As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to subside in certain regions of the world, events in these areas are coming back with a vengeance in a unique and quickly evolving social landscape. People have different wants and needs in a post-pandemic world, and events companies must learn to adapt. The events industry has done an incredible job of adapting to a dismal situation over the past year and a half. We’ve listed the biggest anticipated event rental trends for Summer 2021 so that your events business can take advantage of the returning busy season.

1. Alternative Venues
2. Events 7 Days A Week
3. LOTS More Requests for Outdoor Venues and Venues with More Space
4. People Want New Experiences
5. Increased Overall Enthusiasm From Attendees

Let’s dive in:

#1: Alternative Venues

If people aren’t out and holding events in your area, they will be soon. It hits like a wave as entire towns and cities seem to collectively decide that it’s time to get back to holding in-person events again. This rush means that people are getting booked out of their preferred primary venues, so event professionals have to get creative with where to host events. 

Wedding venues, for instance, are getting booked up extraordinarily quickly. Couples who are losing out on their ideal venue still want to get married, feeling like they’ve been patient enough after this past year. This has led to some very innovative wedding venue ideas. Backyard weddings, adventure weddings, AirBNB weddings, bowling alley weddings…Nothing seems too outside of the box to keep people from getting married as areas finally start to open up again.

#2: Events 7 Days A Week

With all of these private events (such as weddings and birthdays) being scheduled for the weekends, public events (such as corporate galas) have shifted towards the weekdays. With priorities shifting since the start of the pandemic, people aren’t likely to place a corporate event over a personal one. If you don’t want your guests to skip your corporate event to go to their cousin’s wedding instead, you’ll want to capitalize on weekday scheduling.

Luckily, this does not seem to cause issues for planners, as guests’ excitement to get out of the house allows these weekday events to thrive. Even weekday weddings appear to be gaining in popularity, as wedding venues with weekends booked through the year can only offer weekday reservations, and people are jumping on it. Not only does this allow them to get married sooner, it is also cheaper and easier to reschedule. Many couples see this as a prime opportunity, so you can expect to see this continuing throughout 2021.

#3: LOTS More Requests for Outdoors Events and Venues With  More Space

There is still a varying amount of comfort concerning masks and in-person events for many people. Some may even want to get out, but feel like they can’t due to family, friends, or jobs that create restrictions. In order to keep everyone relatively comfortable and safe, we can expect that there will be a LOT more requests for outdoor events and reservations placed for venues that are larger than needed to allow for social distancing. 

The psychological effects of COVID-19 will likely impact people for a long time. Many people can feel paranoid when trapped in large crowds after all of this time in relative isolation. Allowing people the space to feel comfortable as needed will be a key to success when hosting events this summer.

#4: People Want New Experiences

After being cooped up inside for over a year, people are actively seeking out more creativity and newness in events. Unique events will have a more impactful selling point than ever this summer, as people are looking to spice up their lives a little bit, and do things that they’ve never done before. Providing people with a fun and unique experience that allows them to be active and socialize will be a huge selling point this summer.

#5: Increased Overall Enthusiasm From Attendees

It is widely accepted in the industry that live events will come back stronger than ever post-COVID, as people are simply excited to get outside and socialize in-person again. It seems like even going out to happy hour these days feels much more momentous than it ever did before. Give people a good excuse to get out of the house and they will come with enthusiasm. After all this time stuck inside, it’s sure to be an active summer.

Don’t Get Left Behind

If your area has begun rolling back social distancing restrictions, now is a time of great opportunity for you as an events professional. Get creative as you prepare to serve clients who are craving a bit of extra spice in their life, and make sure to establish a solid understanding of their comfort with social distancing standards.