Introduction to Community Festival Planning

Series Summary

So your pet ferret is having a birthday. Little Georgie B turns five this year and you really want to go all out. Not just a couple of twelve packs and some twinkies, but a real party which reflects the magnitude of the occasion. Why not invite the whole town to celebrate with you? And then you can have a whole beer garden and live music from your favorite bands, perhaps even jugglers and mimes. Because you’re going all out for Georgie Fest, the best party this town’s ever seen. But hold on there just a second. You’ve never thrown a party for more than a few friends. How should you plan such a wing dinger of a shindig for your toothful rodent friend? You leave it up to Expert Village, that’s how.

In this free video series, our expert event planner tells you all the details you need to know in order to plan your very own festival. He begins with the top priority: finding the right location. Crucial to the success of your party is a place people are familiar with, where they are used to going by bus or car. Electricity can be brought in via generators, but running water is important. Parks are often ideal, but require various permits. Once you’ve figured out where and when (ideally a weekend without too many competing events), you’ve got to work out the many whos. You’ll need vendors, especially beer vendors, to help fund the festival, perhaps even sponsors as well. Then you need volunteers to help set up the stages, and run the festival once it gets started. The list is long, but our expert gives you a thorough overview, including how to set up the first-aid station, even how to manage the toilets and trash.

Just make sure you don’t lose Georgie B in those piles of Glad Bags when the party's over.

Video Transcript

"Hi! My name is Jim Goettler with Expert Village and we are going to be learning how to put together a small community festival. By waive of introduction, I have been working with groups all around the country for about 20 years helping them put together festivals that are fun, that are safe and that pay the bills. We are going to basically take an old idea that folks getting together of the seasons, the summer or the winter. The social get together and they see how everyone is growing up and getting ill and moving out, checking in to see what we all look like. What is evolved from that have been community festivals and so what we are going to do step by step in the next few segments, learn how to do each particular part that goes in to making a festival that really works. I hope you join me. It should be fun."