Using Festival Software to Fix Festival Woes
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Riley Manning has worked as a travel and entertainment writer for more than 10 years. Today, he writes about unique events and the technology that helps make them happen.
Developing and launching a festival is quite the undertaking even for seasoned pros. You have to manage staff, visitors, tons of information, scheduling, ticketing, and more. Your goal is to host a memorable, safe, and fun festival for everyone. To make your life easier and to make your customers happy, consider using festival software to streamline and simplify the process.
Permits, Insurance, Taxes, and Licenses
Pulling off a great festival means making sure you have all the required permits and licenses. As you may have guessed, festivals involve tons of permits and licenses. In addition, there are taxes you must pay, and your event could be shut down if you can’t prove you have followed all the proper protocols. Creating and hosting a festival costs money even before you start lining up vendors, entertainment, and concessions.
Depending on your event, you could need permits for mass gatherings, alcohol, sound, structural, or fireworks, to name a few.
Often, insurance is required, too. What kind of insurance you may need depends on your festival. You will want to figure out what the right amount of coverage is for your vendors, staff, and artists. The primary types of insurance include:
- General liability
- Worker’s Compensation
- Automobile
- Umbrella
You may also want to consider adding rain or weather insurance, and artist cancellation insurance to cover all your bases.
Permits, insurance, taxes, and licenses cost money. Work with a festival software provider who offers instant payouts. You will have the funds you need when you need them.
Festival Staff and Resources
Managing a festival is like “herding cats” because of all the moving parts and people. Outside of ensuring your guests have a safe and unforgettable experience, you have staff, artists, and vendors to manage. No detail can be left by the wayside.
For example, you have to account for waste, parking, toilets, water and hand washing stations, security, food and drinks, medics, and more. In fact, GottaGo Rentals recommends 25 portable toilets for every 2,000 attendees. Plus, you want to ensure you have plenty of merchandise for guests to purchase at your event.
Using festival software gives you a good idea of how many guests are planning to attend. That’s one of the beautiful things about selling tickets online using festival software with instant payouts. You can plan for the myriad of resources you will need, pay fees, and not worry if you will be able to secure the resources you need in time.
You can also get your attendees excited about your event on your festival software page. The festival experience begins with ticketing.
Memorable Experiences for the Right Reasons
You want your festival to be known for creating the best experience possible for your guests and not for anything lackluster. For your festival to succeed, make it as easy as possible for attendees to buy tickets, get the information they need, and get into your festival. Ideally, they’ll leave your event talking about how much fun they had and not about lines, clunky ticketing, or a boring experience.
Using festival software helps you streamline your event and maximizes the fun your guests can have by offering the ability to:
- Sell tickets easily 24/7 on your website.
- Customize confirmation emails, digital tickets, and mass emails.
- Let ticketholders change their day or timeslot, on their own.
- Provide festival mode to guests who want to buy tickets for multiple days.
- Allow mobile check-in on festival day to keep the lines moving.
- Utilize Square partnership to let you swiftly take payments at the gate.
Did you know that many festival ticketing platforms have their own internal payment processing system, which is why it takes them longer to pay out your funds? Integrating into their system can be difficult when it comes to on-site ticketing tools.
When it comes to festival software, look for something flexible and versatile. It’s counterproductive to lose customers because the festival software you use doesn’t accept their payment method. If you have a digital payment system like Square or Stripe, you want a festival ticketing software that functions seamlessly with your system.
Safety and Security
People tend to let loose at festivals. While that’s part of the fun, organizers have to keep everyone safe and secure. In an ideal world, your festival will go off without any issues, but you have to plan for reality. Having insurance to cover your event is highly important. Consider the specifics of your event, such as the location, type of event, number of guests, and potential hazards.
You may want to offer training to your staff on crowd control, how to handle unruly individuals, using lifesaving medical devices, and CPR, depending on your event.
According to Blerter, the top ten safety concerns for festival managers should plan for include:
- Event and Production Equipment
- Crowd Management
- Children Attending or Participating
- Transport and Traffic Management
- Staff and Volunteer Safety
- Medical Assistance Requirements
- Unpredictable Weather
- Potential Fire Hazards
- Food safety
- Aggressive Behavior
Even though festival software can’t prevent safety issues from happening, it can help you take preventative measures and fix problems fast if they do happen. For example, festival software can quickly alert guests if there is an illness outbreak or possible food poisoning from a vendor.
Festival software can also clearly communicate rules and protocols on your event site and confirmation emails prior to your event. In addition, instant payouts help you get the safety and security resources you need, such as metal detectors, security professionals, on-site medical professionals, signage, extra hand washing stations, and safety training for staff, before your event takes place.
The SimpleTix Festival Software Solution
From ticketing to communicating, the right festival software helps you maximize pre-sales, streamline on-site sales, and keep your entire event running smoothly. The right festival software can make everything easier for you and your guests.
With instant payouts, a unique partnership with Square, the ability to customize your event page, and simple communication options, SimpleTix offers you what other festival software solutions can’t. Our solutions make it easy for you to make your event truly yours.
SimpleTix has offered an affordable, premium event ticketing platform that outperforms Eventbrite and similar apps for over 12 years. Compared to the competition, SimpleTix offers better options at a better price point. To learn more, call us at +1 (855) 550-3670 or email us here.
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