I run a successful Pagan Festival and this is my story. (Jeez, I sound like Sgt. Joe Friday from Dragnet, the old one with…well…ok…hmmm… dating myself…never mind.) We just celebrated our twelth anniversary and it was great. I wrote this book to help others have successful festivals as well, no matter if you want to produce a Pagan festival, a street festival, a music festival or a pride event. Here are the nuts and bolts of organizing people and you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Once you have decided to have a festival, you must decide what kind of festival you want to have. Will it be a festival for all the Pagans in your area - a certain designated group - child-friendly - for spiritual growth - to educate - an opportunity to meet others?
HOW BIG WILL YOUR FESTIVAL BE? ~ If you want to make your festival more than a small local event, you have to think bigger. Make flyers, put them in every place that your target patrons frequent, build a website, tell everyone! You have to do these things or no one will show up. Don't buy into the "if you build it they will come" school of thought.
HOW DO YOU PAY THE UP FRONT COSTS? ~ Get reservations paid in advance. This will give you money early, so you will have plenty in hand to cover expenses instead if taking it out of your pocket up front. It will also give you a real good idea of how many will be attending your festival. So you can plan accordingly.
WHAT ABOUT KIDS? ~ Make rules for them. Be reasonable with the rules, but don't let folks allow their children to run loose like wild things. Someone will get hurt and you will be responsible. The trick here is to make sure that the parents are responsible. Make sure that the parents know that if they fail to keep their children in check they will be asked to leave the festival.
WILL THERE BE WORKSHOPS? ~ People love to learn so look at all the people you know and see if any of them are interested in teaching a class on a subject in which they are well versed. You will be surprised how many people will step up to the plate.
MERCHANTS? ~ People love to shop! Give them what they love! Merchants love a target rich environment. It just works.
MAPS? ~ You need a map to your location. Write directions so that people can find the place. Put this on your website or the flyers. Signs complete with arrows pointing the way to the site are a bonus. I also recommend a map of the site. It will keep tempers from becoming frayed because folks can't find the bathhouse or whatever. You can add warnings about muddy places to stay away from or dragons or any other hazards on your site. It will also keep you from having to stop what you are doing in order to give directions forty-two times a day. It is worth the effort.
PROBLEMS AND COMPLAINTS ? ~ I have found that you cannot make all of the people happy all of the time, but you can make a lot of the people happy most of the time. Most of the complaints you hear will probably be trivial to you, but you must remember that it is very important to the complainer. Just remember as you stand there listening to someone complain that most of the people who come to your festival will have a great time and will love and bless you for the effort. When a person brings you a complaint, you must first ascertain if the complaint poses a danger to anyone at the festival. Does it involve fire, flood, wild animals or wild children running amok? If it does, then you attend to the problem immediately. If it is not an emergency, assure the complainer that you will see to the problem and fix it, if that is at all possible.
WHAT ABOUT FOOD? ~ Before we get to the meat (sorry, couldn't help myself) of the issue, let me explain some facts to you. You have to give your folks lots of food - food that tastes good. You must have lots of variety. You have to serve it when you say you are going to serve it. You have to make sure you have enough food. You can prepare it yourself if your event is private or bring in food vendors if the event is public. If you make the food, you really need this book. If you bring in vendors, taste their wares in advance.
WILL THERE BE GUEST SPEAKERS? ~ Go do a Google search for speakers. Most of your potential guest will have their own websites and you can check them out. If someone really peaks your interest, go and buy one of their books. Reading that will tell you all you need to know. When you decide who you like, ask them how much they charge for a weekend festival. At this point you may be priced out of the game. If not there are a few other things you need to know. Will they be bringing books to sell? Do they need any special accommodations? Are there special dietary concerns? Will they fly in? Will they drive? Will they be traveling alone? Explain that in return you offer food, shelter, a place to sell books, travel fees and a whole lot of fun. Please remember that you have the obligation to treat them well.
WILL THERE BE MUSIC? ~ See all of the above for guests speakers and act accordingly.
DO YOU NEED STINKIN' RULES? ~ When you are dealing with a bunch of folks you need rules. Sad, but true. If you don't want to spend all your time at your festival telling people the same thing over and over again, make rules. Spell it out for them and then there is no argument-or there should not be. If a thing is in writing, it is easier to enforce.
My rules may seem a bit dictatorial and sort of anal-retentive, but hey, I gotta be me. People have actually asked me if I was a former Marine. The answer to that is "NO." I had much harder taskmistresses, Catholic nuns. They make the Marines look like a bunch of sissies. Most of our rules are only common sense. Sadly, common sense is not so common, or we would not need the stinking' rules.
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