Organising an Event
> Selling tickets for your Event
> Registration form (incorporating Venue Information)
> 2011 Festival Brochure (pdf)
Organising an Event
Before your event can be made part of the Festival, you need you to fill in and return the Registration form, and either submit it electronically, or print it out and return it by post.
It is important that you are aware of the details surrounding events and how they operate within the structure of the festival, and the terms and conditions of particpation. All the information is available on this section of the website.
Please ensure you read all the information in this section before submitting the registration form. Once your form is submitted you will be committed to being part of the Worcester Festival, and will not be able to cancel your event without consulting the Festival Director.
There is a charge for events to go in which will be between £25 and £150 plus VAT, depending on the size of the event. Events that are free of charge or single events running for just one day or night will be £25 plus VAT. Multi events will cost more than this but only very large-scale multiple events will cost the full £150 plus VAT. To find out and exact cost of your event, please telephone the Festival Director on 01905 726969, or email us.
You will also pay a 10% commission on all tickets sold through the box office. That will include the cost of the ticket printing, the credit card charge and all administration.
Marketing your Event
1. Make a Plan
- Objectives – How many tickets to sell, at what price?
- Activities – Make a plan of potential marketing activities
- Budgets - Allocate marketing budget, assign realistic amounts to activities, plus contingency
- Timescales and Deadlines - Working to a schedule gives more chance of success
2. Letting people know
- Think about the audience from the outset (price, times etc)
- Make sure the RIGHT people know about your event
- Tailor your promotion to the audience you want to attract
- Think about their age, level of expertise, demographic, interests etc
3. Information - Be Clear about the details on all publicity
- Where, when and the time of the event
- What it’s all about (think about the audience)
- How much it costs – any incentives like groups or concessions
- How to get more information
- How to get a ticket
- Other information (what to bring, wear, etc)
4. Publicity Material
- Appealing, Professional & Functional
- Good quality photographs and artwork
- Good quality design – is it worth paying a professional?
- Clear information – the main objective
- Branding – please put the Worcester Festival Logo on your publicity material
5. Promotion ideas
- Leaflets & Posters
- Press and radio coverage
- Include the vital info in bold
- Event, date, time, price, venue, booking number and press contact details.
- Brand your release as a Worcester Festival event
- First sentence should be snappy, interesting and factual
- No longer than one side of A4
- Eye-catching headline and image
- Use reviews and quotes from the organiser
- Write it as it can appear the same in the paper
- Organise interviews with artists and organisers
- Submit to free listings and guides
- Word of Mouth
- Reciprocal Arrangements & Sponsorship
- Advertising
- Mailings
- Banners
- E-Marketing
> Print as many as you can afford - Free once designed & printed
> Shops, cafes, restaurants, community centres, hotels, pubs, leisure outlets, hairdressers etc
> Find out who the best contact is and build a relationship
> Press Releases - The Golden Rules!
> Get people talking about your event – give free press tickets, VIP events etc
> Join up with other events, businesses or organisations
> Identify potential outlets – newspapers, magazines, radio, newsletters, billboards etc
> Check the money is worth it by working out a cost per person, or how many tickets you need to sell to make the money back
> Do you own a list of past customers or can you get hold of one
> Are they the right people?
> Think about where they could be displayed legally!
> Website: www.worcesterfestival.co.uk
> Link own website to the Festival site
> Look out for websites with free events listings
> Emails and e-flyers – Start capturing email addresses for your audience (run competitions, organise questionnaires etc)
5. Help from Worcester Live
- Entry in the brochure and on website
- Design and print contacts if required
- Press list available
- Marketing Advice
- Remember – publicising your event is your responsibility!
- Marketing Department Contact: Lorna Phillips, 01905 727979, lorna@worcesterlive.co.uk or marketing@worcesterlive.co.uk
Selling tickets for your Event
The Box Office for all events during the Festival is Huntingdon Hall, Crowngate, Worcester, telephone 01905 611427.
Box Office hours are 10-5, Monday - Saturday, and during the Festival, 10-4 on Sundays, but the Box Office will also be open in the evenings when there is an event on at Huntingdon Hall. We take most credit and debit cards (not Diners or American Express.) You must sell tickets through us, although tickets on the door on the day of event should be both provided and sold by you, and will not be subject to commission. It is your responsibility to arrange to pick up your advance-sale tickets from Worcester Live - liaison with the Box Office is essential.
If you have an evening event and there is a ticket problem, e.g. someone says they have bought a ticket in advance, and it is not there, telephone the Box Office. There will be somebody there until 8 o'clock and they can give you the information you need. Failing that, please take their name and postcode so that we can check on the situation the next day.
Huntingdon Hall will take a 10% commission on all tickets sold. That will include the cost of the ticket printing, the credit card charge and all administration. Please note, you may need to increase the price of your ticket to absorb this.
Your ticket money will be paid out within 7 days of the end of the Festival with a full statement and with the commission deducted. You will not be able to take money in 'dribs and drabs' before the event, except in exceptional circumstances by arrangement with the Administration Director of Worcester Live.
Most Festival events work on a full price ticket, with a concession at £1 off. Concessions are usually senior citizens (60+), students and unwaged. Children, defined as under 16s are normally free with an adult ticket, but if not, they should be concessions - you need to let us know your specific policy. Most Festival events are unreserved - you need to talk to us if you want numbered seating.
Before we put your tickets on sale, you need to submit your Registration Form. We will not put your event on sale or in the Festival Brochure until we have that form.
If you have any enquiries, please do call the Administration Director on 01905 611714 and say it is a 'Worcester Festival Enquiry'.
Terms and Conditions
INSURANCE
If you are putting on an event, you must carry Public Liability Insurance of at least £5 million. The Festival does not cover insurance on your behalf.
PERFORMING RIGHTS
If you are staging a musical event, and somebody who died less than 70 years ago composed any of the music, you have to pay Performing Rights, at either 3% of your Gross Box Office or a minimum of £25. Performing Rights Festival Help line is 0845 300 6033.
LICENSES
If you are staging a performance in a Venue you probably need an entertainment license. The Venue will probably have one, but you need to check with them.
VENUES
You have to find your own Venue for your event. Also, you have to staff it on the night, i.e. run a Box Office, provide stewards if necessary. We may be able to help put you in touch with venues but ultimately it is your responsibility to secure a venue. (St. Swithun's right in the centre of the city is a wonderful venue for some events, and is available for use for a 'donation'. Contact Raymond Fowler (01905 420194).
EVENT REGISTRATION
All participants must fill in a registration form with full details for each event. This will be taken as final information and cannot be changed once the brochure has gone to print.
BROCHURE
There will be a full colour brochure, which will be delivered to approximately 100,000 homes. There is a charge for events to go in which will be between £25 and £150 plus VAT, depending on the size of the event. Events that are free of charge or single events running for just one day or night will be £25 plus VAT. Multi events will cost more than this but only very large-scale multiple events will cost the full £150 plus VAT. To find out and exact cost of your event, please telephone the Festival Director on 01905 726969
We cannot guarantee to include photos, but will do our best. Only sponsors’ logos will be included.
MARKETING
You are responsible for marketing your own event, but the general Festival marketing will support your event. Please use the Festival logo (available on jpeg) on all your material, e.g. programmes and advertising. Download Festival logo This is compulsory to be part of the Festival. If you have a website, please link it to the Festival website once tickets are on sale. (www.worcesterfestival.co.uk) Please be as honest and informative as possible in your copy for the brochure.
TICKETS
For every event where there is a charge for tickets, we must be allowed to have tickets on sale in the Festival Box Office at 10% commission. We will not supply you with printed tickets, but you can sell your own tickets, and will need to do so on the night of the event if there is capacity. (Use a raffle ticket or something similar on the night to save money).
SETTLEMENT
Your ticket settlement from Worcester Live will be within 7 working days from the last date of the Festival. Cheques will be sent out by post. If you have more than one event, we will give you a breakdown of the various events, but issue one cheque per organisation.
BROCHURE DEADLINE
The deadline for having your event in the brochure is the last working day of April. You may register an event after this, and it will go on the website, but it will not go into the brochure.
CANCELLATIONS
Once the brochure has gone to print, no event should be cancelled for any reason without first consulting the Festival Director. If there is a cancellation which is in the brochure, then you must agree to have someone at the venue for half an hour before and after the start time to deal with any 'walk-up' customers.
Registration form (incorporating Venue Information)
Click here to download the Worcester Festival registration form in PDF format
Click here to download the Worcester Festival registration form in Word format
