Well, my husband had been approached by an older gentleman,
one who has been a fan of his work for years. The gentleman has had the notion to mount a
full-scale festival of folk music in his immediate community, and along the
lines of the very kind of music that was full of vim and verve in 1958. He has
been on this quest, now, for several years. Dr. ___ is a very nice man (I met
him today), but he has no idea about his idea.
Dr. ___ called the other day and asked my husband to meet
him prominent local venue, one that hosts a very well-known subscription series
of concerts where we live. He had apparently made an appointment with the assistant
to the director of the program.
“What are you doing?!” I said to my husband. “Why didn’t you
just say no?”
“Well,” my husband said, vaguely.
“I think I had better come along.” I said, and set my chin, “someone
needs to clarify this. You have no intention of being a presenter. This man has
no idea about any of this. You are wasting your time!”
There was an hour before we had to leave to drive to the
meeting. In that time, I made a list of some of the basic requirements. As a
public service, I offer you that list here, for free, no consultation fee
necessary. You can brew yourself a cup of coffee and mull this all over in the
privacy of your own home, if you have ever had the hair-brained notion you
might like to start a music festival, or otherwise present Some Really Big Event.
Preliminary Notes Toward the Building of A Music Festival
Is your concept
meeting a need that is not met by any other organization or activity in the
area where you want to present?
Who is your target
audience, and how large is it?
Identify your
resources (venues, volunteers, home stay situations, donors in-kind and
financial backers).
Identify and commit
members to a working board of directors.
Identify and commit a
headliner with recognition among your target audience.
Is transportation
and/or parking an issue?
Do you need permits
from local government?
Make a preliminary
budget to include all possible overhead and expenditures.
Make a preliminary monthly
schedule of tasks and due dates.
Identify an opportune
time of year in which to hold your event.
How many other events
will be competing for audience in the same time-frame?
Start small and work
your way into something larger, if the target audience is receptive.
Identify appropriate
pricing for tickets.
Find existing models
and learn from them.
Book your venue only
once you have a business plan, seed money and a committed headliner.
***
To the meeting we
went. The assistant to the director of the subscription series was a bit
surprised that my husband and I showed up, and I could tell that she was wondering what we all were going to lay out for her. We introduced ourselves and sat down at a conference table.
Dr. ___ spoke first.
I felt this was appropriate, as it was all due to him that we were sitting in
this conference room. He verbalized his desire to start a folk music festival,
suggesting that it be offered in his immediate community and, further, could
the organization that administers this well-known subscription series be a
resource for it?
Now, I have to
confide that the reason I had taken it upon myself (unasked) to be present at
this meeting was to sit in an advisory capacity. I did this because I do happen to have inside
knowledge of the inner workings of music festivals, not because I have ever
administered one, but because I have performed at many, and have been on the
board of small arts organizations that have been involved in presenting at
festivals. I have seen a lot of the pitfalls and have even fallen into the pit,
through no fault of my own. I felt that I had to speak to the heart of the
matter with some immediacy.
“Can you give me an
idea as to the scope of what you want to do?” I began, “Are you contemplating
presenting a single performance, or something more involved than this?” The
assistant to the director looked over at me appreciatively—she wanted to know
this, as well.
“I want to present a
weekend of performances in the classic folk music genre. Well, it is nearly the
end of May, now, and if we are thinking of putting something on in July—“
“Oh, dear!” I said, telegraphing
alarm, “It is really impossible to organize and publicize an event that soon.” In
fact, what I really thought is that the good Doctor is trying to transplant a 70-foot
redwood tree from an old-growth forest into his back yard. There is no such thing as an instantly organized
and publicized music festival.
“I would have to
agree with that,” the assistant to the director chimed in, “A presentation of
any magnitude requires at least three months advance advertising.” My husband
cited examples from the many subscription series’ he had performed through, over
the years.
“The subscription
series that is put on by this organization,” I said, whipping out my own copy
of the season mailer (bringing a smile to the face of the assistant to the
director) and pushing it toward the good Doctor, “takes at least a year in advance to plan and prepare.” She nodded.
“I see. Well,
perhaps we’ll have to hold off until next year, then. In the meantime, I am
here to see if I can enlist the help of your organization in holding an event
in the alternative location of my nearby town.”
“This organization
has worked in situ very successfully. We would be reluctant to move into an
alternative arena. It is difficult to see how we might benefit from an
arrangement that takes us away from an infrastructure that works so well for
us.” The assistant to the director was kindly, but matter-of-fact. We all
nodded.
I had to direct us
back to the meat of the matter, “I have to say that, just walking up the street
to this building, I saw flyers and posters advertising a number of similar
types of events to the one you are proposing. This whole area is actually quite
rich with the kind of offering you want to make. What unique feature is going
to set your event apart from all these others; what will draw people away from
these other events to yours?” The assistant to the director nodded at my
question; she had obviously planned to head in that direction, herself.
And that is really
the crux of the matter. If you live in a location where there is very little,
if any, of the opportunity you want to make available to the public, you are
perhaps more likely to get an audience. But the concept still needs to be
vetted against your target audience. If you live in a location where this
concept is already available and abundant, then you are going to be competing
with a lot of other groups for audience.
***
The conversation
circled around for a bit longer, but didn’t gain any traction. We asked the
Doctor why he thought that people would drive to his community for such an
event, even though accessibility and parking were issues. We verbalized our
concern that the style of music he wanted to present was not compatible with
the image of that community. The assistant to the director did very little of
the talking, as we were presenting most of the points she would have made. She did
offer real examples that backed up our assertions to the good Doctor.
I looked at my
watch.
“I’m afraid we have
an appointment elsewhere,” I smiled and extended my hand to the assistant to
the director of the subscription series, “thank you so much for taking the time
to see us, today.”
“It has been very
interesting speaking with you,” she smiled back at me. I had saved her some
trouble.
“It has been lovely
meeting you, Dr. ___,” I shook the good Doctor’s hand, “we wish you luck
with your venture.”
As we drove away, my
husband was frankly relieved. And so was I.
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