Festival guide
Festival Toilet Hire: The Organiser’s Guide
How many toilets your festival needs, where to put them, how often they need servicing and what it all costs. Written from the festivals, races and big outdoor events we’ve supplied across the south of England.
- Portaloos, urinals, trailers and welfare
- Servicing planned for multi-day events
- One contact for the whole site
- 50+ toiletsSupplied for the Thames Path Ultra Challenge
- One Love FestivalToilets supplied in East Sussex
- Notting Hill CarnivalOn call with multiple toilets
- South and WalesSupplier network across the region
Toilets can make or break a festival
Ask people what they remember about a bad festival and the queues for the toilets come up again and again. Getting the numbers, placement and servicing right costs far less than the complaints, the reviews and the licensing headaches when it goes wrong.
We match your festival with suppliers in our network who have enough units free on your dates, then plan delivery, servicing and collection with you. For bigger events that can mean more than one supplier, but you still deal with one contact.
We’ve supplied toilets for the One Love Festival in East Sussex and two marathon events in the county, more than 50 units for the Thames Path Ultra Challenge, and a beer festival and dog show in Kent. We’ve also been on call with multiple toilets at Notting Hill Carnival in West London.
How many toilets does your festival need?
Move the sliders for your crowd and how long the festival runs. It gives a starting point, and we check every number against your site plan when we quote.
The reasoning behind these numbers is in our guide to how many portaloos an event needs.
What to hire for a festival
Most festivals use a mix. Standard units do the heavy lifting, urinals take pressure off the queues, and trailers and welfare cover the areas where comfort matters.
Event portaloos
£140 each, delivered
General crowd and camping
The backbone of any festival. Clean, stocked units with delivery, setup and collection included. Bulk festival orders start from £50 per unit plus delivery, and we can supply 500+ units.
Event toilet hireUrinal units
From £150
Bars and main stage
Multi-bay urinals clear the men’s queue fast, which frees the cubicles for everyone else.
Add urinals to a quoteAccessible toilets
£135 each
Every public festival
Ground-level entry, wider door, grab rails and space to turn. Plus £70 delivery and collection.
Disabled toilet hireRapidLoo toilets
Quoted per event
High numbers, fewer loads
Flat-pack toilets assembled on site, so dozens of units arrive in far fewer deliveries. Worth pricing for big crowds.
RapidLoo festival toiletsLuxury trailers
From £750 to £1,050
VIP, glamping, backstage
Flushing toilets, running water, mirrors and lighting for the areas people pay extra for.
Luxury toilet trailer hireWelfare units
From £200 per week
Crew, security, stewards
Toilet, hand washing and a heated rest area for the people working the event through the build and break.
Welfare unit hireShowers
Quoted per event
Camping festivals
Temporary shower units for camping fields, crew and artists on multi-day events.
Temporary shower hireToilet cabins
Quoted per event
Production and crew areas
Flushing toilet blocks for compounds and production offices on longer builds.
Toilet cabin hireSix things that change your numbers
Crowd size is only the starting point. These are the questions we ask before recommending a setup.
The bar
People visit far more often once drinks are flowing. A festival with a bar needs roughly one toilet per 35 to 40 people rather than one per 50.
How long it runs
Over about four hours, the same tighter ratio applies. Multi-day festivals need servicing each day, not just more units.
Camping
Campers use the toilets all night and first thing in the morning. Put extra units near the camping fields and plan servicing before the morning rush.
Who’s coming
Queues for cubicles are almost always the bottleneck. Urinal units take pressure off, so don’t just split units 50/50.
Accessibility
Plan accessible units at every public festival, spread across the site so nobody has a long walk. Your licensing authority may ask how many you’ve allowed for.
Crew and traders
Staff, stewards and traders need their own facilities through the build, show days and break, usually a welfare unit or separate block.
Where to put the toilets
Getting placement right matters as much as getting the count right. Group units in blocks of four to ten rather than scattering singles, because blocks are easier to signpost, light and service, and queues move faster.
Put blocks near food and bars but downwind of them, a short walk from the main stage without being in the crowd’s sightlines. Pick the highest, driest ground, light every block after dark, and keep a separate route for servicing vehicles so they never cross pedestrian flow.
Our guide on where to place portable toilets at an event has a site-plan diagram you can work from.
Servicing on multi-day festivals
- Plan at least one service each day for camping festivals
- Time it before gates open and after the evening peak
- Agree a vehicle route that avoids crowd areas
- Have a supplier contact on call during show hours
- Restock toilet roll and hand sanitiser on every visit
Long or complex builds may also need longer hire periods for crew facilities.
Licensing and permissions
Most festivals need a premises licence or temporary event notice from the local council, and the licensing team will usually want to see your toilet provision as part of the event management plan. Councils, the police and the safety advisory group often refer to industry guidance such as the Purple Guide when they review it.
Book toilets early enough to put real numbers in your application. We can give you unit numbers, a layout and a servicing plan to include. For the rules in more detail, see our toilet hire regulations guide.
Festival planning checklist
- Licence or event notice applied for
- Public liability insurance in place
- Toilet numbers worked out against peak crowd
- Accessible units spread across the site
- Servicing schedule agreed for every day
- Site plan shows blocks, lighting and vehicle routes
- Power and water arranged for trailers and showers
Common festival toilet mistakes
- Ordering on price, not numbers. The cheapest setup is the one with hour-long queues. It costs less to add a few units than to deal with the complaints.
- Forgetting the bar. A bar changes the ratio more than anything else. Tell us about it when you ask for a quote.
- No servicing plan. Units on a multi-day festival degrade fast without daily visits. Build servicing into the plan from day one.
- Scattered singles. One unit here and one there is hard to find, hard to light and hard to service. Use blocks.
- Low ground. After rain, a toilet block in a dip becomes a mud bath and the servicing vehicle can’t reach it.
- Booking late. Summer weekends fill up early, especially for trailers and large orders. Confirm as soon as you have numbers.
Festival toilet hire prices
Our current rates. Large orders, multi-day servicing and RapidLoo units are quoted on your dates, numbers and site.
| Unit | Price | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Event toilet | £140 each | Delivery, setup and collection. Servicing quoted if needed |
| Bulk festival orders | From £50 per unit | Large orders of standard portaloos. Delivery priced on your site and numbers. 500+ units available |
| Accessible event toilet | £135 each | Ground-level unit with grab rails. Plus £70 delivery and collection |
| Urinal unit | From £150 | Multi-bay unit. Delivery by postcode |
| Luxury toilet trailer | From £750 to £1,050 | Delivery included. Five sizes from 1+1 to 4+2. 1+1 price varies by location |
| Welfare unit | From £200 per week | Toilet, washing and rest area for crew. Delivery by postcode |
| RapidLoo, showers, cabins | Quoted | Priced on numbers, site and hire length |
More on how pricing works: portaloo hire costs.
Festival planning pages
Everything we’ve written for festival and large event organisers, in one place.
Large events
RapidLoo flat-pack toilets
When, and when not, to use flat-pack toilets for big crowds and difficult sites.
RapidLoo toilet hireNumbers
How many toilets you need
The Loo Workout Tool and toilet numbers for 100 to 1,000 people, with costs.
Event toilet calculatorLayout
Where to put the toilets
Positioning blocks, lighting and servicing routes across a festival site.
Toilet placement guideRules
Regulations and licensing
What councils and safety advisory groups expect to see in your toilet plan.
Toilet hire regulationsFestival toilet hire FAQs
How many toilets do I need for a festival of 2,000 people?
As a starting point, around 40 toilets for a short day event without a bar, rising to 50 or more if it runs all day with a bar. Some of those can be urinal units, which clear queues faster. Add accessible units spread across the site, and more again if people are camping. We’ll check the figure against your site plan when we quote.
How often do festival toilets need servicing?
A one-day event may not need a service during the day if the numbers are right. Multi-day and camping festivals need at least one service each day, timed before gates open and after the evening peak.
Should I use portaloos or luxury trailers at a festival?
Both, usually. Standard portaloos and urinals handle the general crowd and camping fields. Luxury trailers suit VIP areas, glamping, backstage and hospitality, where people have paid for a better experience.
What is RapidLoo and is it right for my festival?
RapidLoo is a flat-pack portable toilet assembled on site, so a large number of units arrive in far fewer deliveries. It’s worth pricing alongside standard units for big festivals. Ask us to quote both.
Do I need accessible toilets at my festival?
Yes. Events open to the public have a duty to make reasonable provision for disabled visitors. Plan accessible units at every festival, spread around the site, and expect your licensing authority to ask about them.
How far ahead should I book festival toilets?
As soon as you have a date and rough numbers. Summer weekends fill up early, especially for luxury trailers and large orders, and you’ll want real numbers for your licence application.
How much does festival toilet hire cost?
Event toilets are £140 each including delivery, setup and collection, and bulk festival orders start from £50 per unit plus delivery. Accessible event toilets are £135 each plus £70 delivery and collection, urinal units start at £150, luxury trailers cost from £750 to £1,050 delivered and welfare units start at £200 a week. Multi-day servicing is quoted on your event.
Planning a festival?
Send us your dates, site, peak crowd and whether there’s a bar or camping. We’ll come back with numbers, a layout and a price.