Karen O’Donnell O’Connor is the Community Development Officer with PAUL Partnership and is a member of the organising committee of ‘Make A Move’ in Limerick.
ü Bring a group of
knowledgeable and dedicated people together.
ü Make sure you have a blend
of artists, hip hop experts, youth workers, people with funding skills,
reporting skills and experienced arts events organisers.
No. 2 - Make Decisions!
* Look at how best to link
with young people, to give them some ownership of the events. Eg Organise
workshops in the lead-up to the festival.
* Having one person who sees
the big picture will make everyone’s life easier. If you can put some money
aside to pay a festival director, do it!
* Decide what kind of hip-hop
events best suit your festival.
* Decide what artists are best
to book. Get booking as they are in demand!
No. 3 - Fund it!
* Research what kinds of
funding are available through your local authority, the Arts Council, etc. Be aware of application deadlines and
what they will and won’t pay for.
* Use existing resources
wherever possible. Raise funds locally. A number of small donations can really
add up!
No. 4 - Get Support on Board!
* Talk to local community
groups and local arts institutions about facilities and support.
* Talk to the business
community. Make sponsors an official “friend of the festival”.
* Talk to pubs and clubs about
bringing hip-hop acts to their venues to widen the festival out to the general
community.
* Ask yourselves what kind of
volunteer support is needed.
* Recruit volunteers through
your website, Facebook account and Twitter. Set up a website, Facebook account
and Twitter!
No. 5 - Keep Talking:
* The festival committee
should meet on regularly, probably weekly. The committee makes sure security, insurance, health and
safety and finance are in place for the festival. Make sure every committee
member is sure of their role.
* Contact the press before,
during and after the festival. Thank everyone who helped.
* Meet afterwards to evaluate
how well the festival went and whether you’d like to run it again. Ensure that
reporting is done for funding bodies as required.
* The
hip-hop festival grew from a community arts training programme run by PAUL.
CAPTION: A world record attendance of
Incredible Hulks at the Muckno Mania Festival last year, one of the
beneficiaries of CML’s new funding approach.
Sharing festival materials saves money
Every festival
committee in the country rents out many of the same things every year – a public address system, crowd control barriers, street cones, perhaps a
small marquee.
However, a new
approach pioneered by Cavan-Monaghan LEADER (CML) has taken some of the
pressure off organising committees.
Last year, CML hit upon the idea of bringing together
the organisers of everything from bog-snorkelling, to pipe-band parades to film
and drama festivals, so they could apply for funding as a cluster. They then
buy what they need, share it between them and look after it.
In Cavan-Monaghan, for example, local festival
committees now own semi-permanent signs that are designed to allow the sign
insert to be changed depending on what festival is on.
“The economic
downturn led to less sponsorship for festivals and organisers were approaching
us for support,” said John Toland of CML, “and in many cases the same equipment
was being hired by a number of festivals in the same geographic area.”
In 2012, five
cluster groups received some €300,000 to support nearly 30 festivals and the
new approach is seen as a model of best practice that development companies
across the country may wish to emulate.
There’s more to it than has been explained here and
John Toland can provide further information. T: 049-4338477. E: johntoland@cmleader.ie
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