Festival Organisation

[robMUFC96]

Hi guys,

I need to raise a lot of money for a trip next year, and thought that organising a festival with a group of other would be an effective way of making money, obviously with a lot of work. I have a venue that I can definitely get, and have contacts within quite a lot of up and coming bands, so would be confident of securing some acts.

I was just wondering whether anyone knew of any legislation or rules that we would have to follow, and what sort of costs I would be looking at for organising a 2 - day festival.

Thanks a lot

[Com Truise]

Not sure about rules or anything, but if you get it happening I know a couple of bands that might be willing to play. The only costs I can think of other than the venue is paying the bands, unless they're willing to play for free of course

[robMUFC96]

Not sure about rules or anything, but if you get it happening I know a couple of bands that might be willing to play. The only costs I can think of other than the venue is paying the bands, unless they're willing to play for free of course

[thetime]

Insurance? Security? Advertising?

[thetime]

Email local businesses, get some flyers done before leeds so you can hand out at the campsite.

They do say expect to make a loss first couple of years.

[robMUFC96]

Insurance? Security? Advertising?

[robMUFC96]

Email local businesses, get some flyers done before leeds so you can hand out at the campsite.

They do say expect to make a loss first couple of years.

[the wonderwhy]

http://www.wikihow.com/Organise-a-Gig

Try that. Think its American but you get the gist

[robMUFC96]

http://www.wikihow.com/Organise-a-Gig

Try that. Think its American but you get the gist

[the wonderwhy]

Thanks a lot for that Matt, pretty helpful

[robMUFC96]

No worries.

You really need to roll with the charity side of it- that way it'll probably end up cheaper for you, & it makes people more keen to come & support

[mrtourette]

Would that be the case with a one off 'special' event? In the next few days I plan to put together a pilot survey to gauge interest in the local area, and start building the website and thinking of strong design ideas

[robMUFC96]

I admire your ambition but I would brace yourself to fail in making 'a lot of money'. It isn't exactly a great time for festival start-ups, even if it is a one-off special event. I guess it depends to what level you're aiming for, anything larger than a glorified village fete concentrating on broad local participation is likely to put you in one hell of a fight for business.

As for legislation, council and police approval is likely to be your main and first concern, all your organisational obligations are likely to be addressed as part of that.

[jump]

I see. I think the natural next step is to do thee pilot survey to see whether people would even be interested, then start thinking about the costs of each of the elements of the festival and thinking about how we could finance certain parts, eg. Catering and Security

[Spud001]

Also keep the World Challenge in sight. I went on one to Nepal and it was one of the most incredible things I've ever done, you will really really love it I'm sure

[robMUFC96]

TBH I'd reckon a pilot survey is a waste of time, the time setting it up and getting people to fill it out could be better spent on the festival itself and like all surveys it wont be a true representation of people will come or not as a bulk of people that would come will be fans/friends of the bands, the regulars of the venue (are we talking about a club or a park?) and whoever you can drum up with flyers, word of mouth, social media etc rather than someone who did a survey months ago. Also keep in mind the date will effect whether people will come or not too.

The best starting block is to determine the size of the event (and whether it's inside ot out as there will be different red tape to do) and how much to charge for tixs (if you expect people to pay anything over £25+ for unknown bands you'll struggle) then from there figure out your break even point (how many tixs you need to sell to get your money back). Keep in mind you will need capital to pay for deposits and stuff before hand and don't touch the money from tix sales to after the fest incase you need to cancel it.

Also don't expect the expedition company and the venue to do work for you or to do you mates rates, people back out, do things half arsed and change their mind all the time especially when money is involved.

[kemosabe]

Look towards social media to spread the word. Also look to get the actual bands to advertise aswell... Depending where it is i might have a few bands too

[robMUFC96]

It would be South Manchester btw guys

[robMUFC96]

wow, something got moved on these forums. What is this wizardry?!

[thetime]

Hi rob

My local town had a one day festival at the rugby club, it was up and coming bands and tribute acts. Probably at a smaller than your aiming for, although the official stuff you will need would be similar.

I could get the festivals details for you if you want? Would be a good way of finding out what you need to do.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

You only need a temporary licence for less than 500. If you are going to use the club premises at all probably they will have to apply. The council will confirm that. They will tell you extra police etc. If over 500 there will have to be a licence hearing. They may set many conditions. But main costs will be

Security including stewards and fencing

Infrastructure - stages, electrics, water, toilets

Litter

Anything else you can think of.

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/directory_record/72626/temporary_event_notice

Edited July 2, 2013 by Rufus Gwertigan

[Rufus Gwertigan]

The problem with this is you stand a reasonable chance of losing money as much as making money...

[robMUFC96]

Okay, thanks for all the input you've given back guys, ill discuss it with the group and see whether we can go ahead with it - cheers

[robMUFC96]

Reading through the above link from Rufus, the main issue appears to be that we are all under 18 so would have to have someone apply for the TEN on our behalf. Despite this, as the TEN is reasonably cheap, we can probably afford to spend a little more money marketing, which will push us to that 500 person mark. If we aim to sell 450 tickets at 15 - 20 pounds, we can anticipate that many people will decide to not attend which should always keep us safely below the 499 persons maximum.

The next cost to factor in will be the venue. Having thought about this, I think we may change our target to the leisure centre, as they have a wide open space in front which will not be being used for things at that time of year (a cricket pitch) unlike the rugby club. Obviously, this will enhance the venue cost, but this should not be an issue so long as we keep the marketing cheap(ish) and do most of the catering work ourselves.

On the subject of catering, we would attempt to do quite a lot of it ourselves (which would require us to apply for another piece of legislation from the Food Standards' bit of the council) except of course the alcohol, where we would hire a caterer for the day, or see if the venue have their own bar we can use.

Marketing will largely be done by ourselves too, as a couple of members of the group are quite good at design based activities. The only cost here will be distributing and printing the posters and leaflets, as we can design a website and Twitter account relatively easily.

As for a "Terms and Conditions" we would have to draw these up by ourselves through looking at other festivals' policies. Or, if we feel that we need an extra security with the law, we can call in the help of the solicitor father of one of the group's members.

[the_hedge]

My mate is having a Fake Festival this years. You pay around 17k for the franchise and anything you make on tickets sales above and beyond is yours.

They supply the tent, stage bar etc. You just book the bands and sell the tickets. Bit late for this year but my mate is on track to break even this year at around 700 tickets sales although most sales can hap[pen in the last 10 days. The guy who ran the Ashby De La Zouch fake festival made a tidy profit as he sold well over a 1000 tickets.

http://www.fakefestivals.co.uk/