How To Create Your Own Festival
May 22, 2018 12:18 PM ‐ Weird Bristol
This article is more than six years old and was last updated in February 2020.
A few weeks ago, some friends of mine contacted me to ask if I'd like to help out with a festival they were planning to organise. Of course I said yes, as it sounded like a fun project and a chance to do something awesome together.
They'd actually put on a similar festival a couple of years ago, but the first one was for their wedding and for a much smaller number of attendees.
I sprung into action straight away and did what I do best and turned around a high-quality, professional website in next to no time at all. The work involved making a digital, vector version of the logo, which I drew based on a photograph of a large sign from the first festival.
As far as I'm concerned, content is king. So, it was important for me to make sure the site was loaded with as much content as possible. This involved making sure all the details of the festival were on the site, including the full lineup.
I made band pages for every single band, which includes YouTube embeds, Soundcloud players and everything else I could find to make those pages useful. As this is a small festival, the lineup are fairly small bands, many of which don't actually have website. So, the festival website actually gives these bands a web presence that they don't currently have.
Because I'd spent the time re-drawing the logo. It meant I also had the raw assets to allow me to make social media profile pictures, cover images and a set of assets such as stylised countdown images and the festival's mascot holding the bands' logos.
This lead on to fulfilling the need for a poster, which requires more thought than you'd imagine. There's a lot to fit on a festival poster but I hate marketing material that is too cramped and messy.
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As well as all of this I also produced designs for flyers and large banners, which are now strategically places around the city.
I also helped with a ticketing solution. Obviously we didn't want the hassle of creating our own payment gateway as this would mean processing payments, maintaining a guest list and sending out tickets, whether it be via email or physical tickets.
The problem we found with most ticketing websites is that they don't release the funds until after the event. As a small festival with no cashflow, this wasn't ideal for us. The I found Brown Paper Tickets who send you the funds for each sale straightaway if you create your event using the payment via PayPal option. Another selling point is that Brown Paper Tickets is a fair-trade ticketing company, which sort of matches the hippyish ethics of the festival, which is actually a charity event.
As well as integrating the ticketing options into the website, I also gave users the option to donate to the cause, this meant that even those who can't attend the festival are able to help make the festival become a reality and raise more money for the charity.
Check out the amazing job Sir @Higgypop has done on our festival website. There's a load of info, a music player for each of the bands, and of course a Ticket Page.
— Badgerfest (@badgermeup) May 22, 2018
Get yer tickets now!!#badgermeup https://t.co/7GOshNbnmr
Although we're pretty sorted in terms of our website and social media account for a while, the work is only just beginning. With just four months until the festival, we have plenty more to arrange, plan and make amazing.
The festival is of course open to all, and I'd love to see you there. The event takes place on the 21-23 September. Tickets cost £15 for the Saturday only, or weekend camping tickets are available for £30.
To find out more and purchase tickets, visit the festival website, or to find out about my other web projects and how I can help you do something amazing online, click here.
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