In an uncertain world planning a communications process for any potential crisis should form part of the planning process for event organisers of any large-scale live event where tens of thousands of event goers are present. What steps should organisers take when planning for crisis communications? 

Once an event organiser has successfully run their live event their job is not finished. There are many activities that need to take place once event goers have left the venue and gone home. From equipment breakdown to follow up communications there are a plethora of post event actions to conduct keeping organisers just as busy post event as they were pre event. 

It goes without saying that all large live events require an army of volunteers to make them happen. Indeed, many music festivals could use up to 2,000 volunteers so the management of recruitment, training and the production of shifts and duties can present a huge challenge for any event organiser. 

From small community events to large scale multi day music festivals most event organisers are using some kind of software to help plan and organise their events. There are still a handful of event organisers using a combination of spreadsheets and other planning tools but almost all have moved over to an event specific software platform.

Everyone has heard of the Oktoberfest held annually in Bavaria, one of the world's most popular and longest running festivals. The German beer festival and funfair runs for 18 days and has existed since 1810 attracting 6 million visitors each year so it's not surprising that events companies are creating their own versions of the beer festival around the world.  

There has been some discussion in the media over recent weeks regarding the development of rapid COVID-19 tests that allow results to be known within 15 minutes. Whilst still in development and currently being tested this could provide the opportunity for live events to start operating with confidence again.

While craft fairs and festivals are not usually large affairs the number of events happening each year is significant with up to 1,000 events. Typical visitor numbers vary between 500 and 1000 with a handful of festivals attracting significantly higher attendance, the number of events taking place each year is on the rise 

One of the latest innovations likely to hit music festivals in the near future is gamification. This is the use of gaming technology to increase event goer engagement for the benefit, typically, of event organisers, vendors and sponsors to generate increased traffic and purchase revenues. 

Once the preserve of small specialist events or an afterthought at music festivals the health and wellness sector has enjoyed a surge in popularity to the extent their dedicated events and festivals have grown in number and size. Now a prominent feature on the annual festival scene they are likely to continue growing in popularity 

With potential lockdowns and remote working seemingly back on the agenda anyone responsible for managing events teams will have the challenge of maintaining a motivated team. There are actions event organisers can take to ensure that the physical and mental health of their teams is maintained throughout this period.

Any music festival that attracts a sizable audience and is spread over several days will have to provide accommodation. This could vary between a field for camping to five-star luxury accommodation. How this works in practice will depend every much on the audience dynamics and their budgets. 

With the coronavirus pandemic causing havoc across the entire events industry many people have found themselves in a difficult situation unfortunately losing their jobs. Whilst event organising companies should do their utmost to retain staff either through furloughing or working reduced hours sometimes financial pressure leaves few options. 

Having a smooth running efficient and low-cost ticketing solution for an event is essential for success. Ticketing is an often-overlooked aspect of organising an event but there are strategies organisers can put in place to make the event ticketing a worry-free aspect of their overall planning and marketing.     

For any sizeable music festival the amount of data collected can be huge but what happens to this data? In most cases it will either sit in a depository unused or is used for analysis at a fraction of its potential. There are numerous benefits to be gained by putting all this data to good use and creating actionable insights. 

With COVID-19 infections seemingly on an uncontrollable up and down rate the state of the music festival sector in 2021 is uncertain. There are however some countries that have managed to avoid the worst of this pandemic and officials are happy for large scale music festivals and events to go ahead as planned. 

Admitting children to music festivals has always been a dichotomy for event organisers because there are pros and cons to allowing under 18s to attend a music festival. By excluding anyone under 18 an organiser is also excluding a whole sector of family centric demographics.

Taking a different angle to the traditional music festival there has been a rise in recent years of festivals that focus on food and drink as their theme but with the addition of live music and other attractions to broaden the appeal. The popular format is similar to a music festivals but rather than multiple stages and performance artists the focus is on consumption of food and drink.

As almost all music festivals in the UK and throughout Europe were cancelled for 2020 and moved to 2021 there are now real concerns arising if even 2021 is realistic for a full-blown return of the music festival as we know it. Just this week Larmer Tree festival announced that they will not return in 2021 and instead will focus on 2022. 

Most event organisers are now looking forwards to 2021 and putting 2020 firmly behind them as a year to forget. Many organisers are feverishly planning for their live music events and festivals next year but unlike previously there are going to be new requirements in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which could come from local authorities or health and safety. 

Some of the largest music festivals can have up to 3,000 performance artists booked to perform over a period of several days using multiple stages. How can an event organiser manage such a huge number of artists to deliver seamless performances without a glitch? Now most organisers use a combination of technology and skilled teams to achieve this.  

As most regular live music events and music festivals this year have been cancelled hopefully re-emerging in 2021 controlling ongoing fixed costs could be the key to survival. How can event organisers control costs without impacting on their overall business particularly in relation to staff and customer satisfaction.     

Since 2015 numerous music festivals in the UK have been either partly or fully cashless, however, with the impact of COVID-19 and the emphasis on cashless payment in everyday life the music festival industry must prepare to go 100% cashless in 2021. How prepared are the diehard cash payment festivals for what will become the new normal for payments? 

Just last week the Irish government touted the idea that if the sale of alcohol was banned then live music events may go ahead. They won't be the first country to flirt with this idea although for varying reasons as happened in Lithuania back in 2017. Some governments around the world have implemented alcohol bans in recent months citing COVID-19 as the reason. 

With COVID-19 infections still breaking out in seemingly random places there is knock on effect on the scheduling of dates for live music events. Planned live events therefore face uncertainty on whether or not they can go ahead as planned. Event organisers need to build in flexibility to all their schedules to prevent incurring unnecessary costs. 

Part of differentiating a regular live music event is the brand it projects to its target audience. This is especially true for large scale music festivals that take place every year, but creating a brand is so much more than just a logo it’s far more complex than that. What are the steps an event organiser can take to build a unique brand for their music festival? 

As almost all live music events have been cancelled and events companies focus on a re-energised events schedule for 2021 many events teams are experiencing some downtime. There is only so much to do to prepare for events taking place almost a year away so why not use this time wisely to invest in additional training for events teams. 

With all major music festivals in the UK cancelled in 2020 many are looking forward to the summer festival season next year but with so much uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic what is likely to happen? As festival organisers moved this year's festivals to 2021, they have by and large stuck with roughly the same dates.   

With over 5 million people attending music festivals in the UK (in a normal year) there falls a huge collective responsibility. When so many people are travelling and congregating in one place the impact on the environment and health and safety issues are significant. Attendees therefore have an obligation to others for safety and environmental impact.   

All live events need manpower to move and set up equipment, from small indoor venues to large music festivals an army of people work tirelessly behind the scenes to get everything ready. This is not just hiring ‘muscle’ but is about the efficient use of teams skilled in logistics and technical know-how. 

Along with other ‘unseen’ industries in the live entertainment sector the shipping and freight companies that specialise in supplying music festivals are vital to their success. Some companies use the standard delivery couriers to supply equipment but there are many freight and shipping companies that specialise in supplying just the entertainment industry.