Ever since the establishment of the Oslofjord Convention Center as a commercial player, we have hosted both large and small events, within all categories. Although we also have facilities for smaller groups, Oslofjord is probably best known for the larger events with thousands of participants.
It is during these events that we really get the opportunity to shine and show ourselves from our best sides. Everything from modern accommodation facilities, to exquisite dining experiences and a trained staff who can really do large-scale logistics.
We are going to take a closer look at one of the success stories from 2019, when we served 5130 guests at a banquet in The Oslofjord Arena. The planning started, first in the small, six months before the event, but the seriousness began three months before the event.
“In such large events, we have to divide everything into zones so that there are many “small” parties within the event. Everything is divided in advance and down to the smallest detail. All material is marked with which zone it belongs to, and the employees are assigned responsibility for different zones. It is extremely important that this schedule is kept so everything can flow during the actual event.” – Hilde Pettersen, Project employee F&B
For this event, we served a three-course dinner consisting of:
Appetizer: Lightly smoked duck breast served with couscous salad and red wine glace.
Drinks: Oslofjord’s own apple juice from Telemark
Main course: Veal flat beef with a taste of seaweed served with pommes fondant and baked root vegetables with garlic, thyme and balsamic glace.
Optional drink: Oslofjord’s own apple juice or red wine
Dessert: Chocolate mousse cake served with raspberry coulis and crumble.
Drinks: Elderflower juice from Telemark and coffee
To make this a success, we had 186 waiters and butlers waiting on the guests, in addition to 72 food preppers with shift managers, in addition to chefs and cleaning staff. Our skilled waiters served the main course and drinks to all the guests in an incredible 32 minutes and 50 seconds.
Naturally, this also required a huge amount of tableware. Six trucks arrived from Flyvende Tallerken with tableware – approx. 70,000 units in total. This included:
15 300 glasses
15 300 plates
24 000 cutlery pieces
10 200 cups and bowls
770 coffee pots
The food was produced at TheOslofjord Arena. Food that was to be kept cold was stored in refrigerated containers behind the arena, while the hot food was stored in heating cabinets and distributed to the various prepping stations. The combination of a well-drilled staff and careful planning made this event a great success. Our guests were more than satisfied with both service and food, and the execution went smoothly.
Do you have a large event in mind? Are you wondering what opportunities you have and how we can create a fantastic experience for you and your guests? Large events naturally have a longer planning horizon than smaller events, and although there are still strict restrictions on events, we are convinced that it will soon begin to ease. Therefore, it will be very helpful to get started with planning as soon as possible. To help you along the way, we have created a simple template that can assist in both planning and imagination.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or need assistance in the process. Our contact information can be found here.