The time you’ll need depends on how big the festival is, but in general, starting the planning about 6 months in advance is a good idea.
You can keep costs under control by asking for volunteers to help or seeing if local businesses are willing to donate food or equipment in exchange for advertising. If you need more funding, you could ask local businesses or the government for sponsorships to help cover the costs. Festival costs have a huge range, depending on the size of the event. Large music festivals cost millions of dollars, while smaller local festivals might only cost $100,000. [4] X Research source
You wouldn’t want to plan a festival around Thanksgiving, for example. Most people will be traveling and probably won’t make time to go to a festival. Local areas might have their own events that are technically not major holidays. Be sure to check your local calendar too.
Hotels, parks, or convention centers are common places for large festivals. If you have a large property and are throwing a smaller festival, then you could even throw the festival at your own home. Take your budget into account when booking a space. Some of these can be very expensive.
If you’ll be serving alcohol, you’ll probably need permits for this too. Remember that there is usually a fee for permits, so build that into your budget. There may also be a waiting period, which is another reason that planning early is important. Putting on a festival without the proper permits could result in a hefty fine, so don’t forget about this step.
Remember that the entertainment will cost money too, so be prepared to pay them. You could also save costs on entertainment by putting together your own playlist and playing it through the sound system.
You might also need to rent tables, tents, chairs, plates or silverware, and other basic things to make people comfortable.
For very large events, your local government may provide some law enforcement to help manage security.
For large festivals, you’ll probably need to rent cooking equipment and staff to prepare the food. You could also bring in outside vendors like restaurant tents or food trucks to serve your guests.
Try to match the decorations to the theme. If you’re having a beer festival, decorating the space to look like a German beer hall will set a perfect tone. Bringing in some local craft makers can really give your festival a unique atmosphere.
Remember to plan wheelchair access for public events. In some places, this is required by law. For large festivals, you should also hire staff to keep the bathrooms clean. Plan out the trash removal as well.
If this is a large festival open to the public, then be sure to advertise it and set up a system to sell tickets or passes. You’ll need a ticket booth and cashiers if you plan on selling tickets at the event. Doing some social media marketing can attract a lot of attention. For local festivals, taking out ads in the local paper can also attract guests.
