You don’t have to be a festival-goer to have heard of Coachella. The world-famous annual festival that takes place in Indio Valley, California each year at the Empire Polo Club. Officially established in 1999, the festival takes place over the span of two consecutive 3-day weekends. It boasts an average attendance of 500,000 people throughout the festival’s entirety. Year after year attendees returns for the many bands and other activities and performances. Even celebrities are among the crowd who mingle about. That being said, how do you go about planning an event of this capacity and do so well?
Criteria Of Large Event Planning
Just The Right Size- The venue where your event will take place must be a perfect size, not to big and definitely not too small! It has to work for the anticipated attendance with a little give on both ends. You also don’t want to spend additional funds from your budget in space you really don’t need.
Security- You need to make sure that you have all of the right security and medical personnel on hand to accommodate your crowd. Think Fire protection, Staff, Medical Response Teams, etc. It is great when you can partner with the host city of your event and is highly suggested you check into this option.
Advance Planning- You need to make sure you give yourself adequate time to both plan and execute your event. It is best to start early and have plenty of time to spare. Start booking necessary vendors, entertainment, etc. You don’t want to be left in a mind at the last minute because of poor planning.
Sanitary Conditions- It is also important to make the sanitary conditions at your event a top priority. You need to make sure that you have enough waste facilities such as port-a-potties, handwashing stations, and cleaning drinking fountain areas.
Budget- Know your budget and stick to it as closely as possible. It is in place for a reason. Outline your financial strategy to help prevent overspending in certain areas or in the entire planning process as a whole.
Even if you aren’t planning a big event yet you can learn a thing or two from studying the planning of Coachella. After all year after year, the event is a huge success with those that attend leaving with the anticipation and excitement of next year!