October 05th, 2014

So I wanted to plan a festival. Well here is what has happened so far. First I played as a performer at a festival and started talking to strangers while I was there. The more I talked to people the more helpful information I took in regarding my goal of holding a festival here in Maple Ridge. There are many people out in the festival world that are really helpful in sharing information.  I began Facebook friend requesting people from the first festival I went to and kept up to date on where there were and what they were up to. This was a great way to discover other events I would otherwise know nothing about in BC. I waited and watched for a year before I jumped with both feet in the fire to proceed with my plans. In the meantime I volunteered at several festivals and took notes like who are going to festivals. What do other festivals have to offer like workshops, artist merchandise for sale, food vendors, camping, parking, shuttles, food for the artists,portable hot showers and washrooms with flush toilets from Sunrise Rentals for example, ticket sales options like early bird specials. In other words there is a lot you can learn just by going to a festival but you can learn much more when you volunteer. One thing that I really thought was brilliant was the elimination of bottled water at the Mission Folk Music Festival, they brought in a watering station from gvrd to handle drinking water needs of the people attending the event. In addition to that they were selling refillable water bottles with the music festival logo on them to generate revenue, save the planet and advertise the festival all in one shot.   In addition to performing at a festival and volunteering at a festival I went to a festival as a patron. The next step will be going to a festival as a vendor to see what that experience is like. I plan to set up a tent at possibly the farmer's market to get the word out about our festival.