Music festivals are a great way to bring communities together and make your town a great place to live. When the sun is out and the evenings are longer, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring some great music to local residents.

Here’s how to plan a music festival and make your town the place to be this summer. 

Budget

Set yourself a budget , breaking it down into areas and decide if the event will be free of charge or ticketed. Where will the funding come from? Investors, sponsors, tickets?

The Event Stop have a great post about this if you don't know where to start How to Budget for your Event.

Theme

It’s always good to have a theme, whether it be in the choice of music, promoting local musicians or a world food festival, this will set your event apart and will give you a key selling point when you come to market it. 

Check out our Ten Themes for Your Outdoor Event post to get you inspired.

Equipment

Write a list of all the equipment you will need, from a stage, to sound, lighting, toilets, barriers etc. You can check out our stages and PA systems to give you an idea of what you might need and costings.

We've put together a cheat sheet to help you figure out what you may need for your event Sound, Lighting and Stage Cheat Sheet.

Entertainment

Aside from the music, what other entertainment are you planning? You could have kids activities like face painting, sand art, kids entertainers. Comedians, magicians or fire breathers for the adults. A bouncy castle for everyone?

If you're stuck on how to source performers, you can read our post Tips on Sourcing Performers.

Catering

You will need to source local caterers to keep the crowds fed and watered. There are a number of independent food trucks and caterers who will attend your event, either for a fee or they will pay a pitch fee to be there if your attendance is high. And don’t forget the bar!

The events industry is small, so if you're stuck, let us know and we can recommend some people we've worked with before too.