Mass Confusion…

It is very frustrating to visit a festival only to find mass confusion. The confusion I am talking about is site layout. I realized that not all sites lend themselves to be laid out perfectly. I also realized that some site locations are not large enough to hold the entire festival and that multiple sites may be necessary and/or preferable. People who go to a festival either want to see the entire event or want to see a specific aspect(s) of it. Well planned festivals, with single or multiple sites, which have good signage and an informative festival guide reduce or eliminate much of this kind of mass confusion. Here is an example of what I mean. Judi and I drove quite some distance to attend a well known and respected fall event. Here are some of the problems we encountered. As we entered the town, there were no directional signs. We had to guess where to go and where to park. Once we were on the festival grounds, there were no festival site signs to show us where activities and attractions could be found. We looked for an information booth, but couldn’t find it. There were no identifiable volunteers for us to ask where to find things. We were left on our own to discover what the festival had to offer. This might appeal to some, but not to us and, I think, not to most new attendees. This was a “theme” festival, a Pumpkinfest. We were excited to see how they carried out the theme. As we walked through the grounds we discovered a food area, a play zone, a climbing wall, an arts and crafts show, a huge antique and classic car show and a Raptor Conservancy Show, but no “Pumpkins”, not one! We started to think that the festival organizers had missed the mark. We almost went home disappointed. We did, however, decide to go back to the play zone to see if they had a festival guide available for us to read. They didn’t, but they did have a site map. Much to our surprise and delight there was another part of the festival that we weren’t aware of. It was in the downtown area and some distance away! We followed the map to the downtown area and discovered the heart of the festival. In the downtown park two giant “Pumpkin” pyramids had been erected. They were full a hundreds of carved and lite up pumpkins! You could see the tops of the pyramids as we descended the hill to the downtown centre. It was wonderful to discover this important part of the festival. What a shame it would have been for us to have missed it! The solutions for this festival and others are simple. Here are some suggestions:
1. Strategically place directional signage at key entrance point to your town
2. Prepare large site maps showing where all activities are taking place. To reduce or eliminate the cost of these signs sell advertising space on the signs
3. Make sure you prepare enough signs and place them conveniently throughout the festival grounds
4. Have an information booth or booths placed near to major festival entry points. There should be at least one at each site.
5. Make sure you website site has a printable comprehensive site map. Also, make sure it is easy enough to understand for out-of-town visitors
6. Print enough Site Plan Maps to hand out to visitors
7. Have identifiable volunteers regularly walk through the festival grounds. Make sure they are well informed about the festival and the community
I know I have said this before, but if you want to attract out-of-town visitors to your event, you have to make sure you plan for their needs. It is very difficult to sustain a festival or event, year after year, without attracting new attendees.