With the role of event coordinator currently being the fifth most stressful job, according to agency Stress Matters, wellbeing is high on the agenda in the events industry.

  • From a survey taken in 2017 91 per cent of respondents work more than 41 hours per week.
  • Over 50 per cent work more than 51 hours and over 20 per cent work more than 61 hours per week
  • People believe that 71 per cent of their colleagues are suffering from stress
  • High workload was the biggest cause of stress at 68 per cent

Lorraine Thorne, venue sales manager at Royal Horticultural Halls, and her events team have put together an immersive festival purely for organisers, taking place on 2 May, from 5.30pm-9pm at the Lindley Hall in Westminster.

Focussing on the five senses, De-Stress Fest will aim to break the mould of how events are enjoyed, creating a ‘flowing environment for guests to relax, be revived and leave invigorated’. On offer will be a spa pool area, herbal wellbeing garden, inspiring talks, therapy rooms and nourishing food and drinks. Everything on offer will be completely free for attendees.

Thorne said: “We have the perfect venue for an indoor festival, the Lindley Hall is a calm, serene and flexible space in which to hold a wellbeing event and we felt it was the right thing to do for the industry. The Halls have a history steeped in horticulture and we can draw on the Royal Horticultural Society’s rich knowledge of healing and medicinal plants and educate guests as to how they can use plants in food, drink and every day life to reduce stress.

“If our inaugural event is well received, we will host De-Stress Fest on an annual basis.”

De-Stress Fest is partnering with Stress Matters, which will offer a Stress Clinic for organisers to learn how to deal with situations as they arise and combat the effects in their working lives.

Stress Matters founder Laura Capell-Abra commented: “It is great to see such important venues taking the wellbeing of the teams they work with seriously.  This event promises to inspire event profs to find treatments and solutions to their stress, in a way that is totally bespoke to them.  On behalf of the whole Stress Matters team, we are thrilled to be partnering with the Royal Horticultural Halls at this festival!”

In line with the relaxed nature of the event, guests are encouraged to dress down in a ‘comfortable casual’ style and simply enjoy everything on offer leaving enlightened and with tools they can use every day. There will be a range of therapies for guests to try which can treat a number of issues such as bad sleep, stress, brain fog, overwhelm and anxiety so people will leave feeling renewed having experienced a new treatment.

Caterer FoodbyDish will be providing nourishment, with the company’s head chef is creating a bespoke menu themed around the five senses using herbs and ingredients that will stimulate, relax, focus and inspire. Light Motif is providing production. New non-alcoholic drink provider Three Spirit Drinks will also be showing the industry that not every drink needs to contain alcohol to be exciting.

Event profs can apply to attend by emailing horthalls@rhs.org.uk, two guests are permitted per company.