Case Study: Fix Fest 2025 — Festival & Expo Security

Fix Fest 2025 was something new: a full music festival running alongside a live trade expo, complete with interactive power tools and operating diggers. Just under 5,000 people attended, along with special guests, high-profile visitors and a large production crew. Cronos Protection was appointed as the primary supplier for security, stewarding, car park management and external traffic management. We also sourced and installed the event's Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM).

One Team, Every Part of the Site

Our deployment covered the whole event footprint, from the main road outside to the front of the stage:

• Traffic management and car parks – controlled access points, wayfinding stewards and dedicated parking teams, led by a car park supervisor with more than 13 years' experience.

• Entrance and search – SIA Door Supervisors, ticket scanning stewards and drug detection dog teams, with a 100% bag search and a 1-in-5 wand search.

• Enhanced search – a dedicated team, most of them serving or former military personnel, working with body-worn cameras and consent forms.

• Perimeter and HVM – stewarding patrols on the fence line and H-Stop vehicle barriers at the key vulnerable points.

• Response teams – mobile teams handling incidents across the day and evening.

• Front of stage and VIP – a pit team led by a supervisor with more than 20 years' experience, and SIA Door Supervisors controlling VIP access.

• Security control room – our own control team, working hand in hand with production, the safety officer and the event director.

• Build and break – overnight security and general purpose dog teams protecting the site before and after the show.

Keeping the Main Road Moving

Local residents and police had one big worry. At previous events on the site, cars had backed up onto the main road and blocked access to homes and businesses. We built a plan for it: if a rush of cars arrived, they would be brought through the main gate and stacked on the grass of the first field, then fed back into the queue to be parked. Signage for the exits and directions out of the event stayed clear and visible throughout.

Fast, Friendly Entry

We introduced a "Disney"-style queuing system at the entrance. Even with a full bag search, waiting times stayed short at peak arrival and headline times, and we received no complaints about queues or searches. When production asked us on the day to take on accreditation, which had not been planned, the team had wristbands in place within minutes and set up a secure point at the gate for VIP passes.

Calm Under Pressure

Live events rarely go exactly to plan. When the control room lost power, the team switched straight to mobile phones and kept every reporting line open, so no incident went unlogged. When production decided to close the Expo area mid-event, heads of department agreed a plan to fence it off, and our stewarding supervisor redeployed staff to put it in place safely. Our response teams dealt with weather damage to fencing and signage, unauthorised drones and behaviour issues, keeping control informed at every step.

Learning for Next Time

After the event we gave the organiser a full end-of-event report, body-worn camera footage, the control log, our staff handbook and our supervisor briefings. We also set out clear recommendations, including:

• an enclosed enhanced search tent for privacy

• padlocked amnesty bins

• more HVM units

• a separate supervisor radio channel

• a secure, sterile control room

Festival and Event Security You Can Rely On

Whether it's a festival, an expo or both at once, Cronos Protection brings traffic management, car parks, search, response, front of stage, VIP and control together as one joined-up team. We are members of the UK Crowd Management Association, and all our staff are screened to BS 7858.

Planning an event? Get a Quote from Cronos Protection to talk through your security and stewarding plan, or visit Our Service page to learn more.