Event planning seems like a fantastic thing to do. You get to throw huge parties and leave people content and happy. Combining your love for music with business can do wonders. It helps in brand promotion along with crowd-pleasing entertainment. If everything is planned meticulously, you can earn a considerable profit from just a few weeks of work. Planning requires a lot of organization to draw huge crowds and make sure that everything goes smoothly.
Festivals are actually not that easy to plan. Several things can go wrong during your festival. To minimize these, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind while organizing an outdoor music festival.
Time
Time is the most important thing you need to consider when planning an outdoor music festival. You need time for everything, booking the vendors, the bands, or the artists and mainly, the venue.
If you plan a big festival, you should know to book your venue and artists as soon as possible. There might be chances of big-level bands or artists not being available on the date you plan your festival. It might also be possible that you do not get your venue on the same days you want it. Time is of the utmost importance, even in the context of marketing and selling tickets.
Security
Even a small party requires bouncers in case anyone misbehaves or tries to create a scene. A huge outdoor music festival, on the other hand, definitely needs a lot of extra protection to make sure everything goes as planned. It is vital to book professional security services for your event. A professional security team will help coordinate with your first aid staff and monitor the festival for an unruly crowd, slippery surfaces, and wandering children. The safety of the crowd is of the utmost importance.
Space
In order to plan a huge festival, you need to understand that you don’t just need space for the mainstage and the alternate stages. You will also need trailer parking, campgrounds, bathroom facilities, catering vans, and even backstage areas. It is the job of a sound engineer to see the placement of different stages so that the sound does not clash, for which they need a lot of space. It is important to book your artists according to your venue or, better yet, book your venue according to your artists so that everyone can be easily accommodated.
Promotion
The promotion or marketing of an outdoor music festival has different requirements in comparison to small events. Social media marketing is just not enough. Think of digital advertisements and local press. Try collaborating with well-known promoters in order to draw a larger crowd to your event. You can even think of coordinating with the bands and artists you have booked with the marketing teams. Their fan base is going to make up a huge part of your audience, so it is wise to target them as well.
Equipment
You should make sure that all the equipment that your artists need for the festival should be ready. If they are playing live, you need all instruments to be properly set up. If they are DJing, you need to provide them with the right equipment. There is also the matter of lighting and maybe even visuals. For all this, it is best to hire a music production company to run the technical side of the event.
Budget
Your budget is one of the most important things while organizing your festival. You need to keep track of your overall expenses and have some emergency money on the side. Make up a proper budget for your festival that includes all cost breakups such as artist fee, stay and travel, the venue, the catering, staff, security, etc. be sure not to use up most of your budget on just one headliner. Instead, go for a mix of local talent, a few well-known artists, and a big headliner. This will keep your crowd engaged in the whole festival, rather than just coming to listen to one big artist.
Permits
Every festival is at the risk of being shut down if it does not have the proper permits. There are several permits one needs before planning a huge outdoor music festival. There are different permits and licenses available for things such as liquor and sound. You may also need access from the city if it is being held on public land. It is not okay to go ahead with the festival if you do not get these permits.
Planning an event is not at all easy. Many things can create problems. Use this list to minimize any probability of something going wrong and to have a great festival.
