The time for winter festivals to begin is fast approaching, and local councils, schools and community groups are dusting off their coats and putting plans into place.

For those organisers involved with crowd control and traffic support for festivalgoers and locals, it could benefit proceedings to hire a complement of road signs to assist with cordoning.

Keeping the flow of people and their vehicles moving can be one of the linchpins of a successful and harmonious festival, but purchasing such equipment can be detrimental to your budget and issues of storage and maintenance can also come into play.

Hiring can prove much cheaper in the long run, and might mean that other equipment can also be considered - attenuators, for example, can alert the public to road closures, parade routes or alternative parking locations.

Ensuring that locals as well as visitors to your festival are inconvenienced as little as possible by the traffic jams and footpath blockages that can be a result of crowds could be the making - rather than breaking - of your event.

Your efforts could also help to get your organisation invited back next year!