All has seemed fairly relaxed and calm up until recently, hence not much blog activity. Lots has been going on but we've had no real dramas.
However there is now some anxiety creeping back in. Despite having a really successful year last year, we are still only in year 2 and our budget for this year's event is way into six figures. Our worst case scenario is actually quite bad. Add to this any sort of bad economic news and we just assume that everyone will be broke in 2011 and won't be able to come despite us being at the cheaper end of festival ticket prices.
And should you try to make money or should you build a brand (hoping to cash in later)?
We lost a little money in 2010, according to Fiona Stewart @ Greenman festival you ought to be able to make a little bit in year two. This would be nice. When anyone grumbles about ticket prices it's hard not to come back at them guns ablaze. We risk 6 figures sums and stand to make very modest 5 figure ones if we sell out. It's no way to get rich. When we stand to make some ££ we'll let you know in advance and you can all hate us for it, until then we're just the plucky underdogs taking on THE MAN.
We talked last night about how big a festival we ultimately wanted (a conversation propelled by Jacobs Creek) . At some stage, not this year but perhaps next we will stand to lose all our savings and some of the house if it all goes wrong. Savings I can live with but not the house. Our sanctuary, the place where bad stuff happens when you leave it's walls. So we're not festival rookies anymore, we feel relatively like we know what we're doing (possibly very misguided), but the sakes are undoubtedly higher, though of course you only live once so what the hell, fuck it, etc etc..
In other news - we hate the banks, won't even begin to tell you about our credit card processing problems suffice to say that only the viagra reselling industry is more dodgy in the eyes of the banks.
We have joined the AIF - The Association OF Independent Festivals. AIF is the brain child of Rob Da Bank - he of Bestival & Camp Bestival, radio 1 DJ and brother of the less criminally minded Justofta (I'm so funny.) Off to my first AIF meeting next week to try and blag some tickets to Greenman from aforementioned Fiona.
I also went down to the festival awards in November. I met loads of other festival organiser types and did for the first time feel a sense of camaraderie with others, we have loads of the same problems and all smoke like mad. We were nominated in the best new festival category along with 7 others. The eventual winners were Vintage At Goodwood. A new festival for 2010 run by Wayne Hemmingway and his wife (of Red or Dead fame.) I really like the idea of it, a celebration of all things British through each decade, music, fashion etc..Not sure I'd like it in practice though, not being at all fashion consious myself. I don't own a teddy boy outfit, or any spats or a gas mask.
Anyway fair play on the award we thought, they got 40,000 hipsters of various ages to attend after all. Except that, and I think this is public domain, they lost a boat load of money and then decided they weren't going to repeat it on the same scale in 2011, in fact I think it's going to be inside. Cue public outcry. Anyway we thought we might follow their strategy to festival award glory this year by starting a new event and, in order to secure the requisite number of public votes, to give away free tickets and free girlfriends. Victory thus unsustainably secured.
We have a new press person, Claire. We love her, she seems too nice to do PR. She's a festival PR expert, ex T in the park, we have high hopes that she'll ease the pain of selling tickets this year. We are hoping for 3000 adults and the corresponding number of kids. Basically twice the numbers. We're slightly scared that our ticket sales are currently showing a ratio of 1:1 adults to kids - whilst this is great (marketing messages getting through etc) it is unnerving Rachel, our kids stuff organiser. But this year we have booked a massive big top, so we should have the room. Not sure North Yorkshire can source that many good facepainters but we are thinking of having an express 'incredible hulks only' type queue.
I want a 'something for the Dads' tent. This would address the needs and desires of Dad's in general and no kids or wives would be allowed in. In my minds eye this tent would be shielded from mobile phone coverage, certainly contain lots of ale and probably some very attractive women perhaps modeling the new Cath Kidston summer collection. There would be huge demand for this (secretly) amongst Dad's but the idea will ultimately get shot down by my wife (and all other female team members) which is a shame. We are I suppose not about promoting family dis-harmony, perhaps you are only allowed into the 'something for the Dad's' tent for a limited amount of time on some spurious pretext. Perhaps we could have power tool demonstrations, of no interest to anyone except Dads and along these lines. Certainly a doomed work in progress.
Beer lovers will be relieved that we're not running the bars ourselves this year.
Our headliner are I Am Kloot. Again we have high hopes that they we sell us the tickets, they are big in Manchester so that gives us a big target audience all living in the same spot, handy. We spent the last few nights flyering their current UK tour. They have certain things in common with The Wedding Present, not so much in their music, but the sort of dedicated and devoted fans they have. I saw them live for the first time in Edinburgh and was impressed/relieved all at once. We are going to theme the event in honour of their 2010 mercury nominated album 'Sky At Night'. Kate is worried that because I mentioned 'black holes' on a press release someone will be expecting us to have a real live black hole. She ought to be more worried about the plan I'm hatching to send a weather balloon up to the edge of space, whilst up there it could muck about taking pics and then plummet back.. another work in progress.
I'm currently e-stalking Prof Brian Cox's wife to try to get him to attend. He's a younger sexier version of Patrick Moore without the xylophone. She sound's a bit pissed of with his current level of celebrity, reading between the lines. 'He'll most likely be filming, again', she says grudgingly. She should be careful of course as he is lots of girl's favourite TV boyfriend. He has nice floppy hair.
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