How To Organize Your First Festival In A Month And A Half

by Shanelle Larson News, Organizing

Our team interviewed popular festival organizers in Canada. They are the organizers of the Forest Open Workshops Festival, about how in a month and a half, with a small team and no budget, to prepare and run a two-week festival in Montreal that attracts participants from Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and even other European countries.

This story is about making your dreams and the business you love come true – with numbers, processes, tools and conclusions.

Choose A Topic That’s Closest To You

Many times we thought about getting together and doing a mini-fest at our dacha, where we build an art object or do something together. Once we did such a mini-fest in artistic direction, we gathered 30 people in our dacha. It was like a hudslet – we drew the whole day. Some people were skeptical about the format, but in the end everyone got involved in drawing. With our project we went out to do workshops, master classes. But we like to create workshops, to create something that will live on.

Thoughts of a festival were for a long time, but there was no suitable space. We did not want to get into credit or rent. It so happened that we got acquainted with the SurfLag Space at Sea. There were a lot of people there with ideas, a lot of festivals, art objects and lodges were being built there. There was everything but a set up workshop and space for creativity. When we first went to get acquainted and tell about the project to the guys from Surflag, we had an idea that it was possible to make workshops in nature.

Get A Great Team Together And Distribute The Tasks Among The People

There were four main organizers – Hannah and Jacob, Theodore the founder of the camp, and Emily the executive director. Together we came up with the concept, and then we searched for craftsmen, put together the program, bought materials, and prepared the workshops. And the guys from Surflag Camp recruited a team of volunteers and supervisors of services of the camp itself. The preparation was going on while we were in Ontario.

When we got there, there were more people. We made a list of tasks and found executives. The main part of the team was four people. We had to take care of a lot of stuff. We were helped to cope with everything by finding people among the guests and camp masters who join the team and take on the tasks they are interested in.

Find And Engage Your Target Audience

Just a month and a half before the festival, we decided we were definitely doing it. Some festivals take six months to a year to prepare, but ours was only 45 days. This time flew by at lightning speed – we were doing something all the time.

The fact that the camp had its own audience, and that this year was not held Fest – Festival of the elements played a big role. It was held for 6 years, and only last summer it was not. And there were a lot of people who wanted to go to Surflag and experience something like that. And then they found out that there was going to be a festival about the elements and about creativity. That helped us start selling tickets. We did the festival in August in a summer when a lot of festivals were canceled, and that was good for us.

We tried to use every possible free way to promote the event, since it was the first time we had done such an event and we spent the funds as they came in. We promoted through the social networks in the communities which publish free announcements of the events: city posters, groups devoted to creative work, by sending invitations to the audiences of big festival communities in the social networks – our friends helped us with that. We put up posters in various establishments in Ontario, the nearest city to the camp. Summer is a fertile time when people are looking for a way to spend a weekend, vacation, or vacation and are eager to respond to announcements of new events.

Think Through The Process And Terms Of Ticketing

We published the branding and started a timepad page about a month and a week before the event. In the first two or three weeks, we sold the bulk of the tickets. We made a gradation of prices – in the beginning we sold very cheap. Then the price gradually increased – the main part of the tickets were sold at a medium price.

  • 70 CAD – first 10 tickets;
  • C$90 – the bulk of the tickets were bought at the low price;
  • C$110 – not many sales;
  • C$135 – on the spot.

We didn’t get as crowded with an event; we launched late and the festival lasted an entire week. It was hard for people to plan a trip like that so quickly. We had weekends, weekdays and another weekend at the end of the festival. And most people came last weekend.

At first we got fewer tickets than we had planned. We were kind of glad we did. Fewer people means it’s easier to administer everything, there won’t be any fuss and crowds. And then from the first day of the festival we announced that we’re adding new types of tickets – for 1 day, for 3 days, and we tried to post about our experiences every day. People who have been thinking about going to the festival but haven’t made up their minds, have seen those reports, the atmosphere and what’s going on. As a result, by the weekend there was a noticeable increase in people.

Find Helpers – Volunteers Or Trusted Friends Of The Project

We wrote a text about what a day at the festival would look like first for the curators and masters – to immerse them in the concept and so the team would understand what to expect, how to behave, and what to tell the participants. And then we published this plan for everyone.

We described the atmosphere in great detail so that people would understand what their day at the festival would look like.: The twigs crackle, the sun comes up, the tent zippers unzip, and everyone goes to the gym. And afterwards we all go buzzing to the workshops. That’s the way we packed all day. It’s understandable that you may not have followed this plan, but it helped you imagine what life at the festival would look like, what would happen all day.

We promoted the idea that festival-goers could influence the formation of the program. We worked together to come up with evening activities and art objects. It united the participants a lot, because there was a feeling that this was our festival, we are doing it together. Everyone felt like they were influencing how interesting the evening would be. People came up with ideas and offered them. You have to think up and find a place and conditions so that people have a place to turn, and also to trust and create the right atmosphere. It seems to us that this format is becoming popular, when you don’t just consume what the organizer has thought up for you, but also take part in the process. It’s like you co-host and the line between you is blurred.

Plan Your Pre-Act And Calculate The Costs

For us it was very profitable to do the event in the subject matter, which we have long been engaged in, because we had the necessary resources and expertise. The investment was required in the purchase of consumables: 

  1. Fabrics;
  2. Paints;
  3. Brushes;
  4. Fasteners.

Many of the materials we were able to find in the camp: these were leftover lumber that went into the joinery, some acrylic paints, tints, varnishes, a big help was that in Surf Camp we bought clay for modeling for the whole season and we had enough clay for all the pottery classes.

One of the most significant expenses was food for the team. Volunteers, craftsmen and other members of the organizing team ate at LOM’s expense during the preparations and the event. When calculating the return on investment for the event, it is very important to determine how many helpers and volunteers will be needed to understand the basic costs, in addition to purchases.

We covered all of the costs of organizing the event from funds raised from ticket sales. The remaining CA$983 we invested in project development – we bought a new saw and materials for working with stained glass, the organizers received a small compensation for the work done.

Enjoy The Process And Gain Useful Experience

This event was not about making money or commerce for us. It was about experience, community and the practice of the ideas and fantasies that we have nurtured over the past 5 years. We formed a great group of organizers. We made friends among the masters and curators and even among the guests of our event. We have learned a lot about the organization of events and it is possible to say unequivocally that we have changed the way of thinking about certain processes in business. We have begun to form a creative community of people who are passionate about crafts, sober recreation, mindfulness, and healthy living.

Canadian festivals are the best in the world. With so many different genres, there’s something for everyone. The organization of these festivals is top-notch, and the overall experience is unforgettable. If you’re looking for the Best On line Casinos, look no further than Canadian festivals. With so many options to choose from, you’re sure to find the perfect casino for you. Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoy your next Canadian festival!

Our project received a lot of attention, and subsequently, in the information field they started writing about us, inviting us to various city events, publishing materials about us in the media and giving interviews. We have accumulated a large base of contacts for future events. We also had a great time, learned how to windsurf and spent a month in a beautiful place in nature, preparing, holding and analyzing our festival – it was a great end to the summer. Start with a dream – think of a project and opportunities will find you on their own.

What Timepad Tools Have Been Used

  • Timepad widget for selling tickets on the website;
  • Timepad Facebook widget – for community sales;
  • Different types of tickets – from early sale, to displaying additional categories for the weekend;
  • Price increases – to encourage members not to put off buying;
  • Timepad announcements – to increase outreach and attract a broad audience;
  • Mailings to the assembled member base – to send useful information and an invitation to the winter shift.

How To Organize The Perfect Retreat

We spoke with Isabelle, the mastermind and creator of the ARTSTYLE project, an event organizer with 20 years of experience. She shared with us an unusual approach that helps her conduct large-scale events easily and without stress.

Every MICE-specialist wants to be a successful event organizer. But many only dream of large-scale and high-budget events of “interplanetary” level. The ones where team members understand each other with a glance, all services on site work strictly on a time-plan, installation of structures is completed in two hours before the deadline.

The performer and the customer have a full understanding, and of course there are no unpaid bills. The project manager has enough time to drink a cup of coffee or call his loved ones.

Further implementation of the project – sheer pleasure! Not a single hitch, the audience loves it, and the final KPI is breaking all company records.

Yes, this is a dream event!

I’ve been in the event management business for almost 20 years and I’ve certainly had days where a full 24 hours passed between a cup of coffee at 6am and the next sip of water. The crazy look, the hoarse voice.

But for the past few years, things have been going differently: I am calm and happy to meet guests at projects; I manage the event with a smile from the console, and sometimes remotely. I allow myself to sleep in at an offsite event and know that everything is going according to plan.

Is that possible? Yes!

I offer an unconventional approach to organizing the perfect retreat. We will not go into details and dive into the details of cost estimates, the nuances of bidding behavior, creative flights and features of cross-cultural communication. Let’s consider only the first steps on the way to the dream.

The first 5 steps to the perfect event

  1. Grab a diary, planner, or notebook, whichever you prefer.
  2. Choose an event that you think is perfect as a reference point. What you want to strive for. Format, budget, level of implementation, composition and professionalism of the team – think big. For me, the ideal event is the Tomorrowland International Festival. For you, perhaps the International Conference of Heads of State or the Academy Awards Ceremony. Make a mooDboard with pictures of the event.
  3. Decide what kind of event you want to organize. Think about the format, theme, number of participants, budget, content and other details.
  4. Write down in a notebook all the steps to prepare for the event. Don’t be stingy with details, describe: the project team, specifics of communication, unfold every stage of realization of your idea. In conclusion, feel free to describe the barrage of rapturous applause, and just below – the ceremony of presentation (to you, of course) of a professional award. I insist that you should write by hand, this process helps shape a new reality.  
  5. Outline the first 5 steps you need to take to realize your dream project. Believe me, the above 5 steps will get you closer to the perfect event. And if you continue to think outside the box and boldly visualize your desires, you will be amazed at how quickly your most seemingly unrealistic MICE-dreams come true.

Conclusion Of The Review Of The Article About Organizing The Best Festival

The Primavera Sound Festival is a well-organized event that attracts music lovers from all over the world. If you are looking for an engaging and exciting festival to attend, we highly recommend adding Primavera Sound to your list. Be sure to check out our website for additional reviews of the best festivals around the globe.