Last updated 09:27, Saturday, 23 August 2008

One of the main people behind Carlisle Live is events manager Andrew Lennie. He oversees a massive operation that ensures the site is set up and ready to run smoothly from tonight.

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Enjoying the job: Steve Levitt, right, chats with his crew as the stage for Carlisle Live is built

By the time the final lorry-load of equipment leaves Bitts Park next Wednesday, 50,000 man hours will have been put in to stage the two-day event.

As managing director of Worldwide Events Ltd, Andrew Lennie has overseen many major events, including the recent Status Quo concert in Whitehaven, and has been behind the town’s Maritime Festival since 2001.

But no amount of experience can prepare him, or anyone, for one thing: the unpredictable weather.

“It’s been made much more difficult by the weather, and we had to lay track to protect the ground,” he explains. “It has been tough this summer. The weather was the major issue, but we knew 100 per cent the event would go ahead.

“It is a huge operation. We’ve been planning it since just after last year’s Carlisle Live, and arrived on site on Monday at 7am.

“We’ll leave the site on Wednesday, so we have a short window in which to do the work. We will have had 100 contractors and 300 workers on site. There’s the security, stage crew, catering staff, first aid, doctors, police... the list is endless. Then today and tomorrow there will be the bands themselves, their crew, an awful lot of stewards and security. There will be about 80 people working in the VIP area, which puts the total up to more like 400.”

The total number of tickets sold isn’t yet known, because people can still buy them today and tomorrow at a ticket office which has been set up at Bitts Park. But the hospitality tent, which seats 350, has sold out. Boyzone headline tonight and McFly on Sunday night. Other acts include Andrew Johnston, eScala, The Hoosiers and A.M.A.N.D.A.

The man behind the music side of things is Steve Levitt, production manager. “I intermingle with Andrew Lennie, but everything past the crowd barrier, at the stage end, is my area,” he says. “We deal with the infrastructure. It takes five days to build and 24 hours to dismantle, because we all want to get to the pub!”

“We started building on Tuesday, putting in the sound, lights, staging and video screens. We do deal with a lot of people, there is an immediate crew of 25, then around another 30 who come with the bands.”

Sue Bellarby, site manager, has been the only female worker on site during the construction. She’s been doing it for 12 years and has no qualms about working in such a testosterone-fuelled environment. She smiles: “I did have to prove myself in the beginning but I love it. Being a woman I get more things done, for example if I need one of the toilets moved I know how to use my charms!

“But having said that I am much stronger than a lot of them and can do just as much work.” It’s an industry where the work is hard and the hours are long, but you won’t hear Sue complaining.

“It takes months to plan, and the time, effort, energy and manpower is huge. But it’s worth it in the end and I absolutely love my job. The rain doesn’t bother me at all – you only get wet once and you don’t shrink!

“I love working outdoors, having a blank canvas, an empty field and turning it into this.” And with that she heads off to put the final touches in place, before the gates open and the crowds arrive.