School is out, the sun is up, and it’s time for the season of family vacations, pool days, and big summer celebrations! Whether you’re just kicking it with the kids or planning a whole neighborhood affair, keeping everyone safe in the summer heat should be high on the priorities list. While each individual summer activity comes with its own set of safety precautions, there are three big tips you can implement to any summer gathering that will set you and your guests up for a safe, healthy, and fun event. 

Take Fire Safety Seriously

It’s no exaggeration that summers in the south are brutal with temperatures averaging in the 90s all summer long. That combined with popular summer activities like grilling out, camping, and firework celebrations creates the perfect environment for accidental fires. The addition of large parties, boisterous guests, and alcohol consumption increases the risk even further. The best way to ensure your summer event doesn’t go up in flames is to plan ahead and take fire safety seriously.

If you’re planning to include any kind of heat, flame, or spark element in your summer festivities, do your due diligence in scouting out a safe location and planning for proper supervision. This includes everything from grills and campfires to fireworks and sparklers. Choose a location that is a safe distance away from any structures or flammable materials, and avoid areas where dry grass and dead vegetation can easily catch from a stray spark. Never place large open flames under canopies or inside tents, and, likewise, refrain from lighting sparklers or setting off fireworks in or around a canopy. Ensure all fires are under adult supervision at all times so any stray flames can be identified and extinguished immediately, and always have fire mitigation measures in place. Keep fire extinguishers handy, and identify available water sources. Finally, properly dispose of fireworks, sparklers, and other flammables to ensure you don’t end up with a literal dumpster fire.

Maintain Proper Ventilation

If you’ve lived in the south for any amount of time, you are sure to have heard the old southern adage, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” In Alabama alone, the average summer humidity ranges from 70% to 75%. This humidity can actively work against the body’s natural temperature regulation efforts, causing sweat to stick to your skin rather than evaporating and wicking the heat away with it. Combine this with the greenhouse effect of an enclosed space in the hot sun and you have the recipe for dehydration, exhaustion, and heat stroke. The best and easiest way to combat this at your summer event is to maintain proper ventilation at all times.

In the summer months, hot, stagnate air can be your worst enemy, enveloping you in a thick, syrupy hug and sitting heavily in your lungs. A cool breeze on a hot day is both literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air. To achieve this at your event, keep outdoor spaces as open as possible, and employ the use of fans inside and out to keep air circulating. Even without the use of air conditioning and other forced cooling methods, the introduction of fresh, flowing air will help whisk the heat away and aid in the body’s natural cooling processes. 

There is a common misconception that sidewalls on a canopy will help block out the sun and keep out the heat, but this is quite opposite from the truth. A fully enclosed canopy, like a parked car on a hot day, will trap in the heat, keep out the breeze, and become very similar to a giant oven. Clear tents, especially, are prone to becoming massive greenhouses when left enclosed in the mid-summer sun. A fully open canopy is always recommended for summer events to allow proper airflow, but if you decide to include sidewalls for additional shade, stick to one wall on either the east or west side. This will provide shade from the rising or setting sun while still allowing plenty of ventilation to prevent the canopy from overheating.

Keep Water on Standby

When asked what the opposite of fire is, most people would choose water. While perhaps not scientifically accurate, this sentiment does have a lot of merit. Where fire is hot and dry, water is cool and wet. It is no surprise, then, that one of the strongest ways to combat the summer heat is to add water to the picture. Water can work with you both internally and externally to keep you cool and hydrated at your summer event.

Whether your event is public or private, small or large, it is important to have water available for every guest in attendance. This could be as simple as directing guests to the drinking water and cup cabinet in your home, or it could look like providing pitchers or bottles of ice-cold water for guests to access and enjoy. Beyond drinking water, including water activities and features in your event agenda can also be a fantastic way for guests to cool off. Taking a dip in the pool is always an excellent option, but not always accessible or logical depending on your event location and size. Good options for an at-home event include simple sprinklers, inflatable splash pads or slip n’ slides, or even a cheap plastic kiddie pool for guests to dip their feet in. For larger, public events, misting fans are a popular solution. Have kids in attendance? Nothing quite beats a water balloon fight to cool everyone down and get their energy out all at once!