Some fear soggy cakes and mushy sandwiches. For others, it’s the thought of empty chairs at empty tables, their dreams of a right royal knees-up forsaken under dripping-wet bunting.
With heavy downpours predicted across the country, the organisers of coronation street-party organisers are desperately begging, borrowing and panic-buying gazebos.
Retailers say they have experienced an “unprecedented” rise in sales of the tents over the past week while gazebo hire firms have been inundated with last-minute bookings. Google searches for “gazebo next day delivery” and “gazebo hire” have also increased dramatically, with the country in the grip of what one seller, The Range, described as “gazebo mania”.
“As a home and leisure retailer we are used to seasonal swings … but this spike in sales for gazebos is unprecedented,” said spokesperson Shaun Eldridge.
After the rainy weather was forecast on Wednesday, he said gazebo sales at The Range rose by 36% in just 48 hours, with “gazebo” the most searched-for term on the retailer’s website on Friday. Some gazebos have sold out online, including one for £49.99 that is entirely decorated with the union jack. “That’s been flying off the shelves in the last few days.”
Retailers Robert Dyas and John Lewis also told the Observer they were seeing a marked increase in demand for gazebos, with sales up around 70% compared with last year. “Customers are making sure that nothing dampens their coronation celebrations,” said John Lewis spokesperson Gabrielle Anderson.
In central Cambridge, Karen Eyre-White, secretary of the Guest Road Area Residents’ Association, has spent months helping to organise a coronation street party with her neighbours.
“When we looked at the forecast earlier in the week and saw there was a pretty high likelihood of rain, it was obviously very disappointing – we really wanted it to be sunny. But it prompted us into action in terms of thinking about what needed to be covered,” she said.
The PA equipment for the live band was the biggest concern, “but we also don’t want people making paper crowns in the rain or getting all our cakes wet. We’ve been looking for gazebos from anywhere we can find them.”
At hire firm Glorious Gazebos, director Brett Davis is anticipating a busy day setting up gazebos at coronation street parties in south London and Kent after being bombarded with a rush of last-minute bookings.
“It started Wednesday evening, with customers suddenly panicking about needing cover,” he said. “We were very booked up anyway so we just cherry-picked the ones we can fit in around other jobs nearby.”
Jenny Holden, founder of PR consultancy Chorus Communications, is expecting heavy rain during the coronation street party she and her neighbours have organised in Lichfield, Staffordshire, tomorrow.
“We don’t have any money to hire gazebos, so we’ve had to beg and borrow from friends and family,” she said. She has managed to get hold of four so far and is determined not to let the quintessentially British bank holiday weather spoil the fun. “We’re just going to press on, with brollies, gazebos and blankets. It’s a case of: stiff upper lip – let’s get on with it.”
