Where do I start with organising a festival?

I recently answered the about question via my Linked in profile.  It’s an impossible question to give a short answer to this question, however here is what I offered.

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A clearly written plan for the event is your first step.

This needs to set out in specific terms the when and where of your festival and importantly the what. Are you going to have music, if so how many stages running from what time in the day till what time etc.

Then define every aspect you can, from open times to number of visitors on site, who is going to be your ticket vendor and on and on.

Going through this exercise will help you articulate your vision so that others can clearly see in their minds what you have in yours. It will help them to buy into your dream and add where they might be able to get involved.

In your first year, be very conservative in what you are aiming for. It’s better to create a really great small festival and engage and give your visitors and participants a great time than to over stretch and find that you have under delivered in areas that just couldn’t be put together in the time and recourses you have.

It’s better to keep an idea up your sleeve for year two than promise it for year one and then fail to deliver.

Sponsorship is important but generally sponsors want around 12 months to get involved. Sometimes even more if there are bigger sums of money involved. Also depending on your track record as a festival organiser, they will want to see how the festival has been performing in past years.

If you’re a new festival they are only likely to get involved if you have extensive experience and if you have solid financial backing to get you going.

However, depending on where you are going to stage this event support from a local council etc will be of great assistance for you. Although councils will often not have money to offer, they will plug you into many of the community organisations that can assist plus they will be able to high light all the health and safety regulations that you need to comply with.

Planning a festival is far too complex a subject for me to be able to fully outline here. One final piece of advice however is, with Australia going into the main festival season, going and doing some work on a couple of similar festivals will give you a couple of real advantages.

Firstly you will see the festival build and break down as well as operation through the eyes of someone wanting to run their own event. Note all the different aspects that will need to be included in the afore-mentioned plan, from H & S, medical, technical production, power and water supplies on site, site delivery including fencing, loos etc and security. The list goes on.

The other advantage is getting to know the festival organisers.

Prove yourself a good enough worker to them and in the new year when things have calmed down a little, you can approach them and ask them for advice and contacts. The best way to find out how to do something is to ask someone who is all ready doing it !