1

2

This project has been funded with support of the

European Commission. The sole responsibility of this

public on lies with the author. The European Union is not

responsible for any use that may be made of the

information contained therein.

Project Code 2012-1-TR1-LEO04-35473.

3

4

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

Reference

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

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 through

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 backbone of this Guidebook.

5

Contents:

Introduction....…………………………………….

6

Chapter 1 - Concept and programming of a

Festival..…................................................................

8

Chapter 2 - Management of a

Festival…………………………………………………..

14

Chapter 3 - Arrangement for

arrivals……………………………………………..

20

Chapter 4 - Contact with Participants and

Confirmation……………………………………….

31

Chapter 5 - Preparing / Finding / Managing the

budget and sponsorship…………………………….

39

Chapter 6 - Promotion and Dissemination

Activities of a Festival……………………………..

45

Glossary……………………………………………

51

Info about partners……………………………….

55

The summary of the project - Festival

Entrepreneurship for VET………………………….

67

6

Introduction

When asked to define a festival, we could say

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 functions 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.

7

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.

8

CHAPTER 1

Concept and programming of a Festival

When starting to plan a festival, the first step is to

define a simple, structured concept and ensure the

involvement and commitment of all participants. What is

very important for the festival and its programming is the

definition of a clear concept that offers a pragmatic

approach to guarantee a structured, effective &

successful event. The planning of a festival should

ideally be focused on the main and core conceptual

elements illustrated below:

CONCEPT

Sponsorship

General Purpose

Resources

Constrains

Planned Activities

Local Needs

Time Available

Geography

Target Group

9

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 on an on-going basis

where necessary.

General Purpose

For planning a festival it may be necessary to

consider the following influences:

• type of 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/community;

• formal, informal and non-formal learning process,

• 8 key competences,

• environmental impacts.

10

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 look for sponsorship it‟s

necessary to:

- inform the potential sponsors about the

concept of the festival, simply and clearly.

- take into consideration the needs and interests

of the potential sponsors.

Geography (Location)

It is 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.

Planned Activities

Since the beginning, it‟s necessary to clearly plan

which type of activities you are going to offer e.g. music,

dance, workshops, sports, education, practical activities

etc.

11

Time Available

The organiser shall need to take into account the

duration of the event, (depending on the available

resources) and how much time is available for the

planning and organisation. To avoid or to limit the

mistakes it is necessary to plan well ahead and have

enough time. In general, to organise an event, the

organiser may need up to 11 months if it is a very large

festival. In general five months, at least is usually needed

for a significant event. Before starting the progress it‟s

very important to check if there are other possible events

that may coincide with the proposed provisional date of

your organised event.

Local Needs

It‟s necessary to consider 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 government‟s priorities, cultural

identity of the area, socio-economic aspects etc.

Constraints

The main one‟s being: security, finance, local

laws and regulation, logistics.

12

Resources

The available budget, human resources (paid and/

or unpaid workers), technical resources, equipment,

expertises shall be taken into account.

To help ensure 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 should be

frequently informed about the progress of the

organisation by the organiser(s) who are responsible(s) of

each step. In this sense the involvement of performers,

staff, local authorities and other key players is essential.

It is also particularly important to actively

encourage the involvement of volunteers. Involving

volunteers early into the planning of the festival will help

foster more motivated and pro-active staff and help them

feel more valued. Incentives such as training, work

experience and free refreshments will also help with the

recruitment of volunteers.

13

In the figure below illustratesd the basic elements to be

taken into account to make a good event

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, it is good

practice to evaluate the festival to identify good practice

and areas of improvement for the next event.

SINGER

Our role: make artists be welcome

Marketing, Posters, Elvers

Sound Tech Lights

Security Guard

Entrance Fee

Owner of the location: -Stage

Master of ceremony

Responsible for the organisation of the

event

INFO:

Communication - to make a goof event we

need to inform, everyone must know

what's happen

14

CHAPTER 2

Management of a Festival

MANAGEMENT

Roles and Responsibilities

Stage Management

Security Staff

Administration

15

Management

Health and safety

Health and safety needs to be a clear priority in

the planning stage, as it is not only a legal requirement,

but also will help to reduce the potential risks and

hazards at an early stage. The event organising

committee needs to examine the potential risks and

hazards involved through a risk assessment for the event.

A risk assessment asks basic questions such as “What

could happen?” or “What if?”, “what measures do we

need to put in to ensure that hazards and risk are

reduced?”. The answers to these basic questions may for

example determine whether police, private, uniformed

security or peer security is required or a different

technical set-up is needed. It may even determine

whether the event is viable or not. As a festival organiser

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 the safety and protection

of the people involved and the surrounding environment.

Insurance

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.

Administration

16

Stageplot

A drawing/diagram of the stage sent by the artist,

technical info/organisation of items on the stage, space

needed for the performance and technical equipment

should be provided.

Artist rider

The artist rider details such requests as:

specifications on stage design, sound systems, lighting as

well as the artist(s) wish list, ranging from travel &

billing to dressing room/refreshment requirements.

Technical equipment

Make sure that you keep in frequent

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 runs smoothly and that artists enjoy a well

organised, stress free festival. He/she is the kep person

acting as the interface between the organiser and the

artist.

17

Contract between the participants and the

organiser(s)

During the set-up and operation of the event it is

critical to make sure that all of the technical contractors,

artists and other external agencies are working to the

specifications stipulated in their signed contracts and

your own risk assessment guidelines. Always be aware

that you have overall responsibility for the health and

safety of every aspect of the festival and it is necessary

for everybody to comply with their contractual

obligations.

First contact with the artists/participants

It should be a short description about the festival

and the organisers. Usually through invitation letters or

emails/ telephone calls.

Map/guidebook/brochure about the festival area

It is very important to inform all the participants

about everything that is going to happen in the festival

and where and how to get there. A clear map of the event

is essential for event planning and management. The site

plan can be also be distributed for setting up the event

and is also invaluable for emergency services that may be

used while the event is operating.

18

Distribution of tasks

You should make sure that everyone knows

clearly what they have to do, otherwise there will be a

confusion. Clear, simple communication is essential.

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.

Application form for the volunteer groups about their

shows/needs

You need to know the competences of each

volunteer to use them effectively. This can be done

through the application process.

Transportation facilities

You should provide all the information possible

about how to reach the festival e.g. types of transport

available, prices, timetables, duration of the trip etc. This

will help the spectators plan their journey more easily.

Stage management (performance)

The stage manager is in charge of everything that

may impact on 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 the concerns performers may have

19

with regards to the staging of their performance. They

organise performers‟ technical requirements into a

coherent system and they help coordinate the running

order of artists on stage.

20

CHAPTER 3

Arrangement for arrival of artists/special

guests

Arrival by public transportation, airline or other

If guests arrive via public transportation, through

an airline or similar, there might be a need to arrange a

pick-up to take them to the festival area. It is always

good practice to have a driver or assistant to hold a sign

with the festival logo and/or the name of the guest to

assure the two parties find each other on the pick-up

location. It is always useful to communicate with guests

prior to their departure for the festival so that they know

what to look for and expect.

Make sure the driver has good knowledge of the

route between the pick-up point and the festival area.

They should preferably know of alternative routes in case

of traffic jams.

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.

21

Arrival by private transport

Some guests will arrive using 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 a friendly welcome upon their arrival

and provide someone to help them to their

accommodation and introduce them to the festival area.

Arrival at the festival area

The first thing when guests arrive is to direct them

to their accommodation. If they have travelled far, make

sure you are able to offer them refreshments. 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 involved with

their performance.

Festival audience

The festival audience should be directed into the

festival under safe and controlled circumstances making

sure that crowds are prevented from running or

behaviour that can cause chaos or panic. The audience

should be made aware of where to find toilets, security

and exits. Also provide the audience with maps over the

festival area that clearly shows where to find essentails

22

such as camping area or other available accommodation,

facilities, catering, toilets etc.

Participating guests

The arrival of participating artists/guests of the

festival is a good opportunity to make positive 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.

Arrangement for accommodation

Festival audience

For festival audiences 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. It is also essential that this aspect is

managed by designated people on-site. You may want to

provide information of local acoomodation options

(hotels, bed and bresakfast and hostels) to the audience.

Participating guests

The accommodation of participating guests

should ideally, be 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.

23

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

24

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 and

licensing.

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, try to 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.

25

Meal tickets

To assure only members of staff and guests

intended to be served by the festival's catering are served

without 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.

26

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 limited schedule. A may be a good idea to

employ a runner to fetch them meals/refreshments 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

electronic instrument amplification and drum-sets

on stage. He/she should be also available during

the performance to assist on stage, if any drums,

amplifiers or instruments should break or fall.

Lighting technician: Responsible for the light-

effects on stage.

Sound technician: Responsible for the sound

coming from the stage.

27

Microphone technician: 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.

Stage Manager: 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.

28

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 relevant to their schedule, it may be

advisable to offer a driver or assistant to help with the

arrangements. If artisits/guests intend to venture away

from the festival area on their own, it is necessary that

you make sure that the festival manager has means of

getting in contact with them and they have the contact

information of the guest manager. This is also useful in

case of emergencies or appointments appearing with

short notice, such as interviews with media etc.

29

Safety and ICE-document

Special requirements

Some of the artists/guests might have special

needs, such as a disibility or a need for an interpreter etc.

The festival 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 this

information to help accommodate them.

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.

30

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. It could be useful to

include contact information and procedures to report lost

or stolen credit cards for the major companies.

Contact information of available drivers – should only

to be contacted directly in case of emergency. All other

transport should be arranged through the drivers'

coordinator.

31

CHAPTER 4

Contact with Participants and Confirmation

Contact through e-mail

Communication through e-mail has great benefits when

settling and deciding details as there are many things

around the participants that will affect several people

amongst the festival staff. When e-mailing participants,

add the participants' e-mail addresses in the main address

field and add address to all affected staff in the Carbon

Copy (Cc) field. When replying e-mails, unless a

participant has asked a personal question that needs to be

treated differently, always “reply all” so that all

exchanges are shared with all affected parties. If any

participant or members of staff need their address to

remain hidden, use the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) field.

This way only the sender and the hidden recipient will

know of the address.

While it is good that all relevant staff receives

important information, do try to limit the amount of staff

included in Cc. For example, if the festival has a manager

that has main responsibility over transport,

accommodation and food for the participants, then there

is no need to include the catering chef, hotel staff and

transport coordinator in the Cc field. The guest manager

will take responsibility to forward only the information

relevant to respective party. Festival managers however

should always be included in Cc so they can get a full

and complete view of all proceedings of the festival's

preproduction.

32

Telephone contact and videoconferences

Contact over phone is a preferable way to make a

more personal impression prior to the festival, if there is

a need for that, but important details are always good to

have in writing. If you keep contact over phone or video

conference, have pen and paper (or other means to take

notes) at the ready in case important questions come up

or any decisions are made. It is easy to forget a detail that

in the end turns out to be very important.

Contact during preproduction

Contact with participants during the pre-

production of the festival will most likely be conducted

through e-mail or possibly also over phone or similar

means.

Contracts

Contracts serve many purposes and have a very

important role in assuring that both parties - festival

managers and participants - are operating on the same

level of understanding and agreement. The more you and

the contracted person(s) empathise when agreeing the

contract, the lesser the risk of conflict during the festival.

Conflicts can be anything from general displeasure with

arrangements to misunderstandings about transport. Don't

be afraid to be detailed in the contract, this demonstrates

good forward thinking. If you are unfamiliar with writing

contracts it is advisable that you seek expert help or at the

33

very least ask for a second opinion on your existing

contracts from someone with knowledge and experience

before they are ratified.

Contact during the festival

During the festival most contact will most likely

be done in person, but in case participants use free time

out of the festival area, it is advisable to have a way of

contacting them at all times. If they do not possess a

mobile phone with service at the location, for example

due to being out of their own country, it is advisable to

advise them to purchase a (or provide if the budget

allows) a prepaid Simcard or similar solution so that you

can be in contact at any time. Participants might forget

appointments, there might be interviews with press

scheduled at the last minute or the participants might

want to get in contact with the festival staff without

having to chase them down. SMS or txt-services can be

used to send participants reminders of upcoming

appointments in their schedules, for example interviews

with press, time and place of pick-up from hotel and

similar. It is however preferable to also provide

participants with printed daily schedules on the day

before as they retreat to their accommodation.

34

Technical Arrangements and Precautions

First of all, provide a friendly welcome to the

artists and guests to your festival on arrival. Initially, you

should give basic information about the festival (this

could be sent before hand), approximately how many

visitors are expected at the festival and how many

visitors you can permit in front of the stage. Also brief

the artist on any special theme or visions you might have

as managers of the festivals as it could potentially be of

interest to the artists and their performance.

Schedule

Make a schedule for the artist, including arrival

time, set-up, sound-check, performance times, catering

times and availability, and closing time. The address of

the venue should always be provided. Papers can also

easily be misplaced, therefore ensure that schedules are

easily accessible and available on a daily basis to the

relevant people which are up-dated. This also permits

you to make changes to the schedule during the festival

where necessary.

35

Technical rider from the organiser

Make a list of all equipment and services you know

you are able to provide the artists with. Here‟s an

example:

Drum set: Pearl VB825/C, base drum, floor

tom, 2 hanging toms, hi-hat stand, 3 cymbal

stand.

4 vocal microphones, SM58 + 4 stands

Sound engineer

etc.

Do not include equipment or services on the list that

you have not properly confirmed will be at your disposal

for the entire duration of the festival. This could possibly

lead to problems with the artist(s) performance and

unduly affect the quality of the entertainment.

36

37

Technical rider from the artist

It is good practice to request a complete list from

participants, covering all the equipment they will need,

bring and use at the festival. It is important to ascertain

this so that you as the organiser have time to brief and

prepare the sound engineers and stage management

regarding set-up and efficient use of equipment. If certain

equipment is unusually bulky, this might also demand

special preparations with transport and stage setup.

Request that the artists send this list to you at least two

weeks prior to the festival. This should be included as

part of the contractual arrangements. It is always good

practice to send artisits friendly, but insistent reminders if

their list has not arrived once you reach the two week

deadline.

Stage plot

A stage plot is a simple sketch/diagram that the

artist makes to show you as an organizer their stage set

up. It should also include requests for numbers of

monitors and how many vocal microphones the artist

needs. If anything is unclear, don‟t hesitate to ask for

clarifications in good time.

Precautions

Always follow the health and safety regulations in

your country. Take note that safety regulations may differ

and change depending on which country you are

operating in and therefore may be subject to up-dates.

38

Even if you feel confident you know the local safety

regulations, it is always advisable to double check.

39

CHAPTER 5

Preparing / Finding / Managing the budget

and Sponsorship

BUDGET

Finding

Who + Where

Preparing

and

Spending

Reduce & be Smart

Managing

How to…

40

41

SPONSORSHIP

SPONSORSHIP

Who ?

How ? What ?

42

WHO ?

IDENTIFY SUITABLE SPONSORS

WHO

Non - Profit Organizations

Individuals

NGO's

Media

Public Organizations

(e.g Bank energy)

Regional Goverment

Local Goverment

Private Business

43

HOW ?

HOW DO WE RECRUIT SPONSORS ?

HOW

Contract / Agreement

Information Session

(Potential Sponsors)

Information Pack +

Example of Publicity

Clear Idea of Event (e.g. Concept,

values, when, time,

audience etc.)

Professional Presentation

(Spokes Person,

Sponsorship Team)

Promote + VE Image Being

part of a team

Evidence of previous

events (Establish

credentials)

44

WHAT ?

TYPE OF SPONSORSHIP

WHAT

Utilities (e.g. electricity) Technical

Support (Expertise + Guidence)

Publicity + Marketing

Venue/Space

Awards/

Prizes Health & Safety (e.g. First Aid)

Labour

Transport

Economy

Material + Equipment

45

CHAPTER 6

Marketing, Promotion and Dissemination

Activities of a Festival

Marketing, promotion and dissemination of

activities for a festival, requires careful thought and

planning. It is advisable to have a nominated person or

small team of people (with the right expertise), within the

larger festival management team to be responsible and

oversee this aspect of the festival. Before commencing, it

is important that an operational plan and budget is agreed

at the beginning of this process to help prevent excessive

spending. This is one aspect of the festival that can easily

go over budget if it is not planned and managed well.

Marketing and promotion of the festival should

start as early as possible so that materials and ideas can

be thoroughly checked, resourced and standardised. It is

also helpful that the target audience has the information

about the festival in good time too, to help organise their

own situation and to further spread the word amongst

family and friends. It is important to also involve key

partners at this stage e.g. sponsors, to ensure that the

promotional strategy and materials are mutually

acceptable to everybody involved.

46

Promotion and dissemination of the festival

activities

Choosing the appropriate title/concept for your

festival

One of the most challenging aspects for any

festival is choosing the right title. The title is the festival

brand and should effectively convey the idea and concept

of the festival. Ideally it should be short and simple,

memorable and easily recognisable. Attention also needs

to be paid to the type of lettering, imagery and colour

scheme used for presentation, so that it is eye catching

and attractive. Once this is agreed, the branding needs to

be standardised on all promotional activities.

Preparing publicity materials

Good publicity and marketing is one of the major

cornerstones to any festival and most often events can

succeed or fail on the strength of how well it is

publicised. Organisers need to invest as much time,

energy and resources available to create the best quality

publicity materials to appeal to their target audience.

Publicity material can range from printed posters,

leaflets, brochures and flyers to e-posters on the internet

and social media sites. For large festivals, audio and

visual material may be needed if you decide to

commission commercials on radio and TV.

47

What to include for publicity materials

The brand name (the standardised version), the

location, the start/finish time, who is appearing, and

contact information for the event (e.g. a web address, e-

mail address/a telephone number/ a postal address),

names of sponsors (if relevant), the cost and any

concessions and how to purchase tickets (if the festival is

not free).

For printed and electronic materials, type and

images should be of the best quality possible. Standards

should be set for print quality, such as the quality of the

image resolution, type of font, font size etc. The lettering

and explanation of the festival should be concise, clear

and eye catching. You should avoid long sentences on

posters, leaflets and websites and try to keep to simple

vocabulary. For e-materials, you may wish to add

hyperlinks to other sites. To give a good impression, it is

important that the links are kept active and any „dead

links‟ are removed as soon as possible. Therefore

somebody from your team should be tasked with the

regular maintenance of the website.

All materials should be proof read thoroughly. If

you are using images that are not your own, it may be

necessary to ensure that you are not breaking any

copyright law. Therefore, you will need to seek

permission to use images which are not generated by the

festival team.

48

It is sometimes useful to include a site map on

your materials for people unfamiliar with the area. If the

intention is to publicise the festival internationally, the

publicity materials may have to be accurately translated

into other languages depending on your target audience.

Dissemination - reaching your audience

Starting this process early and continually

keeping up the publicity of the festival in the public

domain, is one of the keys to a well- attended event.

Assembling and effectively managing a publicity team is

another key factor. Publicising a festival can be very

labour intensive and often involves visiting many places

and people during unsociable hours, particularly within

the two week period leading up to the festival.

Here are a few ideas that you could consider.

Draw up a contact list from your existing

contacts both professional and personal.

Contact can be made to the people on your list

using e-mail, telephone, or by post. You could

further ask your contacts if they would be

willing to also communicate basic

promotional information about the planned

festival.

Prepare leaflets/flyers for the promotion of

your festival and put them on notice boards,

shop windows and hand or leave them out in

specific public areas where you may expect to

49

see a large number of people. It is often good

practice to use flyers intensively the day

before and on the day of the event to help

remind people of the festival and capture

anyone who is still not aware of the festival.

Depending on your target audience, you may

be able to advertise your festival in local

schools, colleges, universities, public

buildings (town hall) and community centres.

Promote the festival through other events

such as meetings, concerts, other festivals,

public gatherings, etc.

You can prepare a website or use social media

sites, e.g. Facebook page /twitter page for

your festival promotion. It is essential that this

form of publicity is constantly up-dated when

necessary.

Launch event – invite key people to a launch

party or dinner to help publicise the festival.

The people invited could in-turn promote the

festival through their own contacts.

Using local media (or national media if the

festival is large enough). Media can include newsletter

notices, radio advertising, television advertising

(however, this is expensive and requires a substantial

budget), the internet, newspapers and magazines.

Advertising in local newspapers can be very effective but

50

can also be expensive too. This form of advertising tends

to be more effective nearer the time of the festival.

Final Thoughts

Any festival whether it is large in size, small in size,

involves music, food, dance or a variety of activities,

needs common set of key elements to have a chance of

success. The key elements to a successful festival can be

condensed into the following: develop a good concept

with the right attractions, plan, organise & communicate

meticulously, have a competent, hard working and well-

motivated team, select the right venue, publicise the

event well, obtain enough finance to realise your concept

and manage your finances prudently.

The most successful festivals usually have these key

elements. However, even the best run festivals are never

perfect and there are often lessons to be learned. If you

are new to organising and running festivals or even if you

have organised festivals before, through experience you

can always improve on each festival you run.

This guide is based on actual experience of festivals.

Hopefully it will help you avoid some of the common

difficulties that can arise and enable you to reflect and

consider what is needed to organise a festival to make the

whole experience less daunting and more enjoyable for

everybody.

51

GLOSSARY

Access: To make sure everything goes smoothly and

prevent accidents or theft on a festival, all personal and

visitors should be issued with a braclet or cards with

different colors or letters to show the security personel

where they can access. For example, a "triple A-pass"

means Access All Areas. If you are given this level of

access, you have unlimited access to all parts of the

festival.

Accreditation: Accreditation is the process in which

journalists and others from the media should be given

access to events where participants and access is

restricted.

Artist contract: During a festival, it is not uncommon

that there can be differences between the organiser and

artist on the festival day. To prevent this, it´s best to have

an artist contract, where all the terms and conditions

between the artist and festival organiser are written down

and agreed upon.

Artist host/liaison: The person responsible for the artists

off stage. This person should be able to answer any

questions the artists might have, or at least put them in

touch with the person they should talk to.

Backline technician: This person in responsible for all

the electronic instrument amplification and drumsets on

stage.

52

Backstage: Backstage is an area on the festival where the

artist or performers can prepare themselves and relax

before a concert or gig.

Crowd management: Crowd management refers to

communication to the crowd and relates also to the

subsequent safe control of the crowd. It usually uses

vocal or other signals to persuade a crowd to follow

necessary instructions for health and safety reasons.

Crowd control: Crowd control is the next stage on from

crowd management to prevent the outbreak of any

disorder using physical barriers or reasonable force.

Decibel: A logarithmic unit of measurement that

measures noise pressure and is directly related to the

volume level of the sound.

It is used to indicate the volume of sound coming from

the PA system and backline amplification.

Ditch: Refers to the area of separation between the stage

and the crowd.

Ditch personel: Refers to the people working in the

ditch. This can be for example people working in security

or commissioned photographers or external

photographers given permission by the festival

organisers.

Festival map: A map of the festival area so the visitors

easily can find their way around the area.

53

Front of house: The place where the sound and light-

technician is situated. Often a place in the middle of the

crowd, in front of the stage.

Lighting technician(s): The person(s) responsible for

the light-effects on stage.

Operations Manager: The person in charge of the

festival area. This person decides where different stages,

backstage, marketplaces, restaurant and other things

should be located.

Rider: often included as part of the artist contract. A

rider is a document that the artist sends to the festival to

inform the people responsible what the artist needs on

and off stage to perform. This can involve everything

from the correct drumset on stage, to special kinds of

drinks backstage. The rider usually includes a map of

how the musicians want their instruments setup.

Security Manager: This person is responsible for

coordinating security throughout the festival.

Sound monitor technician: This person is responsible

for the sound on stage. The sound that is directed towards

the musicians.

Sound technician (s): This person(s) responsible for the

sound coming from the stage.

Stage Manager: The person responsible for the work on

stage. This person is responsible for the people working

54

on the stage, the artist when they are performing and the

overall security on stage. This person must be on stage at

all times.

Stagehand: A person working on the stage, assisting the

Stage Manager and backline technicians with various

work on stage.

55

INFO ABOUT PARTNERS

Darıca İlçe Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü

Our institution is an umbrella organization. It

leads and controls every education activity in Darica

which is a multi-cultured area. There is one manager,

three assistant managers and twenty five officers who

serve in twenty one units such as Research and

Development, Assignment, Personnel etc. It has twenty

four primary schools, nine high schools, sixteen private

education institutions, a kindergarten and a public

education centre under its authority. Our institution is

located in Darica which attracts attention with its natural

beauty and developing industry. Every year hundreds of

people migrate here to look for work by moving away

from social problems in their hometown. These

immigrants are from different regions of Turkey and they

have diverse cultural and familial values, traditions, life

styles and even languages. The immigrant families that

live according to their cultural rituals have difficulty in

getting accustomed to city life and other cultures so they

are exposed to social exclusion. The mission of our

institution is to support and accelerate social, economical

and cultural development in national unity and solidarity

to; raise active and exclusive citizens to catch

contemporary civilization; to implement the laws and

other legislations towards the aims and objectives of

Turkish National Education System; to improve the

56

contentment of its employees and institutions by

following the innovations in education and by carrying

out the education system effectively. To reach its

mission, our institution pays great attention to every

educational issue and institution as well as organizing

local and international projects/activities which not only

improve and stimulate education but also find solutions

for the social problems of our public and meet their

needs. A unit has been founded within our institution

which organizes activities to cope with socio-cultural

problems of our citizens who are mostly immigrants and

to stimulate educational activities and to improve

entrepreneurial skills of the target group.

Dienst Beroepsopleiding – vzw EPON

DBO is a part of the Flemish Department for

Education and Training in Belgium. Our aim is to

develop innovative approaches and policies for VET in

Flanders. We want to create a maximum of opportunities

for students and course participants of vocational

training. DBO is a member of the Flemish

interdepartmental Work Group for the Entrepreneurial

Education Action Plan to promote entrepreneurship

education in schools on all levels. Through various (EU)

projects DBO wants to promote entrepreneurship among

young people in schools. DBO organizes a business plan

competition in upper secondary education and a school

competition with the trophy „schoolteam with the best

entrepreneurial competences‟. DBO supports teachers

57

involved in entrepreneurial education by offering them

teaching and course material, ICT-tools, e-learning and e-

communication platforms, … DBO contributes in the

professional development of school teachers on

entrepreneurship by organizing practical exchanges in

enterprises, workshops, guest lectures and discussion

groups.

Every year DBO hosts two study visits to

Flanders on entrepreneurship education within the

framework of CEDEFOP.

Institut für Projektbegleitung und

Kompetenzentwicklung -pro-

kompetenz- e.V.

Pro-kompetenz, founded in 2003, registered

association, recognized as “Friendly Society”

Objectives: Design education for promoting,

developing and using human potentials in a more holistic

and sustainable way. Support education providing input

from many years of practise and applied research.

Specific areas of expertise:

Develop innovative pedagogical concepts and

learning environments

Implement innovative learning settings,

pedagogical-didactical approaches for learning

with digital media

58

Formative evaluation, provide input to project

implementation and product development,

Quality Assurance

Thematic areas: AE and VET, innovation and

knowledge management, HRM, learning for

social integration

Pro-kompetenz staff has coordinated or been

involved in more than 40 EU projects. Therefore, the

involved staff is experienced in project implementation

and financial management of projects. Financial

monitoring is guaranteed by continuous external

monitoring from an external, independent accountancy

and tax office.

In national projects, promoted by the German

Federal Ministry of Research and Education, pro-

kompetenz has provided guidance and input in order to

develop and to test new learning approaches.

From projects related to social issues and

activities, related to activities in social centres - City

Community Centres, and social organisations as well as

city administration, we have links to widespread the

information and to involve learners besides our own staff

in the project.

59

Centro Machiavelli Scuola di

Lingua e Cultura Italiana

Centro Machiavelli is an Italian Language School

and VET Agency in Florence, founded in 1978, member

of TANDEM NETWORK, an International Association

of Language Schools Network since 1988, officially

recognised from the Ministry of Education since 2003,

certified by ISO9001:2000 certification of quality since

2005, recognised as a consultancy and training

organisation for Lifelong Learning accredited by the

Tuscany Region since 2008.

Centro Machiavelli operates also within EU

programmes and in training activities such as mobility,

study visits, multilateral projects within the EU LLP

Programme (Comenius, L. Da Vinci, Grundtvig,

Transversal Programme, etc.) with partners from

Germany, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland,

Romania.

From Oct. 2009 to March 2011 Centro

Machiavelli has been Coordinator of the COMENIUS

Multilateral project "ELLVIS - English Language

Learning programme for Visually Impaired Students".

The results of ELLVIS project are a viable alternative

solution to the "book and tape" methodology. This

multimedia language course is aimed at those who are

unable to use these technical aids, who need further

assistance and prompting through a system that supplies

60

other than audio-based feedback, namely by the 'force-

feedback' reaction that the joystick offers. Starting from

Dec. 2009 Centro Machiavelli is also partner of the

project VET4VIP, Vocational English Teaching for

Visually Impaired People - LLP TRANSVERSAL

PROGRAMME KA2 Languages, which will finish at the

end of May 2012. The Vet4Vip project implementing a

set of tools for language teachers on how to integrate

blind and visually impaired learners into their language

classes. The project wants to encounter this problem with

a combined package of:

1. Train the trainers course for language teachers on how

to deal with vip and how to use and create teaching

materials for this target group. The tools are tested by:

Test seminars on national level

Test seminars evaluation

2.Adaptable computer-based training modules for

English designed for blind and visually impaired adult

learners.

To achieve these goals, the partnership consists of

adult training institutions, language schools and schools

for the blind from Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands,

United Kingdom.

61

Arte-Via Cooperativa Artística e

Editorial, CRL

Arte-Via Cooperative, in Lousã, district of

Coimbra (Portugal) is a regional, cultural non profit

association, whose members work as volunteers, founded

in 1999, that has a senior university promoting classes for

elder people and migrants namely painting, yoga, and

English, Italien and spanish languages. The cooperative

is organising events such as readers communities,

international seminars, writing contests, art exhibitions

and multimedia performances.

The Arte-Via Cooperative is an institution

without lucrative purposes that develops its action in a

local, regional and national level. Its context is inserted in

a social, economical and gender inequality. Therefore,

we try to fill in some necessities with an informal

formation program according to the basilar European

principles of apprenticeship throughout life. Until now,

our activity has always had the support, either from the

population, or from public or private institutions, local

and regional. Since 1999, when Arte-Via was founded,

we gave a major contribute to the cultural development,

in a large sense of the region where we are integrated.

The fundamental basis of the work conception of

Arte-Via Cooperative, as voluntary body, is the

involvement of all the learners and trainees that develop

their activity in the project area, in this case, arts. So,

62

from the phase of conception to the dissemination phase,

all them are going to be actively involved, participating

with their ideas, conceptions and ways of implementing

and developing good practices. Arte-Via will also

cooperate and interact with others local and regional

institutions working in the same field.

Arte – Via Cooperativa Artística e Editorial, CRL

is working in the art field and our main objective is

organizing activities and events related with the project

method and according to the purpose of the partnership

and the Arte-Via annual plan, mainly the development

and improvement of the skills of our artists.

From the beginning of its foundation, Arte-Via

uses in a practical way the results of the several and

different projects to benefit the adult learners and

professionals, so that they feel that their work has

contributed to ameliorate the quality of their skills and in

general, of their lives. So, the results will be artistic

works that can be read, seen and heard, and at last,

experienced. We also use all media to disseminate the

results and also internet, especially our site.

Studiefrämjandet

Studieframjandet is a non-profit adult education

organisation operating in the central part of Sweden.

Further it is a none government organisation, partly

financed by the National Government and Municipalities.

63

Studiefrämjandet works primarily with non-

formal adult education, the main focus of our work in

areas connected to our 18 member organisations. Among

these organisations are the Swedish Society for Nature

Conservation (SNF), the National Federation of Swedish

4H, the Swedish Hunters‟ Association, the Swedish

Tourist Club (STF), and MoKS – an umbrella

organisation for music and culture associations.

Additionally, we also co-operate with numerous other

non-governmental organisations (so called NGO‟s).

Studiefrämjandets role in the project will mainly

be to:

document the workshops

design the logo of the project

prepare the DVDs containing the data and

materials produced throughout the project.

Studiefrämjandet has several projects which mainly

aim to create new and better condotions for participants

in the risk of social exclusion.

Lancaster and Morecambe

College

Lancaster and Morecambe College (LMC) is a

public sector college of Further Education and the main

provider of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in

North Lancashire and South Cumbria in the North West

of England. LMC is situated between the city of

64

Lancaster and the seaside town of Morecambe and serves

the local area and the outlying rural communities. It

currently has around 1800 full-time students & 3000

part-time students. Its main role is to provide training in

vocational skills leading to employment and/or academic

skills leading to a University place.

LMC works collaboratively with local employers

and agencies to provide the local economy with a skilled

and motivated workforce leading to sustainable

employment in a variety of sectors. LMC‟s role in the

local economy and community is reflected in their

mission statement;

“Providing Lancaster and Morecambe and

surrounding communities with an outstanding student

experience fullfilling vocational, personal and

employment goals”

LMC has a successful history of running events

that serve the needs of local community and its own

students. It is keen to further develop a strategic approach

to holding these events that involves students, staff and

local organisations to benefit the wider community.

LMC has been part of many innovative

international projects and initiatives in the LLP. LMC

was the first VET College in the UK to be awarded the

Leonardo da Vinci Certificate of Quality in Mobility and

holds an International School Award for its Transnational

work.

65

Asociación Andalucía En Obra Social

We are a Spanish NGO in Granada, Andalusia.

As the largest of the 17 autonomous communities of

Spain, is the best to evoke the most emblematic images

of a country famous for its flamenco shows and the pure

passion. It is a land that has given rise yet has inspired

great writers, poets, actors and painters. Andalucia gave

birth to Pablo Picasso and Velázquez and fascinated

novelists such as Ernest Hemingway and Washington

Irving. It is the scene of one of the most performed and

famous operas of all time, "Carmen" by Bizet. It is a

unique place where East and West blend and coexist

people of Christian origin, Gypsy, Arab and Jewish.

Our NGO was founded in 2009 in Granada; one

of the jewels of Spain and one of the most visited cities

by tourists from around the world, the capital for a long

time of the Arabs. Granada offers the most important

memories of this time in Spanish history, with the world

famous "Alhambra".

We mainly there and in the village Herrera; which

is situated in the south-east of the province of Seville and

has a privileged geographical location as it is located in

the center of Andalusia. Major cities (Seville, Granada,

Cordoba and Malaga) are less than an hour away. Our

main objectives are: education and non-formal and

informal education, promoting social inclusion and

employment of excluded social groups by origin,

ethnicity, culture or religion, to support any person or

group of people in need, promote cooperation and

cultural exchange between the association and any other

associations, governments, institutions and organizations.

66

To achieve this, the association organizes cultural

activities for further development and dissemination of

the culture of Andalusia, organizes all kinds of cultural

and artistic events, including exhibitions, conferences,

workshops, courses, concerts, travel, tours, festivals and

competitions. Some of our activities are: development of

projects that run the European Union guidelines, network

work together with other institutions and agencies, both

public and private, volunteer work, which is actively

involved in the development and implementation of

projects of the association, courses and workshops and

guidance, integration actions of different groups in

society, awareness-raising on gender and equality.

67

The Summary of The Project- Festival

Entrepreneurship for VET

Who:This partnership involved 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 included the teachers,

trainers and other staff of the institutions mentioned

above who were interested in, or responsible for,

organizing activities to improve the professional skills

and competence of the participants.

What&How: This project improved the quality

and increase the volume of cooperation between

institutions which were interested in organizing festivals

and need a higher degree of professionalism. It was a

recognized feature of the partners that working in

collaboration with local employers and agencies could

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 were improved

through active involvement of each partner in peer

learning, team building activities and workshops.

Besides, participants made observations and research

good examples organised in partner countries. At the end

of this project the participants prepared a guidebook

about organizing festivals based on their work and

experience gained in the project.

68

Moreover, an international festival was organized

in the country of the coordinator and participants from

each part of Europe were welcome to this festival. This

partnership went beyond this project and its results and

products were exploited.

When&Where: This Project started in September

2012 and ended in July 2014. In two years' time there

were flows to each partner to maintain the partnership

and implement the project activities efficiently.

69

This book was written by the participants

of FestEVET team under the framework

of Lifelong Learning Programme –

Leonardo Da Vinci Project – Festival

Entrepreneurship for VET. In this book,

you can find information about hoe to

arrange a festival or event. It is designed

for those participating in a festival

organization. The tips in the book will

help you in the process of organizing your

festival.