

CEO of The Box Group -

Project Diary – Afro Nation 2023

Date: 15/05/2023

Location: Kidlington - Autotrak

Our project has officially started at Autotrak offices in Oxfordshire, marking the onset of phase one. This week has primarily consisted of loading trucks and performing administrative duties. Thanks to Autotrak for giving us the office space we needed to help us get our heads around the nuances of carnets and CMRs, as well as the mechanics of ensuring correct loads on the trailers.

We faced our first challenge: navigating the complex procedures of managing Carnets and CMRs, essentially our 'passports' for the goods. While ensuring the correct loads were put onto the trailers, we had to handle the CMR documents, crucial for the transport. Learning and adapting to the complexities of international transport in the post-Brexit era - time consuming!!

We also discovered that the truck drivers arriving were not the ones going to Portugal. They would swap drivers before boarding the boat at Sevington, raising concerns that the Carnets would not be properly transferred - but our fears were quickly alleviated by assurances from the driver's management.?

Our shipping partner committed to ensuring the transfer would take place, emphasising that they’d take responsibility. We also learnt to put the Carnet Number on the CMR*, and if the driver was going all the way to Portimao, put both his cab and trailer number on the CMR. If not, just the trailer number. Lastly, we had to put the driver’s name, trailer number / truck number (in that order) on the letter at the back of the Carnet if he was going all the way. This was the letter of authority. Moving stuff long distances is complex!

So that was that sorted.

Date: 16/05/2023

Location: Kidlington - Autotrak

After the first day's learnings, we were able to streamline our process by organising carnets and information folders individually for the drivers. We kept in touch with Lee at Orbital Freight for updates on the number and timings of trucks expected each day.

Date: 18/05/2023

Location: Kidlington - Autotrak

A minor hiccup occurred when a few numbers were incorrectly written on the Carnets. We resolved this without any fuss by simply having Lee contact the driver to amend the numbers.?

So that’s 24 of 26 trucks on the road to Portugal. We’re nearly done here.

Date: 19/05/23

Location: Kidlington - Autotrak

Our last day at Autotrak was marked by the dispatch of the final truck, after which we rushed home for some well-earned rest, before heading off to Portugal.

Date: 23/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Boneyard

Our first day in Portugal began with unloading the first six trucks without any major issues. We invested some time in educating the forklift driver and the labour team on how to unload the SignaRoad panels efficiently and safely. Despite a slight shifting of panels on the fifth truck, we were able to rearrange them for ease of unloading and neat stacking.

Date: 24/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Boneyard

On the second day, we faced a challenge with unloading I-Trac as the driver had only dealt with SignaRoad before. Ricardo tried lifting four pallets with the big 7-tonne forklift, which didn't work – not due to the weight but due to balance issues. A bit of a problem, but one we could resolve, and which helped to further improve our understanding of the optimum process. The rest of the day went smoothly, with three additional trucks being unloaded.

Location: Norwich

Date: 24/05/2023

Meanwhile, at Captrac's yard in Norwich, two full loads of I-Trac were being loaded under JD's supervision. Another partial load was transported by Freightforce to Kidlington, making up for a partial load of 55 SignaRoad. That’s the last two lorries on the way.

Date: 25/05/2023 - 27/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Boneyard

The following days were all about repeating the unloading process – hard work, but all straightforward.

Date: 28/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

So, this was our first ‘day’ of panel installation. Well, not ‘day’ exactly – we wanted to jump on the project as soon as the site became available at 10pm. and make good progress through to 4am before the first full day started proper.

All the work we had done previously – the sourcing, the logistics planning, were all leading up to this point, so it was a big moment.

The installation itself required meticulous planning on site, to ensure the correct angle and positioning from the very start – so that throughout the process we would be able to maintain the orientation of the main stage pad. The key to this was a slow, methodical start in the right sequence and positioning to Plan. It was essential to get these first panels positioned correctly so the rest would fall into place.

The night shift also gave us a couple of other advantages: first we could establish a ‘boneyard' on the beach for stocking panels for the next day, ensuring continuity of supply for the day shift.

And secondly (and crucially), it gave us a great opportunity to train the local crew on panel installation, ensuring they quickly adapted to the new product – they were on it from the word go, to the extent that the forklift drivers were struggling to keep up with the crew. Which meant that Dan had to pass on some of his great experience and skills – standing the others in good stead for the coming weeks.

Despite the training, we also identified that the forks we’d been supplied with were too short – this was a significant problem - and meant that if we didn’t find a solution quickly, we’d struggle to meet our schedule; what was needed were fork extensions.

Date: 29/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

We received word from Claudio that they’d found a supplier for the fork extensions we needed – so we ordered these and continued the work at a slower rate than planned. The slow pace was exacerbated by the fact that we had another fresh team on site (requiring training), and a later start for us due to the 4am finish the night before.

The total panel count for this first full day was 215, significantly short of our 400 goal so we knew we’d need to force the pace over the next few days.

Date: 30/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

The fork extensions arrived! Pretty impressive given they’d been manufactured to order and delivered from over 600km away in a single day.

With the new fork extensions in place, we saw an improvement in the forklift drivers' efficiency. But we still had issues to deal with while the team were learning – firstly we identified a run of off-line panels which we needed to push into place to maintain the alignment integrity of the build. And after we’d completed the main stage, we started a run of 18 panels which we were then told would need to be removed to lay pipework…such things are common on these projects. Claudio bought the team a beer for the hassle.

We also started the overlap to the left side, but the ground here had been churned up by other activity, so this was a struggle without the availability of a bulldozer, but we got on with it and the team didn’t complain. We would deal with any issues of alignment the next day.

400 panels laid. Bang on target.?

Date: 31/05/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

This was the day for laying the runs. 360 panels laid by two teams, no major issues to speak of.

Date: 01/06/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

A high energy day, with three teams operating, and a great day for pace.

One took charge of the I-Trac, another tackled the back run nearest the sea, and the last focused on the small yet crucial tasks.?

There were no issues with the I-Trac as the guys were completely on it. They stormed through and got the whole run finished in a day. Dan's team was doing the small odd and ends. They got everything done that day that they could, and also laid around 160 panels themselves.

My team stayed on the bottom run, laying 232 panels that day.? Very happy with progress – we’re nearly there now.

Date: 02/06/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

With the lion’s share of the back run already completed, the focus was on finishing this section plus a final few small I-Trac tasks. We had to be patient whilst waiting for some sections to be marked out and there were some delays waiting for negatives to be laid, but all in all, a pretty straightforward day.

Date: 03/06/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

This day was dedicated to handling?various small tasks, as and when we?could, and as issue occurred but no significant issues arising. Certainly nothing this team can’t handle.

Date: 05/06/2023

Location: Portimao - Site

The final day of the build for us:? we pushed on as we aimed for a lunchtime finish, working on the remaining tasks. A really enjoyable day, with a nice sense of accomplishment and camaraderie in the team as the last panel went in. What a great group of people – it feels like our collective efforts were definitely appreciated. We enjoyed celebrating our shared achievements with cold beer for all.

A monumental success

In this business, you're only as good as your team. And let me tell you, the team at Event Horizon and The Box Group is the best. Between us we made it all happen, and the project team did brilliantly. With their work completed, the rest of the event could really start to take shape.?

The result? Afro Nation 2023 proved to be a resounding triumph, an event that was not only incredibly enjoyable for music lovers and artists from all over the world but one that also ran smoothly from an operational perspective. The organisers couldn’t have been happier.

Jason Jennings of Event Horizon said, "One thing that stands out about The Box Group is their unwavering commitment to delivering on their promises. I instinctively trusted John and his team to pull off something extraordinary, and they exceeded expectations. Their positive, resourceful approach and determination has really helped us deliver a world-class event."

Looking back at the event now, it’s a reminder of the power of collaboration, trust, and dedication. It stands as a shining testament to 'the way we do things' at The Box Group - embracing challenges, finding solutions, and helping to deliver extraordinary experiences.

So, here’s looking forward to Afro Nation 2024, and to many more sand-shifting successes beyond that!

Need help with your next big event? Call me, John Davy on +44 (0)20 3286 7463 or email [email protected]