There is no better way to listen to music, then listening to it live. It truly puts you in the moment and everything else fades into the distance. This is true for whatever sort of music you love – rock, country or classical.
Whether this is your first time organising a concert or if you’ve organised one before and want to ensure you have all the basics covered, here are five tips on how to plan a concert, including what safety considerations you need have in place, like queue and crowd management:
Venue
An ill-picked venue can ruin a concert. When looking for a venue to host your concert, you need to consider the type of concert it will be. For example, if you’re hosting a concert which involves lots of musical instruments, you’ll need to choose a venue that has lots of space to store the instruments. Whereas, if you’re putting on a concert for a choir, you may not need as much storage space.
You’ll also have to think about how easy it is for people to get to the venue – does it have good transport links or parking nearby?
Safety arrangements
Ensuring the safety of everyone who is involved in the running of the concert and the people attending must be your top priority. Depending on the type of concert you’re holding, the crowd may get quite excited, and you need to ensure you have plans and structures in place to manage this.
Safety barriers or fences can assist with the queue and crowd management outside the venue, whilst they can be placed inside the concert venue to ensure a safe distance is maintained between the stage and the audience.
Team
Even if you are hosting a small concert, you will need help in organising it and you’ll need people to help out on the day itself for setting up the stage, organising the seating, manning the cloakroom and selling or serving refreshments. You may have to hire external help, such as security guards, so it’s important that these people have the correct credentials to work at the concert.
Timetable
Depending on where the venue is located, some authorities only allow live music to be played until a certain time, so as not to disturb the local residents. Maintaining a military grade timetable will ensure that all the musicians have a chance to play their set, which will keep the crowd happy as well.
Employing an experienced stage manager who will ensure that everyone knows when they are due on stage and how long their set lasts, will help the concert to stay on schedule.
Refreshments
Listening to live music can be thirsty work. Members of the audience may wish to enjoy a drink (or two!) prior to the concert, or in the interval. The venue may have facilities onsite that sells food and drink, if not you’ll have to bring in external suppliers. Remember, to choose vendors that suit the type of concert it is – people attending a classical concert may not want to eat hot dogs!
Your aim when organising a concert is to ensure everyone has a fantastic time. Making sure the basics are organised prior to the day, means the concert will be a memorable event for both the audience and the musicians who take part.
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