Community festivals have been known to connect local citizens, enhance cohesion, and boosting the economy by attracting both local and outside investors to the place. Festivals include entertainment, games and sports, music, special foods, and drinks. What you need to know is that it takes careful planning and effort to host and see a successful community festival. This piece highlights important points on how to organise a community festival. 

 

1. Have a Planning Team in Place

It is a community festival and that means it would take a considerable number of people to make it successful. Find people who are willing to support the idea share their views on how well the goal of the festival can be achieved. Once you have a solid team, set up the official event committee, decide on who would play the role of on-site venue managers, the marketing and publicity team and so on. Begin the process of inviting volunteers, musicians and recruiting a talent agent. Top on that, decide on who will be involved in the acquisition of must-have amenities such as a public address system, portable toilet hire, tents and so on.   

 

2. Settle on the Site/Venue

The next most important thing to determine is the site of the festival, and among key considerations is, define your purpose for the event. What you want to achieve can be influenced by the geographical location and the culture of the local population. Check on the transportation system and the availability of basic services. For the target audience, have your team discuss things like; are the people likely to attend based on their social behavior, culture and so on, this helps you decide on the most promising venue.

 

3. Obtain a Festival License

Every town has regulations that govern the hosting of community festivals and one requirement involves getting permission through acquiring a license.

 

4. Publicity

Publicity is one of the areas that can dictate the success of the festival and it is also one of the most involving stages of event planning. Well, the size of the event is a key factor and determines how much money will be spent on spreading awareness. However, some of the ways you can publicize your oncoming festival cheaply include: 

• Using social media – Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others provide a great avenue to pass the info about the upcoming festival in town. 

 

• Direct invites – Your team can settle on sending direct emails to the target audience and have them book their attendance.

 

• Publish on event calendars – Book a spot on local event calendars, i.e. magazines, newspapers or popular websites in the locale and have the festival featured. 

 

• Use Fliers/Posters – Have fliers distributed by your staff and volunteers, as well as posters pinned in strategic places to ensure the message reaches the target audience.

 

• Use Ads and Mass Emails – In today’s world, it is easy to deliver whatever information you want to pass right to anybody who visits the internet from their mobile devices – digitally through internet ads. Sending mass emails is also another mode to reach people and provide continuous updates as the event details emerge.

 

 

5. Have the Entertainment Well Planned

 

Entertainment is a critical component in any festival. Have your planning team decide the musical preferences in relation to the region’s taste, the ticket requirements, the kind of foods and drinks to be used and so on. Most event committees prefer having a special promoter who is tasked with the whole aspect of entertainment needs. On that note, ensure the promoter is well versed in the game, check to see their sales record, how successful they have been in selling tickets in their past, how well they are able to negotiate contracts meant to profit the event (talking of live performances, bands, and the profit-generating games).

 

Conclusion

Make sure that your team has the festival tickets before the material day.  Follow the above tips and you will have a successful community festival.