Organising your own festival
- Thread starter Bones
- Start date
Morbyd
Moderator
I have some friends who did a one-day thing.
Bunch of very good bands from around Russia along with Supergrass (ok) and Brett Anderson (very good!).
The thing about it being in an urban location was that a lot of people came late just for the headliners. I'm not sure they made money on the whole thing.
Madwhitegiant knows some of the Locked-n-Loaded guys. He'd have good insights.
Bunch of very good bands from around Russia along with Supergrass (ok) and Brett Anderson (very good!).
The thing about it being in an urban location was that a lot of people came late just for the headliners. I'm not sure they made money on the whole thing.
Madwhitegiant knows some of the Locked-n-Loaded guys. He'd have good insights.
dantboy
Active Member
I guess it depends on how big you want it to be. I live on the Isle of Man and a festival started up 3 years ago. The first year was quite small scale with a dance tent, main stage and small band tent, it also had a camp site. Last year it was alot better, i think in total there was 6 or 7 areas with other things happening like healing tents and well being etc. It was on for three days too.
I was talking to some of the organisers and they were in the 'red' still having not sold the festival out, they were saying that hopefully this year maybe next they will begin to make profits. I guess you have to start somewhere and have a plan and stick to it!
I was talking to some of the organisers and they were in the 'red' still having not sold the festival out, they were saying that hopefully this year maybe next they will begin to make profits. I guess you have to start somewhere and have a plan and stick to it!
Ikoda
Well-Known Member
You'd need alot of money, and a county which doesn't have issues with festivals or slaps huge restrictions on them for policing, etc. (E.g. Global Gathering and it's not drinks allowed in rules in Warwickshire and Creamfields for it's very early Sunday finishes in Cheshire)
Day festivals would be easier to set up than a night one, I suppose. No need to worry about camping, etc.
Day festivals would be easier to set up than a night one, I suppose. No need to worry about camping, etc.
We had Radio 1's big weekend here in Bangor,North wales last year and bangor has never had anything like that before, Weve had a crappy little classical fest with bryn terfal but that ran into financial difficulty aswell and has been scrapped!
With radio 1 weekend coming ere though it has kinda opened up the possibilities of someone starting a festival
A dance one wouldnt work as i think any festival would have to finish by 11pm
With radio 1 weekend coming ere though it has kinda opened up the possibilities of someone starting a festival
A dance one wouldnt work as i think any festival would have to finish by 11pm
Buckley
Well-Known Member
Wouldn't be easy for a newcomer to the market to replicate their finance, vast experience and huge relationships with massive names tbh
Buckley
Well-Known Member
SW4 and Lovebox both finish by 11pm, but then London has a wealth of things to go to after and both parties have offcial afters with late licences
Ikoda
Well-Known Member
The thing with most of the festivals (Creamfields, Global Gathering) is that they already had the branding. Creamfields from Cream, and Global Gathering from Godskitchen. That helps pull a lot more punters in if they already know the branding, which ten years ago, were a lot bigger than they are now. (Cream don't do weekly parties in the UK, and Godskitchen don't do Ibiza anymore, for example). I think it'd be very hard to launch a festival of that size.
Could just get a few hundred people together, some and just go nuts in a field.
With a license from the council, of course. Don't want to make this illegal now, do we?
I'd also imagine that the festival dance music scene is pretty cut throat.
Could just get a few hundred people together, some and just go nuts in a field.
With a license from the council, of course. Don't want to make this illegal now, do we?
I'd also imagine that the festival dance music scene is pretty cut throat.
madwhitegiant
New Member
No. Definetly not. So much hard work and planning goes into all this.
If you lived in quiet town in the middle of nowhere then you may be able to pull something in with some small headliners but there are so many festivals etc these days you are up against it from the start.
I don't think Midsomer is ready for Jay-z just yet.
a guy i know puts on an event in the summer for the last 2 years Which although not a festival is an organised , legal rave. Its getting bigger each time but essentially its a marguee with a soundsystem , a couple of bars and some food stalls. No real headliners or anything just thm lot playing tunes to their extended friends and anyne else that wants to go for a day and a night. Think they are breaking even but they were never aiming to make anything from it
Buckley
Well-Known Member
Have you seen two off the SW4 tents this year? Liam? Cocoon on the Saturday and We Love on the Sunday. Sound limit problems aside, crikey!8)