How to Plan a Concert in the Park

Keep your neighborhood in complete harmony by organizing a concert or a series of performances in a park. Summer, of course, is the perfect time for people to gather on a lazy Sunday afternoon or beneath a blanket of stars to hear local virtuosi strut their stuff.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Determine if your concert will be a free event or a fund-raiser to support a charity or community organization (see 381 Plan a Fund-Raising Event).
2. Discuss your idea with town's park and recreation officials who issue permits and get the paperwork you need. Ask what they'll do to make sure the park looks its best and is litter-free on the big day. Use the concert as an opportunity to raise awareness of any plans to improve the park. You may be eligible for a grant to bring art into the community.
3. Choose a genre: Broadway hits, jazz, big band or rock 'n' roll.
4. Set the performance date--and a rain date. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather but always have a plan B, such as relocating to a school or other building.
5. Canvas businesses to underwrite the event. They get advertising while you get funding.
6. Find your headliner. Work your contacts (see 201 Make a Networking Plan) and tune in to a band or musician who will play for a nominal fee, or ask a choir to perform.
7. Find out what equipment the band needs. Appoint someone who knows what they're doing and speaks the language to set up the technical equipment including lighting, power and the stage.
8. Publicize the event as far in advance as possible. Hang banners and posters, and place notices in papers, coffee shops, community centers and schools. Read 372 Publicize an Event.

Tips & Warnings

• Approach a well-known musician who lives nearby to see if he or she would be interested in playing.
• Include a fund-raising component such as a smallscale carnival in conjunction with the concert.
• Enlist a school band to warm up the crowd.
• Arrange for local artists to set up booths.
• Find out about local noise ordinances well before the concert date.