Two-Way Radio Rental Keeps the Tulip Time Festival Connected

Spring is in the air. Flowers are in bloom. Each year in May, Holland streets are lined with tulips in celebration of the town’s Dutch heritage. During the Tulip Time Festival, the small city of just over 30,000 people swells to over 100,000, with people visiting shops and vendors, and taking in the beautiful sights of a city swimming in vibrant color.

Rent Radios for Your Next Event

Tulip Time draws thousands of visitors from around the world to the small town of Holland, MI, to celebrate 90 years of heritage with parades, dancing, fireworks, star-studded entertainment, and more. Motorola two-way radios from Tele-Rad help to manage large crowds while maintaining order and safety to protect the public interests throughout Tulip Time Festival.

Executive Director of the Tulip Time Festival, Gwen Auwerda, had this to say about Tele-Rad’s role in meeting the festival’s communications needs:

Renting Motorola radios from Tele-Rad during Tulip Time has helped us gain greater efficiency. With the festival taking place in a 4-mile radius, the team is never in the same place at the same time. Having the ability for instant communication is imperative to provide an excellent guest experience. They are also used during three parades and provide instant communication to the police department and Red Cross where we have been able to quickly address medical issues of guests and participants.”

The Challenges of Coordinating Tulip Time Festivities

There are several unique challenges Tulip Time organizers face every year. One of the more pressing challenges is the simple logistics of such a large influx of people. This makes it necessary to bring in additional public safety services to manage the large numbers of additional people and safely direct traffic around the city streets blocked off for the festival. While the city’s residents and businesses welcome this mass migration, it does put a strain on traditional communication infrastructure, such as cellular networks. This creates a situation in which communication can become spotty and unreliable, making it difficult for event organizers, volunteers, and others to rely on cell phone communications. This means festival organizers, volunteers, and workers need a reliable method of communicating with each other and with local public safety agencies like police, EMS, fire services, and Red Cross volunteers.

Making the Connection

Tele-Rad provides two-way radio rentals in Michigan for the enormous team it takes to coordinate an event of this scale in a town the size of Holland. These two-way radios (also called walkie talkies) operate on our private licensed radio frequencies to ensure uninterrupted communications access during events when public networks can become overloaded. We also provide repeaters to extend coverage throughout the downtown core area connecting every part of the festival, including:

Volunteers
Tulip Time employees
Red Cross
Local public safety agencies

With these resources, key personnel can coordinate with members of the festival security team and safety officials with the push of a button. This improves overall public safety by providing fast access to communications during emergency situations when every second counts.

Benefits of Fast, Reliable Communications

These are just a few of the benefits two-way radios bring to the table for large scale events like the Tulip Time Festival:

Accelerated incident response. From accidental injuries and sudden illnesses to coordinated attacks, two-way radios allow for immediate reporting to coordinated responses as the events unfold.
Operate on a private network. This prevents the coverage problems, or overloaded networks common to mobile phones during events such as this.
Allow one-to-many communication rather than just one-to-one or the need to conference each member individually. This means organizers can easily broadcast messages to individuals, teams, or the entire group.
Push-to-talk services offer instant communication with the press of a single button, saving the time it takes to dial a number.
With these resources, key personnel can coordinate with members of the festival security team and safety officials with the push of a button. This improves overall public safety by providing fast access to communications during emergency situations when every second counts.

It takes a small army of volunteers, employees, and public safety agencies to make Tulip Time happen year after year. The Motorola radio rentals provided by Tele-Rad help to ensure that everyone is on the same page throughout the planning process and while the event is taking place. Instant access to communications between festival staff with local law enforcement and public safety agencies spread all across the city means that everyone has a safer Tulip Time Festival experience.

Not only do two-way radio rentals offer exceptional, reliable communications, they also offer cost-effective solutions for seasonal industries and short-term projects. Renting your two-way radios gives you access to the latest technology. You can ensure your team always has the right communications equipment without the upfront cost or need to store units when they aren’t being used. With several locations throughout Michigan, Tele-Rad is ready to connect your team with the best equipment rental options for two-way radios, accessories, repeaters, and more.

Tele-Rad has been a proud sponsor of the Tulip Time Festival for more than 20 years and are looking forward to supporting our hometown festival for many years to come.