Temporary CCTV is essential for the coming holiday season and year-end events

The holiday season is approaching, and with it comes one of the busiest event periods of the year.

Christmas markets open across Europe. City centres fill up. And major public events bring thousands of people together: shopping weekends, de Warmste Week in Belgium to the NPO Radio 2 Top 2000 radio marathon in the Netherlands. 

These large crowds in open public spaces also create very specific security challenges. And recent incidents have shown that adequate security measures are absolutely necessary.  

Magdeburg, Germany as eye-opener 

On 20 December 2024, a driver deliberately drove a rented vehicle into the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. Six people were killed and hundreds were injured. 

Christmas markets and other public events are temporary environments. Their layout changes, access routes change, crowds move throughout the day, and the security risks can evolve with them. 

Physical measures such as vehicle barriers are obviously an important part of protecting these environments. 

But physical protection is only the base layer, you also need to see what is happening.

A live overview when thousands of people are moving 

This is where temporary CCTV comes in the picture.

A Watchtower can be deployed for the duration of an event and provide security teams and authorities with live visibility of entrances, access routes and crowded areas. 

And that visibility is valuable for much more than detecting a security threat. 

At busy events, crowd density can change surprisingly quickly. A performance ends. A popular area suddenly fills up. An entrance becomes congested. A flow of people starts moving in the wrong direction. 

From ground level, it can be difficult to understand what is really happening. 

From a camera positioned above the crowd, you get a completely different picture. 

Security teams can monitor live footage, rotate and zoom cameras remotely and use that information to decide where people or resources are needed. In other words, CCTV becomes not only a security tool, but also a crowd management tool. 

Anyone who has organised a large public event knows that the more common challenges are much less dramatic: vandalism, fights, people entering restricted areas, litter being left behind, public urination or nuisance around neighbouring streets and properties. 

Temporary CCTV provides organisers and authorities with additional eyes across the site. It can help identify problems early, support intervention and provide recorded footage when an incident needs to be investigated afterwards. 

With public address (speaker) capabilities on the Watchtower, operators can also communicate directly with people on site when appropriate. 

Temporary events need temporary CCTV 

A Watchtower can be installed rapidly on-site. It provides live visibility, recorded footage and additional capabilities such as AI-powered detection and public address without requiring permanent infrastructure. 

Ready for the year-end event season? 

Are you organising an event or responsible for securing a temporary public location this winter? 
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