Organising a Local Event? Don’t Forget These 4 Essential Elements

Local events like carnivals, town open days, and arts events take a lot of planning by a whole team of people. Planning for these types of events usually starts way in advance, sometimes even years, if the event is particularly big or if licences need to be granted by the council. 

Whatever type of event you are planning to put on, including these 5 essentials should help to make it a great occasion that is enjoyed by all. 

Security

For very small events, you will not need to worry about having security, or a lot of it. It may be useful to let the police know that you are holding an event however, so they are aware in case anything happens. They may even send a support officer to attend. 

For bigger events like festivals, it is recommended that you have some form of security, especially if you will be serving alcohol. Events like this are usually ticketed and will have a ticket gate that people need to go through where bags and tickets can be checked. 

Catering

If you are hosting a food event, then you will probably have already thought about the different catering options that will be available. If it is not a food related event, then inviting some of the local food trucks along is a really good idea. You can ask them to pay for a pitch - which will help to generate more funds for your event. 

When booking food vans, you should always try to have a mixture of foods to cater for different needs. Food that kids might enjoy is important as are options for vegetarians and vegans and people with food intolerances. 

Music

No local event is complete without a good local band keeping the energy up and getting people dancing and into the party spirit. Searching for some of the best live bands for hire is simple, and the very best will be the ones that play every so often in the town. People should know who the band are, but you should try and avoid booking a band that has played within the last couple of weeks. People will know the set and may be put off if they have seen them recently. 

Promotion

Finally, once you have organised all the logistics of your event, then you need to think about how you will promote it. You don’t want your hard work to go to waste. If it is a very local event, then you may be able to get the local newspaper to give you some free coverage to promote it. This may also be true of local radio stations and even local TV news. 

Online is still a really great way to reach people, especially through social media. Putting together a small local marketing campaign to generate a buzz is a great idea and will get people taking in the local area. Other ideas might be to put posters up in local shops and takeaways, and put flyers in places like the gym and the local library.