HANDBOOK FOR FESTIVALS

This Guidebook is based on the best practices learnt by all the partners through the

arrangement of festivals at local level and through the exchange of practical results and the

sharing of experiences, done during the transnational meetings.

Thanks to face-to-face discussions and the exchange of experiences, good practices, skills and

knowledge, the transnational meetings enabled the partners to identify and to set up those

basic standards that form the Guidebook backbone.

The Summary of The Project- Festival Entrepreneurship for VET

Who:This partnership involves institutions providing vocational education, representatives of

working life, non-profit organizations and bodies responsible for vocational education and

training at a local level. The target group are the teachers, trainers and other staff of the

institutions mentioned above who are interested in, or responsible for, organizing activities to

improve the professional skills and competence of the participants.

What&How:This project will improve the quality and increase the volume of cooperation

between institutions which are interested in organizing festivals and need a higher degree of

professionalism. It is a recognized feature of the partners that working in collaboration with

local employers and agencies can have benefits in the long term by creating sustainable

employment opportunities to meet the demands of the labour market. In this project the

competence and entrepreneurship of the target group will be improved through active

involvement of each partner in peer learning, team building activities and workshops. Besides,

participants will make observations and research good examples organised in partner

countries. At the end of this project the participants will have prepared a guidebook about

organizing festivals based on their work and experience gained in the project. Moreover, an

international festival will be started in the country of the coordinator and participants from

each part of Europe will be welcome to this festival. This partnership will go beyond this

project and its results and products will be exploited.

When&Where:This project will start in September 2012 and ends in July 2014. In two years'

time there will be flows to each partner to maintain the partnership and implement the project

activities efficiently.

Definition of festival in English

Festival:

Pronunciation: /ˈfɛstɪv(ə)l/

noun

1. a day or period of celebration, typically for religious reasons: traditional Jewish

festivals

2. an organized series of concerts, plays, or films, typically one held annually in the

same place:a major international festival of song

Origin:

Middle English (as an adjective): via Old French from medieval Latin festivalis, from

Latin festivus, from festum, (plural) festa 'feast'

Taken from: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/festival

Introduction

When asked to define a festival, we could say quite simply, that it is an organised celebration

that may include one or more activities such as music, food, film, theatre and dance. Festivals

can vary in duration and size from a few hours to several days and are generally staged by

community organisations, private enterprise or a combination of both.

One of the main intentions of this handbook is to provide guidance to both inexperienced and

experienced festival organisers to help avoid or overcome some of the common problems that

may arise when organising a festival. This handbook will provide practical advice and

guidance and will identify the essential partnerships and steps related to planning and

implementing a successful event.

The main themes covered in the handbook are:

• concept and programming of a festival;

• management of a festival;

• regulations for arrivals, accommodation, catering and entertainment;

• contact with participants and confirmation, technical arrangements and precautions;

• sponsorship and preparing/managing the festival budget,

• promotion, publicity and dissemination activities of a festival.

Planning and hosting festivals can often be challenging but can also be very satisfying and

rewarding for both the organisers and the audience. This step-by-step guide will hopefully

provide enough help to take the fear of the unknown out of the process of organising a

festival, but still leave room for you to be creative and innovative in any future festivals you

intend to do.

1. Concept and programming of a Festival:

When starting to plan a festival, the first step is to define a structured concept and a concrete

involvement of all performers. What is very important for the festival and its programming is

the definition of a clear concept that offers a good approach to guarantee a structured and

effective proceeding. The planning of a festival shall be focused on the main and core

conceptual elements illustrated below:

Figure 1

The planning of an event first of all entails identifying the elements that will allow us manage

it properly later on. A number of essential steps, such as preparing a detailed action plan and a

precise time schedule, are required to plan an event; these will also be used to monitor the

progress made and, if necessary, to modify strategies and objectives.

• General Purpose:

For planning a festival it’s necessary to consider the following influences:

- a celebration

- making profit for organisations, for charity etc.

- promotion of organisations, hosting events, cultural awareness, education, political

aspects, equality and diversity, religious aspects;

- providing entertainment;

- attract tourists;

- formal, informal and non-formal learning process, 8 key competences ;

- Environmental issues.

• Target group:

To optimise the arrangement of a festival it is crucial to consider who you are aiming at:

students, family, age group, etc.

• Sponsorship:

When starting to looking for a sponsorship it’s necessary to:

- inform the potential sponsors about concept of the festival.

- take into consideration the needs and interests of the potential sponsors.

• Geography (Location):

It’s necessary to consider where the event will be held, the physical constraints such as space

available, general sites, weather, transport links. You should make sure that parking is

organised and traffic flow is good. If this is poorly organised, this can give a very negative

impression of the festival.

• Time Available:

The organiser shall take into account the duration of the event, (depending on the available

resources) and how much time is available for the organisation. To avoid or to limit the

mistakes it’s necessary to have enough time. In general, to organize an event, the organiser

needs more or less five months, at least. Also, it’s very important to check if there are other

possible events that may coincide with the organised event.

• Local Needs:

It’s necessary to take into account the context in which one intends to organise a festival and

the related needs, constrains, obstacles. It’s very important to be aware of the requirements of

the area where the event will be held. For example: local governments priorities, cultural

identity of the area, socio-economic aspects.

• Planned Activities:

Since the beginning, it’s necessary to clearly plan which type of activities we are going to

offer: music, dance, workshops, sports, education, practical activities etc.

• Constraints:

Security, finance, local laws and regulation, logistics.

• Resources:

The available budget, human resources (paid and/ or unpaid workers), technical resources,

equipment, expertises shall be taken into account.

To make a good event:

First of all, it’s very important to have a good and fluent communication between the other

organisers. All the staff members and other key players shall be constantly informed about

the progresses of the organisation by the organiser(s) as responsible(s) of each step. In this

sense performers, staff, local authorities and other key players are essential.

It is also particularly important to supply involvement of volunteers who need to be trained to

cooperate within the event. When doing this from the beginning, they feel responsible and are

motivated for active contribution.

In the figure below the basic elements to be taken into account to make a good event are

illustrated:

Figure 2

Moreover, it’s very important to disseminate the event to reach a lot of people, or the

target group.

Finally, soon after finishing a festival, there should be an evaluation of lessons learnt to

notice mistakes to avoid in the future.

2. Management of a Festival:

Roles and

Responsibilities

Stage Management

Management

Security

Staff

Administration

Management:

• Stageplot: Drawing of the stage sent by the artist, technical info/organization of items on the stage, space needed for the performance and technical equipment should be taken into consideration.

• Artist rider: The artist rider details specifications on stage design, sound systems, lighting as well as an artist’s wish list from travel and billing to dressing room.

• Technical equipment : Make sure that you keep in communication with all of the contractors and content providers (speakers, venue managers, bands etc). You also should make sure that all of the equipment you are using has been checked properly.

• Artist liaison: The artist liaison has the role of ensuring the festival to run smoothly and that artists enjoy a well organised, stress free festival. He/she is the one between the organiser and the artist providing coordination/cooperation.

• Health and safety : Health and safety needs to be a clear priority, as it is not only a legal requirement but also taking a proactive approach to avoid potentially very serious consequences. The event organising committee needs to examine the risks involved with the event by asking for example, “What could happen?” or “What if?” The answers will determine whether police, private, uniformed security or peer security is required.

As a festival organizer you have responsibility for the health and safety of staff and volunteers as well as for the general public who attend the festival events. This will ensure the continuation of the festival and protection of the environment.

You should also make sure that you have the relevant insurances in place – not only Public Liability (in case of the guests gets injured) but also employers liability insurance (even if the only people working there are volunteers) as well as insurance in case any of the technical equipment gets lost, stolen or damaged.

• The schedule of the festival : One of the best ways to promote a festival is to create a special web page dedicated to the festival. You can also include information on accommodation, ticket prices and location.

• Map/guidebook/brochure about the festival area : It is very important to inform all the participants about everything what is going to happen in the festival, where and how to get there. A map of the event is essential for event planning and management. The site plan can be distributed for setting up the event and is also invaluable in an emergency.

• Contract between the participants and the organiser: During the build of the event it is critical to make sure that all of the technical contractors are working on their own, and accomplishing the signed contract, and your own risk assessment guidelines, as you have a responsibility for their working practises.

• First contact with the artists/participants : It is a short description about the festival and the organisers. You may have invitation letters/calls if necessary.

• Transportation facilities : You should provide all the information possible about the way how to reach the festival, prices, timetables, duration of the trip and all the small but important details so that the public won´t have any difficulty to go there.

• Application form for the volunteer groups about their shows/needs : You need to know the competences of each volunteer, so you need they fill an application where they describe and let you decide where they can be useful.

• Stage management : The stage manager is in charge of everything that may impact the functioning of the stage, the performances that take place there and the backstage environment. They are the direct festival liaison between performers and all concerns performers may have with the staging of their performance. They organize performer technical requirements into a coherent system and they assign the line numbers that will be used on stage.

• Distribution of tasks : You should make sure that everyone knows clearly what they have to do, otherwise there will be a confusion.

3. Regulations For Arrivals, Accommodation, Catering and

Entertainment

Arrangement for arrivals

Festival audience

The festival audience has to be let in under controlled circumstances with no running or

behavior that can initiate chaos or panic. The audience should be made aware of where to find

security and exits. Also provide the audience with maps over the festival area that clearly shows

where to find camping area or other available accommodation, facilities, catering and other

services available to them.

Participating guests

The arrival of participating guests of the festival is an important chance at making good and

lasting first impressions. Commonly guests will arrive on different days and times, by different

means of transportation and with varying needs that need to be seen to during the process of

their arrival. A guest manager and pick-up coordinator can work together to assure nothing is

forgotten.

Arrivals by public transportation, airline or similar

If guests arrive with public transportation, airline or similar, there might be a need to arrange a

pick-up to take them the last way to the festival area. Have a driver or guest assistant hold a sign

with festival logo and/or the name of the guest to assure the two parties find each other on the

pick-up location. Communicate with guests prior to their departure for the festival so that they

know what to look for.

A pick-up coordinator should monitor information on traffic jams, changes in the schedules of

connecting transport and communicate this information to the drivers. Extreme delays can

cause disruption to the entire pick-up schedule and the coordinator is then tasked with

reorganizing the schedule so that the festival schedule and guests are not affected.

Arrivals by private transport

Some guests will arrive with their own transport. Make sure they know the way, for example

send them a map with directions before they depart for the festival and provide them with

contact information in case they need further assistance or encounter problems on the way.

Coordinate some sort of greeting upon their arrival, someone to help them to their

accommodation and introduce them to the festival area.

Arrival at the festival area

First thing when guests arrive is to set up their accommodation. If they have travelled far, make

sure you are able to offer something to eat. Provide the guests with a map covering the festival

area in relation to their accommodation and where to find necessities such as canteen or lounge,

facilities, pharmacy (or alternative basic medicine supply on location), internet (if applicable)

and relevant members of staff.

Arrangement for accommodation

Festival audience

For festival audience camping at the festival area, it's important to have the camping area clearly

marked out and necessary facilities easily accessible on the festival grounds.

Participating guests

The accommodation of participating guests is preferably within walking distance of the festival

area. Depending on the nature of the festival, participating guests might need accommodation

separated and secluded from the festival audience.

Hotels and hostels

If participating guests and members of staff are staying at hotels and hostels it is important to

get several confirmations on all the bookings prior to arrival. Due to changing staff at the hotels

and hostels, a booking might be missed or not properly make it into the booking system. Make

one confirmation on all bookings before the festival starts and a second confirmation a day

before the arrival of each guest or member of staff.

Assist each participating guest upon check-in and keep a record of who stays in which room for

faster and easier communication with the guests during the festival.

Provide the hotel or hostel reception with contact information to the guest manager and other

relevant members of the festival staff in case of emergency or if the guests have questions that

the hotel or hostel staff are unable to answer.

Other accommodation

If the festival area is outside of regular infrastructure with no hotel or hostel within walking

distance of the festival area, you might need to set up housing trailers, tents, camping wagons or

similar to accommodate the participating guests. Make sure all guests have access to facilities

with running water and electricity. Also take care to make arrangements for their safety, privacy

and the safety of their belongings.

Catering

Most commonly a local catering company is contracted for the duration of the festival. It is

important to keep good communication with the catering company both prior to and during the

festival.

Health and safety regulations regarding catering vary between different countries and you need

to look up what the laws and regulations are for the country and region of the festival. If

applicable, do not forget to take notice of regulations regarding the serving of alcohol in

connection to catering.

Health and safety regulations should cover what responsibilities the owner of the catering

company has towards the customers. Take note of what hours the catering company can serve

and what time the kitchen opens and closes.

As in any other instance, have responsibilities clearly distributed amongst members of staff. For

example, who is responsible and will manage the situation of the kitchen suffers a power

outage? If the kitchen suddenly has no running water, who will be responsible for regaining

running water and when the kitchen then must be closed down, who deals with guests and

festival audience that still need to eat?

Meal tickets

To assure only members of staff and guests intended to be served by the festival's catering are

served off charge, it can be helpful to implement a meal ticket system.

Distribute meal tickets to members of staff and guests on a daily basis, one ticket per offered

meal. As meal tickets are easily lost, do not hand out more than a day's worth of meal tickets to a

person at a time.

Special dietary needs

Ask members of staff and participating guests about allergies and special diets such as

vegetarian, vegan, lactose or gluten-free meals before the start of the festival and inform the

catering company of how many of each special dietary need will be dining every day. Double

check with everyone and count on that some have failed to inform of their special dietary needs.

Make arrangements for the most common special diets are provided for by the catering

company.

Check if any members of staff or participating guests are pregnant or diabetic and thus need

extra attention paid to their eating schedule. Make extra effort to provide regular opportunities

to eat for those individuals.

Some guests or members of staff will have especially tight schedules that occasionally won't

allow them to visit the lounge or canteen area during its serving hours. Make sure these staff

members and guests are aware of their tight schedule and have a runner fetch them meals if

desired.

Regulations for entertainment

When planning a festival, it's important for festival audience, crew and the entertainment that

things go as smoothly as possible. To assure this it is important that everyone knows their task.

The text that follows explains standard crew, tasks and regulations for members of staff working

on-stage at a festival.

Backline-technician: Responsible for all guitar- and bass-amplifiers and drum-set on

stage. He/she is also available during the performance on stage, if any drums, amplifiers

or instruments should break or fall.

Light-technician: Responsible for the light-effects on stage.

Microphone-man: Helps the sound-technician to place the microphones and cables

where they should be. He/she is also available during the performance on stage, if any

microphone or cable should break so it can be replaced of fixed as fast as possible.

Monitor-technician: Responsible for the sound on stage. The sound that is directed

towards the musicians.

Sound-technician: Responsible for the sound coming from the stage.

Stage-commander: Responsible for the work on stage. This person is responsible for

the people working on the stage (especially the stagehands), the artist (when they are

performing) and the overall security on stage. This person must be on stage at all times

during the performance.

Stagehand: Working on the stage, helping the stage-commander, backline-technician or

microphone-man with various work on stage. This person does not necessarily need to

be experienced in this kind of work. The most important thing is that it is a person you

can trust, and can take orders.

All of these people need to be well prepared, preferably by reading the bands itineraries, stage

plots and riders in good time before the gig. The backline-technician and stage-commander need

to properly coordinate their work to be able to handle the stagehands and hand out their tasks.

Sometimes there can be only 15 minutes between bands performing on the same stage so things

need to be set up fast.

Entertainment outside of festival area for participating guests

Some of the participating guests might want to use free time to do sightseeing or enjoy other

forms of entertainment in the area, but outside of the festival. To assure the safety of these

guests and make sure that they return in time to the next appointment on their schedule it can

be profitable to have a driver and guest assistant arrange a sight-seeing tour for these guests.

This could also further improve the guests' opinion of the standard of the festival.

If guests desire to venture away from the festival area on their own, make sure that the guest

manager has means of getting in contact with them and they have the contact information of the

guest manager. Try to keep track of where they are located at all times in case of emergencies or

appointments appearing with short notice, such as interviews with media etc.

Safety and ICE-document

Special needs

Some of the guests might have special needs, such as a handicap or a need for an interpreter etc.

The guest manager should be aware of all these needs before the start of the festival so that it is

possible to make proper preparations to accommodate these needs. All members of staff in any

way affected by these special needs should be informed and made aware of how this affects their

work.

ICE-document

The guest manager should prepare a document with useful information in case of various

emergencies - an ICE (In Case of Emergency) -document. The guest manager and guest

assistants should carry this document with them at all times. The ICE-document should cover

the following:

- Health care accessible to the festival area, such as pharmacies, clinics, emergency ward,

defibrillator, dental care. Include address, open hours, telephone numbers. If available in the

region, include a health care advice number, available 24-7.

- Police. Emergency phone number and address, open hours and telephone numbers to the

nearest police station. Include information on procedures to report loss of passport or other

important identification.

- Embassies, if the festival has international guests and/or members of staff. Include address,

open hours, phone numbers and procedures to replace a lost passport.

- Airline companies, if guests or members of staff have arrived by airplane. Include customer

service number, open hours and procedures to report lost luggage.

- Credit card companies, such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club. Include

contact information and procedures to report lost or stolen credit card.

- Contact information of available drivers, only to be contacted directly in case of emergency.

All other transport should be arranged through the drivers' coordinator.