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 14.   Website

Early development of a festival website is important. This is the most inexpensive way of getting your festival’s message out. Most communities have website designers who are willing to donate their time to help you set up your site. Most website designers are not copywriters, so you will have to develop and write your own text. If you do have a site, it is extremely important to keep it up to date. Nothing turns off potential attendees than an out-of-date website. The hosting of your website is another issue. Again, many communities have hosting companies will to donate their hosting services. If this is not available to your festival, there are several hosting plans available, some very inexpensive, but limited in scope. It’s worthwhile to do a little research in the beginning to determine your best hosting route. Work closely with your designer, he/she should be able to point you in the right direction. One word of caution, before you finalize your event name, check to see if that name is an available domain name.  For example, if you choose the name “Apple Festival”, you may find that that name is not available. However, if you put your town’s name in front of “Apple Festival”, it’s likely the name will be available. To search domain names, log onto www.internic.ca, type in the name you want to register and it will tell whether or not it’s available. There are many dot variations that you can use, but the most appropriate for a Canadian festival would be.ca. However, it is your committees choose on the final domain name. It’s best to have your hosting company register you domain name.

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12.   Manpower Needs

Once you have your chairs in place, you to get them to determine their individual manpower needs. Consideration should be given to both the planning and implementations stages. Over estimating is not a bad thing. Time and circumstances come into play and volunteers may drop out of the committee for any number of reasons. Being aware of this and taking steps to minimize the effect of drop outs will make the chair’s life a lot easier. Strategic manpower planning will also help you evaluate the viability of the festival, as planned. It may show you that you need to modify your festival ideas to accommodate manpower realities.

13.   Event Naming

I believe that the naming of your festival is an important part of the development process. Your name will both attract attendees and give them an idea of what the festival is all about. The name indicates your theme. Make sure when developing your festival activities that they reflect both the festival’s name and theme. If you don’t, you will have a lot of very unhappy attendees.

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9.   Event Insurance

Event insurance is a must. You cannot hold your festival without it. There are many types of coverages and many ways to obtain insurance. Your best route is to speak with a qualified Insurance Broker in your area. If they can’t obtain coverage for you then they should be able to point you in the right direction. If they can’t help you, log onto the Festival & Events Ontario (FEO) website ( www.festivalsandeventsontario.ca ). They have association members who specialize in event insurance.

10.   Key Festival Management

Before planning can take place, key festival management has to be put in place. These positions include: Festival Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and all key section chairs. Detailed job descriptions should be prepared for each position so that everyone knows what is expected of them and if they have to leave that position, the new person immediately knows his/her responsibilities.

11.   Committee Structure

How you structure your committee and the people you choose to assist you in the development of the festival will affect every aspect of the festival from start to finish. Just because someone volunteer’s to help doesn’t mean he/she is qualified to manage a portion of the festival. To have a successful festival you need knowledgeable, skill people who are dedicated to the completion and prosperity of the event. This means that you must pick and choose key people who can and will get the job done, no matter what obstacles come in their way. You wouldn’t run a company with unqualified people, so why run a festival that way? And, if someone doesn’t work out, replace them immediately. The ongoing cooperation of everyone involved is imperative for the ultimate success of the festival.

(To be continued)

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 6.   Preliminary Planning 

Now that you have decided the most important aspect of your festival, it’s time to put it all in writing. Remember the clearer your vision of the festival, the easier it will be to plan and to pass on your vision to others. The preliminary plan is a “concept plan”. This means that it will likely change many times before the “final plan” is in place and accepted. The preliminary plan should give as much known detail as possible.

7.   Financial Control

It is important to get your financial act together rights from the beginning. Make sure you have all the financial elements ready to be put in place as soon as your festival has been approved. Without the proper financial controls, your festival could be dead in the water before it gets off the ground. 

8.   Preliminary Budget

The preliminary budget is one of the most important elements of the development stage, because, if done honestly and properly, it will give you a clear idea of the viability of the festival. If the beginning numbers don’t make sense, the final figures will be a lot worse. Take the time to investigate the full costs of the festival and then adjust the festival development to bring the budget in line with reality.