Course Description
Festival planning is not as easy as it seems. Festivals have become very popular in many communities. If you are interested in starting a festival in your area, or if you help plan a festival in your area, you can benefit from the advice and suggestions offered in this class. When you finish with this class, you will be able to plan and implement a successful festival in your community. This class covers how to organize, what committees you will need, how to convince people to volunteer to help you, etc. Also discussed in depth is finances - how to raise funds to put your event on, and how to attract corporate sponsors.
Course Requirements
Students taking this course should be interested in planning a community festival or major event open to the general public. This is a working course. The assignments will lead you into investigating requirements, costs, and fundraising. The chief requirements aside from internet access is a telephone, telephone directory, and a desire to plan a successful festival in your community.
Course Goals
1. Deciding what kind of festival you want to hold.
2. Understanding how to best organize.
3. Investigating the requirements for holding a festival.
4. Deciding program components of your festival.
5. Determining the approximate cost of your festival.
6. Preparing a workable budget for your festival.
7. Hopefully, watching your efforts come to fruition as you hold your festival.
Course Materials
Your local telephone directory will suffice. Web links will supply you with advice on what other festivals are doing, sample by-laws to help organize, advice for festival vendors, how to write a press release, how to run a meeting, among other things. Supplemental materials are available through e-mail upon request. Most of the materials you need are included in the lessons.
Grading Policy
Quizzes and assignments count for grades. Quizzes can be taken over until a passing grade is achieved. Quizzes are worth 100 points. Assignments are worth 10 points. To arrive at a final grade, I will count assignments and quizzes equally ( 7 assignments for a total of 50 points). (6 quizzes will be averaged and divided by 2). The two results will be added to arrive at a final grade.
Disclaimer
The advice offered in this course is based on observations and experiences of the instructor over a 20 year period of working on a major community festival. The concepts conveyed and points made are not guaranteed to apply to all festivals. The instructor and the festival she represents assumes no liability for the content of this course and any actions which may result from the contents.
Certificate Policy
This course also offers various certificates which can be used to verify training in Festival Organization. Certificates awarded based on the quality of research the students performs. Budgets and other plans will be evaluated. Certificates will also be offered based on final grades. All students are eligible for Certificate of Attendance, Class Participation, and Appreciation. Final grade of 70 or above earns Certificate of Merit. Final grade of 80 or above earns Certificate of Outstanding Achievement. Final grade of 90 or above earns Certificate of Academic Excellence.
