4. Planning and logistics What do we need to make this festival happen? Knowing the who, what, when, where, why and how of the festival will help you to establish its main components such as: • Finances, logistics, resources, venue, media, sponsorship, volunteers and staff resources you require and what the cost will be. a) Define your audience and participants To determine what audience you would like, review what your festival is going to be and what you want to achieve. • Is this audience in your community or is it regional or Provincial? • Are they a widerange of people or a specific group? • Do you want to keep the festival/event local? • Are you planning for the festival to get bigger each year expanding beyond your immediate community? *Make a list of all potential groups or segments of the population you would like to attract to your event (e.g. families, teens, seniors, sports groups, performing arts groups, etc.). b) Establish the date • When setting the date for your festival, pay careful attention to the time of year, competition from other community activities and your target audien-ce. • Research your community calendar for conflicts and options and choose a date that best suits your festival/event. • If another festival/event is happening at the same time as yours, research the opportunities for another date or perhaps explore the possibility of a joint venture. • Having an event during special holidays could mean your audience is di-stracted or out of the community. c) Develop and maximize your theme Your theme is used to package your festival and everything in the package should be related in some way to the festival theme. The goal is to consistently communi-cate your theme in everything you do. It should be considered and used in: your festival title, your programs and activities, types of foods served, displays, music, decorations, uniforms and the design of your signage and promotional material. 92