By Darren Gilbert
Having said that, it’s worth noting that hosting a successful book festival is not an easy task. There are various elements that need to be in place, and support from the community is a must.
Funding, funding, funding
According to Frankie Murrey, the coordinator of the Cape Town-based
Open Book Festival, there is no short answer when it comes to the different elements that need to be in place. However, funding plays a big part.
“You need to have money to cover the costs of what you’re wanting to do – so that means sponsors and partners – and you need to know where you can cut from your budget if necessary,” says Murrey.
Tiny Mungwe, project manager of
Time of the Writer, a Durban-based festival, agrees. “The most important [element] is the funding required to run the festival.” Fortunately, for Time of the Writer, they have funding support from the eThekwini Municipality and Department of Arts and Culture.
Not all festivals, however, are so lucky.
A clear vision and writer’s support
While a book festival needs the funds to run, success starts with a plan. In this case, the plan is a clear vision of what you are attempting to achieve.
“It’s important that there is a clarity of vision as to what the festival aims to achieve, whom it aims to serve and how it wishes to go about this,” points out Mungwe. This requires both a clear and long-term vision and an understanding of the environment the festival exists in to determine the best direction from edition to edition.
Murrey agrees: “You need to have a clear idea of what you are planning and for whom so who you are inviting makes sense.” At the same time, you have to have developed a programme that offers value to both the public and participants of the festival.
After all, successful book festivals start and end with the quality of the discussions offered to audiences. That’s according to Ann Donald, programme director of the
Franschhoek Literary Festival.
“The key to a successful event is finding the right combination of panelists and chair, particularly the chair, who needs to have read and have insight into the books of each of the panelists, and be able to guide and control the discussion effectively to ensure each panelist gets to speak and no one dominates,” says Donald. “The best chairs always ensure the discussion is about the panelists and their work and not about him/herself.”
Understanding your unique offering
Besides a clear vision and support, a successful book festival comes down to a unique offering. For example, you can’t expect the
Open Book Festival to give you exactly the same experience as
Time of the Writer.
For Donald, each festival will offer a particular experience to their audience and organisers will do well to identify the strengths and opportunities they can offer. In the case of the
Franschhoek Literary Festival, there is a focus on the setting.
Donald explains; “The village setting of the
FLF allows audiences to walk between venues, which creates a festive atmosphere through the village, where audience members can meet and chat with famous and new authors, and with other festival goers as they go.”
The ability to harness a festival’s ‘uniqueness’ will go a long way to not only encourage people to attend, but also ensure its longevity.
What are your thoughts? What else do you think book festivals need to consider when organising their next event? Tell us below.