10 Top Tips You Need to Know to Put on Your Own Awesome Festival
When you think of summer events, the first thing to come to mind is festivals! Ranging from local productions to a massive global gathering, the event business has a huge number of festivals for ticket buyers to choose from.
But how do you organise a festival and put on your own live entertainment? What do you need to know to turn your festival party ideas into reality?
We’ve put together our 10 Top Tips for putting on your own festival event.
- Having a Clear Vision when Planning an Event
The party planning business is a complicated one, and you can’t have a vague idea of what you want to do; it needs to be fully formed and ready to be fleshed out. - Working Out Your Finances and Creating an Event Budget
Create a spreadsheet and work out exactly what you’re going to need to spend.
Once you know your outgoings you’ll have an easier time making sure you’ve got the funds available and can budget it in the right places. - When and Where, and How Long You Need: Timing is Everything
It generally takes between 1.5 – 2 years to organise and plan a large festival event. Even if you’re starting local and small, you need to give yourself plenty of time to get everything in order and ready to go.
You need to consider when you’re planning to put your festival on. Check out upcoming music festivals, other events in the surrounding area. Avoid scheduling your event on the same day as other well-established events. - Sorting Out the Logistics and Production
You need to know who you’re working with and what they’re going to be doing for you. Consider bringing in a Production Manager who can look after the contracts, bookings, and essential details such as toilets, catering, road signs, etc.
Make a spreadsheet of all the different tasks and who is responsible for dealing with them and regularly check in with them to ensure everything is kept on track. - Entertainment: What Are You Providing and Who are You Booking?
Make sure you’ve got enough going on for people to do. You need to schedule enough that the people who aren’t interested in one area will still have other things to do. - Collaborations, Sponsorship and Merchandising
Look at outside companies and brands to see what aligns with your event. Contact their Events or Marketing department and set up meetings. If you’re creating your own merchandise you need to make sure you’ve got a suitable selection and it’s priced appropriately. - Health and Safety and Your Legal Obligations
It’s essential that you do your research on what permits and licenses you need, who you need to contact, and what you need to do to ensure your event complies with all your legal and health obligations. - Who Will Be Working With You? Selecting Your Festival Staff and Team
Request CVs and if you’re putting on an event with children you may need to do Criminal Background checks. Personal chemistry and attitude is important – there’s going to be a lot going on, and your staff need to not only be able to deal with your guests and the pressure that involves, but also any unexpected incidents or issues. - Getting Your Tickets Right: Packages, Tiers and Promotion
How are you planning on splitting up your tickets? Are you just doing general entry, or are you going to offer different areas of access or tiers of promotion? Think about what you can give your audience of value and how you can price it appropriately - Making the Most of Your Marketing and Promoting Your Event
You must have a presence on social media, you must post regularly with content that your target audience will be delighted to see.
Promote, advertise and network with as many of your target audience, industry peers, influencers and potential sponsors as possible to get the word out!
Putting on an event is a long and difficult task, but when you get it right – you can create something incredible, with the potential to become the next big thing.
