Marquee hire prices in 2026: the complete price guide by size and event

The first variable is the type of structure. A marquee hires at 12-16 €/m², a stretch tent at 17-22 €/m², a silhouette tent at 20-24 €/m². These prices cover the canvas, transport, setup and take-down. With us, setup is not a separate line item, it is included in the structure's price per m².

Why the gap? The marquee uses a standard aluminium frame and a white PVC canvas: industrial production, fast setup, a wide fleet across our suppliers. It is the most competitive grid, and by far the most frequently installed. The stretch tent requires masts, tensioners and an elastic canvas rigged by trained crews. The silhouette and bamboo marquee add a signature frame. The glasshouse tent is in another category altogether: 45-48 €/m², three and a half times the marquee.

Beware of a common confusion: not every structure is sold per m². A pagoda, a barnum, a tipi, a dome or a yurt hire PER MODULE, and the price follows the format, not the floor area. A 5×5 m pagoda starts at 320 € excl. VAT, whatever space you find for it. Seeing a 'price per m²' quoted for a pagoda should raise a flag: it implies 250 m² pagodas, which exist nowhere.

What the price per m² does NOT do: fall as the floor area grows. Our grid is flat: a 600 m² marquee is invoiced at the same €/m² as a 150 m² one. What dilutes with size are the fixed costs: lorry rotations and coordination weigh three times more on a small job than on a large one. That, and only that, is where economies of scale apply.

Here are the ranges taken from the quotes we sent, capacity band by capacity band. Two columns, because these are two different questions: the STRUCTURE alone (canvas + transport + setup and take-down included) and the COMPLETE QUOTE, with the flooring, lighting, furniture or toilets actually selected.

30 to 60 people: structure 2,300 to 3,100 € excl. VAT, complete quote 2,400 to 6,000 € excl. VAT (median 3,250 €). The smallest quote sent over the period comes to 1,680 € excl. VAT. That is our real entry ticket, and it is lower than what you read elsewhere.

60 to 120 people: structure 3,300 to 4,900 € excl. VAT, complete quote 3,500 to 8,400 € excl. VAT (median 6,030 €). This is our most frequent band: 56 quotes over the period.

120 to 250 people: structure 4,500 to 8,100 € excl. VAT, complete quote 6,300 to 13,400 € excl. VAT (median 9,300 €). The gap between the two columns widens here: from this capacity on, flooring and toilets become systematic.

250 to 400 people: structure 6,500 to 8,800 € excl. VAT, complete quote 13,500 to 17,600 € excl. VAT (median 15,440 €). Eight quotes only: read it as a solid order of magnitude, not as a grid.

Above 400 people we publish no range. We have only two files over the period, and they spread from 5,900 to 42,000 € excl. VAT depending on the number of spaces. Averaging them would be inventing a figure. These projects are priced after a technical discussion.

Counter-intuitive, but this is what our quotes say: for an equal structure and floor area, the price does not depend on the NAME of the event. The same 300 m² marquee does not change rate because the evening is called a 'gala' rather than a 'wedding'. Our grid is built on floor area and structure, not on the type of client.

Three measurable things move the budget. First the reception FORMAT, because it sets the floor area: 200 people fit under 150 m² for a standing cocktail (0.75 m²/person) and require 300 m² for a seated dinner with a dance floor (1.5 m²/person). Twice as much, for the same headcount.

Then the CHOICE of structure: 13 €/m² for a marquee against 22 for a silhouette is +70 % on the canvas line. It is the one trade-off that genuinely shifts the budget, and it is settled before everything else.

Finally the EQUIPMENT level: flooring, lighting, furniture, toilets, power. On our quotes the structure carries a median of 4,645 € and the flooring 2,040 €; furniture adds around 16 € per guest and a complete toilet block around 22 €. It is the stacking of options, not the structure, that separates a 6,000 € quote from a 13,000 € one at the same capacity.

One point that often surprises: duration. We invoice the hire PER EVENT, not per day. A three-day seminar under the same structure costs the same hire price as a one-night party, since transport, setup and take-down happen once either way. Only long-running installations, counted in months, apply a duration coefficient.

These are the prices we actually put on our quotes. All excluding VAT, all for the event rather than per day.

Flooring. Timber cassette flooring: 10 €/m² (6 to 12 depending on ground bearing). For 200 m², allow 2,000 €. Floating floor, on level ground: 3.50 to 5.50 €/m². Dance floor: 14 €/m². Event carpet: 4.50 to 9 €/m². Wheelchair access ramp: 100 to 150 € each. Laying the floor is included in its price per m².

Lighting. Festoon lighting: 5 € per linear metre. Ground spot, at the foot of each mast: 55 € each. On our quotes the complete lighting line comes to a median of 465 € (280 to 660 €). It is one of the most over-estimated items in the budgets people send us.

Heating. Warm-air pack up to 50 m²: about 36 €. From 50 to 150 m²: about 290 €. From 150 to 300 m²: about 300 €. Gas patio heater: about 83 € each. These figures come from our reference supplier rates: orders of magnitude, not prices taken from quotes. They remain a very long way from the thousands of euros often quoted to heat a tent.

Furniture. Crossback chair: 8 to 10.50 €. Folding chair: 5 to 6.50 €. Round timber table: 10 to 18 €. Round PVC table: about 14.50 €. Poseur table: 21 to 27 €. Furniture transport: 500 to 575 € per rotation. Per guest, the complete furniture line works out at around 16 € per person on our quotes.

Toilets. Self-contained cubicle: 345 to 400 € each. Two-cubicle unit: 580 €. Five-station trailer: 2,490 €. Toilet transport: 373 to 525 €. On-site attendant: 750 €. Emptying: 145 €.

Power. 40 kVA generator: 1,195 €. Fuel: 360 €. Technical standby: 600 €. Power transport: 600 €. A complete power set-up comes to around 2,755 € on our quotes.

Cladding and decor. Crystal roof cladding: 9 €/m². 3 m crystal wall: 40 € each. Crystal gable: 170 €. Jute skirting: 12 € per linear metre. Brushed cotton mast cover: 115 € each.

Logistics. Structure transport: 200 to 310 € per rotation (one out, one back). Flooring transport: 180 to 200 €. Full ballasting for tensioned canvases: 12 €/m², plus 700 € for the dedicated ballast lorry. Forklift: 400 €. Telehandler: 510 to 900 €. Cherry picker: 770 €. Equipment insurance: 3 % of the goods total, minimum 40 €.

Two items we do not charge for: setting up and taking down the structures, included in the price per m², and coordination by a project manager, provided free on our quotes. They appear as 0 € lines so you can compare like-for-like with a quote that does price them.

The method fits into four moves, in this order, and the order matters because each step closes the previous one.

Step 1: the floor area. It follows from the headcount AND the format: 0.75 m²/person for a standing cocktail with furniture, 1 m² for a seated dinner on rectangular tables, 1.2 m² on round tables, 1.5 m² as soon as a dance floor is added to the dinner. It is this ratio, not the guest count alone, that sets the size of the tent.

Step 2: the structure. Apply the €/m² of the family you have chosen. It is the heaviest trade-off on the quote: between a marquee and a silhouette, the gap is +70 % on this line.

Step 3: the options you genuinely need. Flooring if the ground is uneven or if there is dancing, heating from November to March, lighting, toilets if the venue has none within reach, furniture if the caterer brings none.

Step 4: logistics and insurance. Two lorry rotations per batch (structure, flooring, furniture and toilets leave from different depots and travel separately), then 3 % equipment insurance on the goods total. Setup and coordination are already included.

A worked example, at the prices above. A 200-person corporate evening in November, seated dinner with a dance floor: 200 × 1.5 = 300 m². Marquee 300 m² × 13 € = 3,900 €. Structure transport, 2 rotations × 260 € = 520 €. Setup and take-down: included. Flooring 300 m² × 10 € = 3,000 €, flooring transport 2 × 190 € = 380 €. Festoon lighting 120 m × 5 € = 600 €. Warm-air heating, two packs = 600 €. Toilets, 2 two-cubicle units (1,160 €) + transport (500 €) = 1,660 €. Furniture: 200 Crossback chairs × 10.50 € = 2,100 €, 25 round timber tables ≈ 295 €, transport 575 € = 2,970 €. Coordination: included. Insurance at 3 % on the goods ≈ 350 €.

Total: about 13,980 € excl. VAT, i.e. 70 € excl. VAT per guest for the structure and all the equipment, excluding catering and entertainment. That figure lands at the top of our 120-250 person range (6,300 to 13,400 €), which makes sense: this example is equipped end to end, flooring and toilets included.

A word first on what we do not do: we do not give discounts. Not on the season, not on volume, not through negotiation. This is not commercial rigidity, it is the counterpart of a published grid: a price that can be negotiated was too high to begin with. What is open to discussion with us is the scope, and the levers below carry far further than a percentage wrung out of a supplier.