Tents for Hire in Nairobi

What "100-seater" means, and how big a tent you really need

Tents in Kenya are sold by a seat count, and buyers type "seater" when they search. The count is a trade label, and it changes with the layout. Gala Tent, a UK marquee maker, works on about 0.75 m² a guest standing, 1 m² on chairs in rows and 1.5 m² at round tables. On those figures a 5 × 10 m floor, the size of our 100-seater tent, holds roughly 66 standing, 50 in rows or 33 at dinner tables.

Our own planner is the rule the client builds every package on: fifty seats of tent cover for every 30 guests at tables. Fifty dinner guests need 1 tent of the 100-seater size, and 100 guests need 2; for a bigger number, the box at the top of this page counts it. A smaller party can take the 5 × 5 m 50-seater tent instead. Then add floor for what is not a seat. Gala Tent allows a 3 × 2 m buffet station for every 50 guests and a 3 × 3 m dance floor for every 15 to 20 dancers.

Tent prices by size, from a stall to a thousand guests

Every tent carries its price in the cards above. Here are the main sizes, smallest first:

• A stall or a gift table: the 3 × 3 m exhibition tent, KSh 3,000 per tent.
• Up to about 30 at tables: one 5 × 5 m high-peak 50-seater, KSh 5,000 per tent.
• Around 50 at tables: one 5 × 10 m high-peak 100-seater, KSh 6,000 per tent.
• 100 at tables: 2 of those, KSh 12,000 plain. A 10 × 10 m B-line tent has the same 100 m² of floor in one open space, at KSh 40,000 per tent.
• A long reception: the A-frame marquee by the 20 × 5 m section, KSh 45,000 per section.
• Five hundred to a thousand and more: the dome marquee, listed at KSh 220,000; we confirm the size and the price for your number on the quote.

For a thousand guests, the arithmetic is worth seeing. The dome is listed from 20 × 30 m to 140 × 30 m. Taking 30 m as its width, at Gala Tent's 1 m² a person, a thousand on chairs in rows need about 34 m of its length, and a thousand at round tables need about 50 m. So when you ask about a 1000 seater tent for hire, say how they will sit, because the length follows the layout.

Choosing the type: high-peak, B-line, pergola, A-frame or dome

The high-peak tent is the white roof that rises to a point over each 5 m bay; it comes plain, or lined with fabric inside as the draped version. The B-line tents are square, 6 × 6 m or 10 × 10 m, so one 10 × 10 m tent gives the floor of two 5 × 10 m high-peaks in a single open space. The pergola tents share the high-peak footprints, 5 × 5 m and 5 × 10 m, in a different shape.

For a marquee tent, people mean one of two things here. The A-frame marquee has a pitched roof like a house and grows by the section, so it suits a long wedding table or a corporate lunch. The dome marquee is the big one for crowds. Our canopy tents for hire are open-sided shade, 12 × 12 ft to 17 × 34 ft. The stretch tent, 9 × 12 m, is fabric pulled between poles, and its listing says it can be rigged over uneven ground or a patio. The 6 m hexagon tent is the odd one out, a six-sided roof for a garden.

Tents and chairs for hire in one booking

Most tents leave our yard with the seating. A tent, the chairs, the tables, the linen and the lighting go on one quote and come on one truck where they fit, and the same crew sets the whole space. Our chairs for hire run from plain plastic to gold Chiavari, and the Quick Builder counts the tent, the tables and the chairs together from one guest number. For 100 guests at tables of ten, that is 100 chairs and 10 tables under the tents above.

Weddings, funerals, graduations and church days

The same tents cover every kind of gathering; only the layout changes. A wedding reception sits at round tables, so size it by the dinner rule. A funeral or a memorial service usually sits in rows facing one way, which needs less floor a guest, and a graduation party often mixes a few tables with people standing and moving about. Tell us the order of the day: guests seated for a service first and then fed at tables need the larger of the two layouts, or a second tent for the meal.

Rain, wind, ground and fire

Our canvas is heavy-duty and waterproof, and an ordinary Nairobi downpour is no trouble. Wind is the real limit. The Purple Guide, the UK events industry's safety guide, asks that every temporary structure be secured to the ground for its own wind rating and the weather on the day, with the wind watched on an anemometer and action taken at any risk of a structure blowing over. Our crew makes that call: where conditions turn unsafe we delay, change how the tent is anchored, or take it down, and we work through the options with you first.

The ground matters as much. Pegs go into grass; on paving or concrete the tent is held with weights instead, so say which you have, and mark any cables, water pipes, drains or septic lines, because we anchor into the ground. Once a tent is rigged, nobody loosens or moves a rope, weight or pole. Charcoal jikos, grills, heaters and fireworks stay away from the canvas unless we have agreed a place for them.

Tent hire near you, and how to book

Our yard is on Waiyaki Way in Uthiru. From there the crew takes tents across Nairobi and Kiambu: Westlands, Kilimani, Karen, Embakasi, Utawala, Kiambu Road, Kikuyu, Ruiru, Thika and the places between. For Kitengela, Rongai or further, ask and we quote. Transport is priced by distance and the truck the order needs, and the lorry has to reach within about 30 m of where the tent goes, so warn us about a narrow gate or a steep drive.

Send the date, the venue, the guest count and the layout on WhatsApp, or add tents to your cart. A quote holds for seven days, 50% of it secures the date, and changes are easiest 48 hours ahead. Venue or estate permission for a tent is yours to arrange.

Sources: Gala Tent (UK marquee and gazebo maker), marquee capacity guide, read 2026-10-24; The Purple Guide (Events Industry Forum, UK), "Temporary demountable structures", published 26 January 2026, read 2026-10-24.