If you don’t work in the world of events, you may be forgiven for not being entirely sure what overlay is. Look it up in a dictionary and it is defined as anything which is superimposed over something else – literally “overlaid”.
In 2016, The Department for Trade defined it as “the design, planning, installation and removal of all the temporary infrastructure and services needed to deliver major one-off sporting events.” So essentially, it means the creation of temporary venues and the installation of temporary elements and commodities that are needed to convert existing and new venues into event-ready ones.
The elements which make up the overlay for an event, are therefore by nature specific to the event itself and defined by the venues being used. Some elements are pretty universal and include temporary buildings or “tents”, demountable spectator seating, cabins (including toilets and concessions), fencing, flooring and trackway, lighting and rigging. And some are bespoke, being defined as venue specific projects – we will tell you more about these in relation to Birmingham 2022 as we begin the delivery phase of the project!