Festivals are hard work, but if you’re passionate and have the right people, they can be fun and successful. Find out how to organise your own festival.

How to start and fund a festival in the UK

If you’re looking to put together a multi-day event, you’re going to have to put in the hours. If you’ve got previous project management experience, then this will only aid you in your quest to start and fund your own festival.

However, even if you’re not familiar, then commitment, planning, researching and learning will all be par for the course. One of the most important things to know when planning a festival is that there’s strength in numbers; this isn’t a task you’re going to accomplish on your own.

Put out your feelers. Speak to friends and potential collaborators who might have some experience in the field. Relying on good help while planning your event will help you maintain your sanity. With all this mind, let’s check out what steps you can take to plan a festival.

Why are you doing this?

There’s nothing wrong with organising an event simply because you feel like it. However, those who find success in this exciting and rewarding arena do it with purpose and passion.

So, the question that then arises is: why are you doing this? Maybe you’d like to create social awareness around something. Maybe you’d like to promote independent artists and musicians? The point is you need to have a reason. Maybe you’re passionate about up and coming new hip hop talent and you’d like to organise an event that also serves as a springboard?

The lineup

Once you’ve determined the theme or reason for your festival, then the lineup should follow naturally. Decide how many acts you’d like to expose the masses to and the set about making contact with the talent to see if they’re interested or not. It would be wise to make a long list of potential candidates as you don’t know who’s going to commit.

Try and secure the headlining acts as soon as possible. Not only can you then go about getting the smaller acts, but the headliners will serve as incentives for the smaller acts.

Cost analyses

When assembling your line-up, you’ll need to weigh up what each act is charging against your expected profits. Based on the ideal line-up, work out how much you’ll charge, multiply it by the amount of tickets you intend to sell, then subtract the operational costs. The resulting amount is what you’ll be able to pay your acts from.

It’s important not to overshoot – don’t book more acts than you can afford and don’t assure anyone of a payment you can’t fork out for. Some acts might agree to a minimum fee with the potential to earn more if things run smoothly while others might command a fee that’s out of your range.

If you are aiming for an international line-up, you are looking at a another level of financing as there are more costs involved. Today there are many various options available to raise funds for festivals.

Speaking of international acts there are of course loans available and investors ready to step in, if you have done your homework and can show promising profits and there are many investors looking to take part by investing in lucrative shares in the music industry.

Festivals has also always relied on sponsors and there are many different types of companies that are willing to have their name next to an international bill, where even if they cannot offer you financial transactions, they can provide catering, transfer, technology and staff as examples, in order for you to cut down on these non-negotiable services, as costs.

Today, there are even crowdfunding options for festivals, which could be well worth looking into, as you can both spread the risk from heavy investors, and at the same time build a marketing platform by people interested in your festival although it’s in the early production stages.

Include DJ’s, vendors and more

If you get the right bands and artists, the rest will follow. In other words, once you’re lineup is confirmed, then it’s time to add those extras that ultimately define the identity of your festival. You’re going to have to run the gauntlet of mixing and blending things just right.

Get your vendors to sell good food and drink, get performers, maybe even poets and make sure you’ve got an eye-catching stage design. Up the ante with the right DJs, raffles, maybe a tarot card reader, a photo booth – make it colourful and eclectic, thus making sure there’s something for everyone. You could even go so far as to host workshop and educational seminars. Sky’s the limit!