Contributed Collaborative Post
Hosting a festival is no easy feat. However, it can be an exciting and rewarding opportunity. Whether you’re planning something small-scale or the next Glastonbury, here are some tips on how to put on a winning festival.
Theme
Every festival needs a clear theme. Music, food, art, comedy, film and religion are just some of the common general themes – however you’ll likely want to go more specific than this. For example, when putting on a music festival, you may want to stick to music from a specific local area or a certain genre like folk or jazz. The theme will determine exactly what type of acts you invite and the type of audience you attract.
Funding
Festivals cost a lot of money, so you’ll likely need to get the help of some investors. You could encourage companies to sponsor your festival in exchange for being able to advertise at the festival. You could try some crowdfunding using donations from local people. There may even be local grants you can apply for to help fund your festival. Ticket sales will ultimately help to pay off any outstanding debts you accumulate – you must be certain that you can sell enough of these to break even.
Marketing
To get people to attend your event, you’ll need to market it. Posters, flyers, social media advertising, local radio advertising and local newspaper advertising are just some of the ways you could promote your festival. If you’re catering to a specific audience like beer drinkers (for a beer festival), consider targeting places where you’re likely to find your key audience (such as asking to put posters up in local pubs).
Staff
You will need staff to help organise and run your festival. These could be people you pay or volunteers. Hiring volunteers will save you money. However, for certain roles that require a lot of responsibility, it may be necessary to provide pay.
Food and drink
Even if you’re not hosting a food festival, you will need to consider event catering. Festivals typically last several hours at least and people will need to be fed. Consider how many people are likely to attend and make sure that there are enough caterers for them all (if food options are too limited, you could have long queues and shortages – which will lead to frustrated attendees).
Equipment
There is all kinds of equipment you need to consider when hosting a festival. Start by considering the basics – the fencing, the lights, the speakers, the stalls and toilets. There are companies that can supply you with all of this and assemble it for you. You can then consider more specialist equipment depending on the nature of your festival.
Permits and legal requirements
You will likely need to apply for a variety of permits when hosting a festival such as a music permit and highway use permit. You will also have to look into venue restrictions and local restrictions. A noise management plan will be necessary to keep the volume to a certain limit and you will need to follow various health and safety laws.
Eventuality planning
Finally, you must plan for all eventualities. What happens if it rains? What happens if there’s a heatwave? What happens if acts pull out at the last minute or caterers can’t turn up? Taking out insurance could be necessary if you have to cancel your festival. However, you can avoid cancellation by considering measures like providing shelter and shade or arranging backup acts and vendors.
This is a contributed collaborative post
