Each year there are countless festivals in the United States. These large gatherings are opportunities to commemorate and celebrate one’s heritage, culture, and traditions. They allow us to explore shared interests as a community and help create a deeper sense of connection with our backgrounds and history.
If you’re organizing an upcoming festival, you have a lot of exciting work ahead of you. Planning events, especially affairs as large as festivals, takes great attention to detail, foresight, and excellent coordination.
But don’t fret. With this article on “How To Plan a Festival Like a Pro,” we’ll tell you all you need to know. It includes a useful checklist for festival planning, a list of popular types of festivals, and more.
Use this simple checklist to become a pro at festival planning. Here we’ll outline important steps that will help you anticipate festival needs. We answer questions like, “Will you need a festival planner?” and “What should be your festival goals?”
Let’s get started.
The first thing you need to do is create a festival timeline. Start chalking out a plan well in advance. Experts suggest that starting planning at least 6 months ahead of the date will give you enough time to plan and organize goals, come up with themes, lineups, vendors, and other aspects.
Asking pertinent questions like these will give you a more definite idea of what you need to do. You can also borrow elements in your festival plan from past festivals that you admired and would like to model yourself after.
Don’t forget to plan your budget, theme, and reserve a venue suitable for the size of the crowd you’re expecting.
If it’s a major festival, you’ll need a team of organizers who can help you get everything lined up.
This is also the point when sponsorships and fundraising should be in full swing.
Finalize your caterers and vendors. Make sure you hire security services or bouncers for the big event.
Choosing a festival venue is a major aspect of festival planning. The venue should match the festival theme, and be big enough for the activities and crowd you anticipate.
For music events, choose open-air and wide spaces so you can accommodate loud sounds and swarms of people.
If you’re throwing a cultural festival or a literary event, choose national performing theaters or museums. You’ll need to book these spaces well in advance.
Since most festival venues are outdoors, make sure your attendees have a good restroom trailer rental to rely on. Hiring sanitized and well-maintained portable restroom rentals can make the festival experience significantly more comfortable and pleasant for your attendees. Reserve an event restroom trailer for best selection.
Assign different people with specific responsibilities before, during, and after the festival. A large festival will need several teams to work together and simultaneously so you’ll be ready on the big day.
Here are the teams you’ll need:
Your budget is arguably the most important aspect of festival planning. Do enough research to understand the scale of your event. Account for all the different expenses and try to cover as much ground as possible to arrive at an accurate estimate of anticipated costs. Account for expenses related to hiring and managing talent, booking venues, getting special services, renting event restrooms, marketing, etc.
You can get creative as you draw up plans for raising capital. Reach out to sponsors, fundraisers, donors, and investors with an engaging pitch, and be ready with ROI projections.
Without appropriate permits and licenses, your festival planning will be for nothing. Have a team research local city or state guidelines as well as requirements for event planning.
Will you have to close or section off streets? Get parking access? Do you want to serve alcohol at the event? All of these will warrant a permit. However, if your venue is already zoned for entertainment purposes, some things will already be taken care of.
Speak to a legal team and inquire about getting event insurance. This can protect you from potential liabilities related to your event.
You’ll need research for this element of festival planning. Once you know the goal of your festival, it’s time to understand your target audience better.
If you’re planning a festival for a school, your marketing should take into consideration the fact that minors will be attending.
Throwing a three-day music extravaganza? Go all out with your marketing and keep the theme for the concert more adult and grown-up.
Your audience influences important decisions like choosing the right venue, when to schedule your event, what kind of entertainment and food you need, and the types and number of portable restroom rentals you need to lease.
Three months before the big date, you should have talent and vendors lined up for your festival planning. The lineup will of course depend on the event you’re throwing.
For example, at a literature festival, hiring a popular author to speak as part of a panel or conduct a workshop is ideal. For music concerts, book a band that’s on tour after releasing a hit album.
You must also hire catering services and merchandise vendors well in advance. You’ll need to plan for different provisions like stalls, access to kitchen spaces, and merch desks.
This is a good time to think, “How many restrooms do I need for my event?” One possibility is event restroom trailers that can easily accommodate more people. Getting top-notch event restroom rentals, including ADA-compliant event restrooms, will encourage people to stay longer and will make their event experience more pleasant.
To identify a reliable company with adequate leasable facilities, look for mobile bathroom rental companies that have a wide variety of configurations and features. Ask if they have experience in supporting events, how often they clean the facilities, the customer support they offer, and how they can ensure that the units you receive are in excellent condition.
Let your creative juices flow. Depending on your budget, you can go big and hire a professional marketing agency to create campaigns for you, or you could do it in-house.
Whichever way you go about it, don’t forget to use social media marketing. This is a great way to get the word out without incurring high costs. Create a catchy hashtag for your event and encourage attendees to use it when posting photos and videos from the event.
Heighten anticipation by announcing your lineup and activities.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of festival planning, let’s look at the most common types of festivals. In this section, we also share handy tips for hosting a festival.
Wondering how to start a music festival? Looking for suggestions on how to run a music festival? These tips will help you get the ball rolling:
When it comes to food festivals, festival planning can be really exciting. It’s easy to get everyone engaged because food is a universal interest. This is why food festivals are well-attended and one of the best summer festival ideas.
If your festival planning is for a holiday or cultural festival, it can range from religious events to literary events, and famous public holidays. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
VIP To Go offers world-class portable restroom rentals for big and small events. Our event restrooms range from single units to large trailers that can accommodate up to a thousand people.
Each restroom trailer rental comes equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, handwashing stations, grooming mirrors, and roomy toilet stalls. To help you make your event inclusive and accessible, we also offer ADA-compliant trailers that have wider doorways and ramps.
Our professional team delivers the best customer service, maintenance, and clean-up services. With swift deliveries, prompt pickups, and great add-on services (like freshwater tanks for drainage and floodlights for nighttime visibility), what more do you need?
Here are other relevant points why you should consider VIP To Go’s portable restroom rentals for all your festival needs:
Contact us for rentals now. We’ll be glad to assist you!
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