When planning a festival there us a lot to consider. No matter the location, size or demographic of your attendees, there are a lot of common considerations to take into account. It’s important to remember that it will take a lot of time and can be quite stressful. That’s why there are festival event planners out there that have a specific skillset to help you. Festival event planners like us.
- Time
As we have said, festival planning takes time. You need to give yourself as much time as possible. This time is needed to source a venue, stage, electrics, caterers, musicians and much much more. Just because you are available between 5pm and 7pm, it doesn’t mean that the people you contact are. They might only be available during their working day, for example. Planning a festival can often feel like a full-time job. This is why you need to give yourself a lot of time.
- Venue
The venue you choose is important too. Will it be an inside or outdoor festival? You need to ensure you have plenty of room for the stage, but also the attendees too. Is there a backstage area for performers? Where will the food trucks be based? How will you cordon off the area to have ticket holders only? What is your plan for hot or wet weather? Will attendees be camping over the weekend? Where can they park? What facilities are in place? These are all considerations for the venue when planning a festival.
- Budget
Think about your budget and how it will be split between different areas. You don’t want to spend most of the budget on a top band, but then have a small amount for the stage, for example. Look out for local bands that have a following instead of the next best thing since Take That. Think about the ticket price and what the attendee gets “for their money”.
- Sponsorships
One way to make your money go further when planning a festival is to get sponsorships. Think about the sort of festival you are planning and what sort of businesses may want to sponsor the event. If it’s a local event for the community, for example, then the local council and nearby small businesses may want to be sponsors. The larger the event, the larger the sponsors you may want to contact. If the desirable audience of a business will be at the event, the business will be more likely to sponsor the event.
- Health, Safety and Security
You need to think about health and safety requirements as well as security and first aid. It is likely the venue will want to see the health and safety plan / event management plan and associated measures being taken, such as security when you book with them. There will also be some legal health and safety and security requirements you will need to consider too.
These are all areas that we can help you with. As professional festival planners and experienced event planners we have the skills, knowledge and connections you need to make your festival a huge success.