It’s the time of year when thoughts start turning to the long summer nights and grand plans are put in to motion. For the more adventurous, you might be planning a festival or outdoor event yourself. A rather daunting task and something that involves more work than you average indoor event. Indoor events have toilets, water, emergency exits and the like are already installed! In this post I am going to attempted to break down a few of the things you need to think about when planning a festival or outdoor event and hopefully mention some that you haven’t already thought of.
In this first post I’m going to be looking at the location factors you need to consider when planning a festival. In furute posts I will be looking at sound & lighting, utilities and other factors you need to consider.
One of the most important factors is the location of your event. If this is a small private event such as a wedding or birthday, location isn’t so much an issue. If its a public event with a large amount of people attending, it will have a huge impact on the experience your ticket holders.
For larger events, transport links to the venue are key. Spending eight hours in a queue outside the festival is no ones idea of fun. Another consideration is parking, this is quite often an issue at small private functions and something people over look. Having a way to get people on and off site quickly is key. Private functions such as weddings should spare a thought for the needs of guests to get to and from the event. Are there local taxi firms in the area? Are there local hotels for the guests?
Is the area likely to flood or get very muddy? Sounds stupid but I worked a festival on a floodplain with a high probability of flooding and sure enough after heavy rain the ground became saturated and the area reserved for tents became a lake. Luckily this happened the day before the festival. Mud is part and parcel of a festival but not a private event. If you have a large amount of people in a small area its good to have solutions to deal with mud if there are no tracks laid down.
Space and access for your stage or marquee? You need a large enough space for your marquee or stage but you also need to think about access for the large lorries that will be arriving with the equipment. Difficult access that results in the companies crew carrying the equipment a large distance will result in higher costs and longer build times.
Theres lots more to think about regarding location and we will be dealing with these issues in future posts as they are more relevant to other subjects. Stay tuned.
