Do cooling temperatures and shorter days already have you down? Planning your 2020 summer music festival is the perfect pick-me-up! Act now to find your funding and book your venue, bands, and vendors, or you may miss out in 2020.
MystiQue Sound Solutions has decades of experience helping new and veteran music festival organizers plan phenomenal events. We love sharing our experience with organizers who want their next festival to be financially and musically successful. Here are your first five steps toward planning your 2020 music festival.
Find Your Funding
Funding is the first major obstacle any festival organizer must overcome. There are multiple funding streams available to you, including private contributions, corporate sponsorships, municipal grants, and of course ticket sales.
Book Your Venue and Buy Insurance
Once you have some or all of your funding secured, it’s time to start looking for a venue. Do you want to hold your festival in an indoor arena or outdoors? Is there a particular city that has a raving fan base for your music, or are you trying to introduce your bands to a new audience? Don’t forget to pull any required city permits. Once you have your venue and permits secured, purchase an insurance policy to protect you in case something goes wrong.
Line Up Your Lineup
You’ve got your funding and you have your venue booked. Now comes the fun part—lining up your lineup. Start with your headliners, as popular acts are the first to book up. Then, fill in the rest of your lineup. Depending on the theme of your festival, you may wish to include all local bands or a mix. Don’t forget to book a DJ to keep the crowd entertained between acts.
Book Your Audio Support, Backline, and Staging
With your venue and bands booked, it’s time to move on to the vendors who will provide the audio, backline, lighting, staging, and special effects support. The most well-planned festival will fall down with inadequate, poor-quality audio equipment and backline equipment. MystiQue only carries the top-of-the-line professional equipment to support your event. Once you have your audio sorted, move on to lighting, staging, and special effects.
Put Together Your Volunteer Army
Now it’s time to take a breath! With your funding, venue, lineup, and vendors secured, your plan is nearly complete. Most organizers choose to use volunteers to staff their events. Not only does this save money, using music fans as volunteers ensures an engaged and supportive staff. Start the hunt for volunteers at least four months out from your festival date.
Sell, Sell, Sell
Ticket sales are what gets your audience in the door. Strong sales are absolutely essential for a successful event. Posters, billboards, radio advertising, and social media all play important roles in ticket sales. Use an online ticket retailer to make managing ticket sales a breeze.
Fall is the perfect time to start planning your 2020 music festival and booking acts and vendors. For help planning your next festival, contact MystiQue Sound Solutions.
