If you know that the job of a Concert Promoter is far beyond complicated, imagine that of the promoter of a whole festival, especially if we’re talking about a big one. Festival Promoter’s have to deal with many artists and bands, many booking agents, large venues usually with many stages and many many people!! Organizing an international music festival is probably one of the most complicated tasks there are in the wide spectrum of the music industry. Therefore, if one day you decide that you would probably like to start your own new festival, you better first be absolutely convinced that’s what you desire. Probably the first step would be to have a clear concept of what the festival will look and be like, preferably an original one that makes it special among the many others there are.
If you decide to set up a new music festival, you better plan to do it in a genre that you really love and know, in a location that you like and identify and with an audience that you are familiar and connect with. This will increase your chances of success in this titan’s task. Once you meet the first requirements, you should start considering and resolving several different aspects that are essential for the success of the event. The following recommendations should be considered with plenty of time ahead (probably around a year in advance!), in order to be able to focus in each of them properly. We can probably enlist these factors as follows:
- Have a very clear vision of the festival and develop its concept properly.
- Choose an ideal date for the festival to take place: consider other similar events that might compete and factors like the weather (if outdoors), etc.
- Find an ideal location for the festival and start the process of booking the venue.
- Decide the kind of music and what specific artists is the festival ideally have as headliners, and start contacting the respective booking agents.
- Decide and analyze what your target audience is, remember paying attention to 4 essential classifications: Age, Gender, Socioeconomical status and location.
- Develop the plan for how are you going to finance the investment on the festival, explore different options of funding, finance and even sponsorship or state support.
- Consider the impact that the realization of the festival will have on the local area and how to approach the different issues you might find: noise, trash, parking, security, etc.
- Consider transportation plans for the attendees.
- Find options for accommodation for the attendees that may need it.
- 10. Establish a plan for the marketing and promotion of the festival when launching it.
- Work very hard and find the right team!!
…and good luck!! 🙂
Global Music Tribune 