How to efficiently secure your festival line-up

A good line-up is a key element that can establish the success of a music festival. Its release date is when attendees become interested, especially if their favorite artist is performing. For older festivals that have a good reputation, it is important to be creative when booking performers. Therefore, try to secure new artists for every edition to avoid monotony and complaints. However, for festivals celebrating the first edition, organizers must be extremely careful in this process. This article will go over some tips & tricks that contribute to securing the perfect line-up.

Allocate a budget for your line-up

Clearly define the budget intended for the line-up of your festival. Do your homework and find relevant data coming from previous editions of similar festivals. This area requires a high willingness to spend because it is the main way to attract and convince people to attend your festival. Don’t forget to include accommodation expenses and transport costs for the artists. It is important to make them feel good and pay attention to small details, especially if you want to bring them back for future editions.

Communicate with your prospective audience

With the help of social media, you can find out which artists are most expected by your prospective audience. Most likely, they will ask for big names. Although their expectations will exceed the allocated budget, it is important to allow them to express their preferences. To satisfy their requests, you can focus on booking in the top two mentioned artists. It is a good way to assure that your festival-goers will be satisfied with the festival line-up.

DJ’s between acts

Artists love to be waited on before performing on stage. To keep the vibe lively between bands, you can hire a local DJ to take care of that. Unexpected delays, technical difficulties or even cancellations must be foreseen. As for the local DJ, this can be a unique experience. Keeping the audience entertained before a famous artist is about to perform can be a great opportunity for a local DJ that needs more exposure.

Book your line-up well in advance

Usually, larger acts (especially international ones) need to be booked at least one year in advance. Those will be your headliners, the ones most expected by your participants. Once you manage to secure them in, the rest should be relatively easy. However, make sure that you are covered by a strict agreement with your artists in case something goes wrong.

All in all, booking your festival line-up can be challenging at times. As previously mentioned, festivals with first editions can take advantage and avoid common mistakes by doing some research and finding out the best way to tackle this key element. With a well-established plan and a dedicated team in place, you won’t have to deal with major obstacles.


Article written by .

Mike Dragan is the cofounder and CEO of Oveit and works daily on providing better tools for live experiences. Mike has a background in computer science and loves building digital products.

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