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Music Festival Restart - Staffing.

Andy Robertson

With music festivals restarting from May or June it's time for music festival organisers to reactivate their operations and condense planning into three or four months. For festival organisers that put their events team on furlough it's time to bring them back to work and jump on a multitude of tasks that need to be completed quickly.  


The first challenge that any music festival organiser is going to face is getting their team back to full time work. Whilst some staff may have been placed on furlough there is a possibility that some key team members have chosen alternative work or careers. In some cases, it may difficult to tempt them out of a high paying secure job back to the events sector. If the festival organiser has been in regular contact with furloughed staff it should be easier to get them back to work.

If the festival organiser now finds themselves short of some key staff the prospect of recruiting and training new team members is a big ask as it can take months to recruit and onboard new staff. A positive view to take would be that with so many great experienced events professionals now out of work that recruiting new team members that can hit the ground running should be easier.

It's not only the internal event steam members that need to be reactivated and/or recruited but the army of volunteers that previously registered and who may not have been contacted by the events team for some time. Whoever is responsible for recruiting and managing the volunteers should get back in touch with previously registered people and check they are still available for the scheduled dates and then organise the training dates in advance. A quick assessment of the volunteer situation will identify any shortfalls and how many new volunteers may need to be recruited.

As most music festivals were cancelled in 2020 it is safe to assume that the bulk of the logistics were finalised prior to postponement to 2021. This should go some way to assisting and reactivating events teams who are now faced with condensed logistics timeframes. Their first priority should be to familiarise themselves with the current situation regarding agreements and contracts with artists, vendors, contractors, sponsors and volunteers. Once an assessment of the current status is understood a prioritised action plan can be put into place to ensure everything happens as and when it is planned.

Aside from the challenge of getting a full complement of events team members other factors may need to be considered. Are staff required to physically come into an office or can everything be done remotely? There will also need to be an allowance for staff to get back up to speed in performing their roles, some not having worked for a year. 

For any music festival organiser planning to get their event live this summer using a software management platform like
Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their music festival logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors guestlists and ticketing.

Photo by Fox from Pexels

Andy Robertson
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