By Kristy Hesom
People often overlook the time of year and the location of a festival, but a lot of thought goes into the ‘when’ and ‘where’. Other factors that organisers have to consider are whether they should get local or international acts, how much tickets should cost, and what will make their festival memorable.
When and where?
Ever wondered why there are hardly any music festivals in the middle of winter? Dominique Gawlowski, co-owner of electro festival,
Grietfest, says; “If it's an outdoor event, weather is your biggest consideration.” While South African winters are mild compared to other countries, fewer people will be willing to camp in the below zero temperatures.
Misha Loots, head of promotions and artist bookings at
Hilltop Live, who organise the likes of
OppiKoppi and
Ramfest, agrees.However, while weather is a big factor, another consideration is the other events that are happening at the same time. It’s important that festival-goers aren’t spoilt for choice, and then don’t choose your festival.
Local vs International acts
It’s not uncommon to hear someone complain about their favourite international not performing at their festival of choice, but attracting an international act isn’t easy. Loots says that while “local artists are always eager to play festivals”, international acts are a different story completely.
“You pay in Dollars, and work with agents in different time zones who are routing artists across continents. So, finding a gap in the calendar that makes sense in terms of logistics and money is tricky,” says Loots.
However, while paying for the international act is expensive, that’s not always where the expenses end.
“A big artist came to South Africa and the promoter had to pay for their Safari, shark cage diving (for artist and his travel posse) as well as dinner every night etc,” says Gawlowski. “This can add up to a ton of money you probably did not originally factor into your budget.” Therefore, it is essential to establish in writing the expenses that you will be liable for before you sign the artist to your festival.
Those ticket prices
When it comes to ticket prices, there will always be ‘haters’, mostly because people love to complain. But there are reasons that some festivals are more expensive than others, even if they aren’t as big.
Loots points out that factors that affect prices are overall show cost, sponsors and artist line up. Gawlowski agrees: “Sponsorship allows you to drop your ticket price considerably.”
If, however, you don’t have any sponsors, Gawlowski advises that you stick to local acts and keep your production tight. She also advises that you operate on a reasonable and realistic break-even figure.
“I speak to so many young promoters who set their break-evens on a new event at 5000 people. That's insane. Full throttle delusional,” she says, “Keep it at something between 500 to 1000, and grow from there. Especially if you are funding it yourself.”
More than just music
If you think back to your most memorable music festival experience, it is likely that your favourite act/acts performed there, but there is always something more that adds to it: it’s the experience.
“It is about more than just the music,” says Loots. An experience that includes food, drinks, sights, sounds and other fans is what people are looking for.
“The best feeling in the world is a flawless event where everyone leaves dancing on rainbows because they had such a good time, and you did your job so well that nobody even noticed that you did it,” Gawlowski concludes.
How have your music festival experiences been? Which are your favourite festivals? Tell us in the comments below.