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Rosterfy have pulled together an in-depth guide on how to organize a music festival and the key things you need to keep in mind to ensure that you get the most out of your event.
It’s no secret that music festivals are loved throughout the globe. From Glastonbury and Coachella to Summerfest and Donauinselfest, rain, hail or shine, music festivals are one of life’s great pleasures.
Planning a music festival is a little different (well very different) to attending one, but there are some great foundations you can put in place to ensure that your event runs smoothly from start to finish and that you’re equipped to tackle any hurdles along the way.
Whether you’re trying to bring together your favourite bands for the community to enjoy or you’re trying to raise some money for a cause close to your heart, running a music festival can be a great way to engage with your community.
With lockdowns and changing restrictions adding an additional layer of complexity, ensuring that you have the right policies and procedures in place to manage your staff, volunteers, talent and attendees is more important than ever. So how do you plan a festival?
We’ve pulled together an in-depth guide to how to organize a music festival (from scratch) and the key things you need to keep in mind to ensure that you get the most out of your event.
Before you even get started there are variables that you need to think about to ensure that organizing a music festival is something you can pursue. We’ve put together a festival checklist to consider before you get started.
1. Time. Music festivals take time (and A LOT of it!). From securing the venue to booking bands, selling tickets and organizing the infrastructure and equipment required to put on a show you need to ensure that you have the time to execute an event of this magnitude.
2. Budget. Key to developing a successful music festival is a good understanding of the budget you have to work with. Music Festivals can be expensive so forecasting a budget by speaking with suppliers, council and artists to better understand the costs involved is really important.
3. Research. Do your research!! If there are already 10 other similar music festivals in your town then maybe this isn’t the right event for you. Speak with members of your community to better understand the appetite for a music festival and which types of artists they’d like (and pay!) to see.
4. Venue. Music Festivals can take up a lot of space so finding a suitable venue/space is key to a successful event. Once you’ve found a suitable venue/space, speak with the council to better understand what is and isn’t permitted including:
At a time when public health and safety has never been more paramount, staying on top of the most up to date rules and regulations when it comes to public gatherings and social distancing needs to be at the forefront of your planning. Your event management plan checklist and guide should include the following considerations:
First things first. Why do you want to organize a music festival? And how do you make it a successful festival? Whether you're looking to make money, raise money or drive awareness, understanding WHY you’re delivering a music festival and more importantly WHAT you want to achieve is key to your success.
Try and stick with SMART goals (Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely). We have put together some thought starters to help you get started.
Understanding why you’re organizing a music festival and what needs to be done in order to achieve this will help you to stay true to your north star throughout the process of planning your festival.
While budgets aren’t exactly exciting we can't stress enough the importance of spending time developing your budget. If you don’t know what costs you’re up against, how do you know what to price your tickets at to ensure your music festival is viable?
Do you research and speak with suppliers. Secure multiple quotes and provide as much detail so that they can quote accordingly (i.e sometimes costs are more expensive on a weekend). Some budget considerations should include:
Once you understand your costs you can determine how many tickets you need to sell and at what price point to ensure that you’re in the positive at the end of the day.
The venue plays a big role in delivering your music festival. Not only does it serve as the foundation to operationally deliver the event but it also sets the tone for the event type. For instance, if you select a big piece of land, maybe you’re opting for a relaxed vibe with lots of people versus a cool industrial warehouse in the CBD that can only accommodate a certain amount of attendees.
Before selecting a venue, you should consider:
The biggest drawcard and the most important thing to get right is securing a great lineup of talent. At the end of the day, this is what’s going to help you sell tickets!
The key to a good festival is understanding your audience. Maybe you’re looking to attract a younger crowd, in which case consider bands and artists who will resonate with them. Select artists who will complement each other. You probably don’t want someone singing acoustic followed by a heavy metal band.
Once you have a list of preferred artists and bands you can commence outreach to their managers to see who is available and what their costs are.
Now that you have your venue and artists, it’s time to build out that schedule so that you can start properly planning. Do you require multiple stages? Will there be acts in addition to the artists - maybe you’re keen to include the local school choir?
By understanding your schedule, you’ll know how much of what you require and at what times.
Which leads us to contractors and suppliers. Once you’ve secured your talent, you can better understand what equipment you’ll require.
Work with local contractors and suppliers to secure stages, lighting, AV, toilets, security, traffic control and more. Make sure you book in your suppliers ASAP. Without the infrastructure to hold a music festival you don’t have an event so don’t leave this until the last minute and run the risk of things being booked out.
Tip: Work with local organizations to see if they’d like to sponsor your event. In exchange for promotion and signage at your event, you could receive discounts on supplies or even value in kind.
A great way to ensure that your event’s success is to develop a music festival project plan, which highlights key deliverables for all parties to ensure that everyone is clear on timeline expectations.
Event project planning tools like monday.com and Asana are great places to start!
So you’ve spent the time planning your event - now it’s time to put in place a plan for marketing to ensure that people know about your event and that you sell tickets!
If you’re not skilled in marketing look for marketing students who might be able to intern with you and assist with things like:
Use a reputable ticket seller (Ticketek, Eventbrite) to ensure that when people are ready to buy tickets to your music festival, they can do so quickly and simply.
Music Festivals often cover an expansive amount of land, with multiple areas which require man power and assistance. From bump in to the festival itself including check in, way finding and event services to bump out there’s no shortage or roles to be filled.
One of the best ways to staff your festival is by using volunteers, who are a great help operationally and help to reduce your overall costs. Before you start recruiting for your festival, it’s good to consider the following festival checklist items.
Implementing a quality volunteer management software like Rosterfy is beneficial to streamlining your volunteer management and assisting in your festival planning.
From contractors to talent to volunteers, ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to what their role is and when they are required. Key documentation you might want to consider providing developing and sharing:
You’ve done most of the hard work, now it’s time for the last hurdle - the music festival! From bump in (which may happen days prior) to event day itself, your role is to make sure that everyone is where they need to be and that the schedule communicated to your ticket holders holds true.
In the instance that things change and challenges present themselves, your job is to remain calm, communicate with your staff and contractors and to work towards a solution.
But most importantly, take the time to stop and appreciate your hard work and admire what you have achieved!
Reporting is an important step in how to organize a music festival. Why? Because you need to understand how you performed. Did you stay on budget and meet your financial targets? What was the feedback that you received - both good and bad? What would you do again and what would you do differently?
Reporting is particularly important if you’re planning on making your music festival a recurring event so that you have the intel to grow and improve in subsequent years.
Don’t forget to thank everyone that helped you! From the talent and their agents through to your contractors, council and of course, your volunteers. It’ll put a smile on their face (and yours!).
We hope you’ve enjoyed your festival planning guide. If you’re interested in learning more about how Rosterfy can help you manage your staff and volunteers for your event, we’d love to hear from you. Talk to one of our friendly team members to learn more.
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