Royal debut for ‘big top’ of catering firm

Press, 27 February 1986, Page 22

Royal debut for ‘big top’ of catering firm

If you are planning an intimate dinner party for 800, but your dining room only holds ten guests, Continental Caterers of Rangiora has the answer to your problem. The firm’s latest and largest “big top” marquee has just arrived from the North Island, ready for its first public appearance this week-end. Appropriately, this first public appearance will include a Royal occasion. The marquee will be erected at Peacock Springs for the visit of Prince Philip on Saturday. And because Prince Philip is visiting on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund, the marquee will proudly fly the huge panda flag of the fund. If your name has been inexplicably omitted from the guest list for Prince

Philip’s visit, you -will be able to admire both Peacock Springs and the marquee on Sunday, when the site holds one of its rare open days. David and Joan Ward, the proprietors of Continental Caterers, are proud of the new marquee. They say it is not the largest “big top” to have visited the South Island, but it will be the largest available for general hire. If you are interested in hiring this marquee for a special event it would be prudent to book well in advance.

Bookings for the marquee are building up, including a forthcoming school centennial celebration in Ashburton, where the guest list is expected to reach 1850.

David Ward says that this sort of event is not

the only possible use for the marquee. In the North Island a similar marquee has hosted deer sales, and the marquee is large enough to hold implement shows or even motor shows. The exact size of the marquee can vary according to the occasion. Its basic 30m by 30m structure can be expanded to 30m by 60m.

A feature of the new marquee is its height of 12m made possible by four centre posts. The marquee can seat up to 900 guests for a formal meal or a slightly smaller number if service areas are also included. But if you fancy a buffetstyle meal, your guest list can range up to 1850. The marquee is the brain-child of a Taurangabased company which is

fast winning an international name for itself in canvas constructions. The company is built around the skills of a qualified engineer who uses a computer to test stress on the marquees.

For the technicallyminded, the new marquee weighs 4035 kilograms and breaks down into 521 separate parts. Built of fire-retardant canvas, the sections are held together by a combination of rope latching and heavy commercial seals to ensure it is water-tight.

Mr Ward admits the blue and white colour scheme of the marquee could raise a few eyebrows in Canterbury, where memories of a rugby loss against the Auckland "blue and whites” are still strong.