How to organize a fair

A good organization

A good organization can make or break a successful fair. There has to be a clear structure. This starts with making clear, achievable targets and formulate a good organization team. Within this team there has to be a clear division of tasks and there have to be made good agreements. When the team is composed, can research be conducted into the public’s demand. Is there any need for a fair? If yes, should it have a certain kind of theme? When this is clear, can a location be searched specifically.

Composing your team

If you want to get the best out of your fair, you first need to compose a good organization team. Try to put together a team as diverse as possible with people who have different qualities and ideas. This will ultimately benefit the quality of the fair.

Make clear agreements

The most important factor within an organization, there have to be made clear agreements each team member has to follow. Set these up in advance and announce it to everyone. In addition, ensure a clear division within the team. It is important to appoint one main person responsible for the project.

Mini-investigation

Organizing a fair is only useful if there is a demand for it among your target group. Conduct a local mini-investigation, to find out if this is the case. Maybe there is a need for a fair with a special theme. Try to find out, so you can respond as much as possible to the needs of your audience.

Location

You now have a clear understanding of what your audience is asking. Now it’s time to find the right location for your fair. You already had an idea in which town you wanted to keep the fair, the question remains at what location it is going to take place. At the search of the right location you have to take into account various factors.

Location-demands

If a location wants to be suitable for a fair, it must meet a number of requirements. The location has to be save and well accessible for visitors. Sufficient parking space has to be a part of good accessibility. When these conditions are met, the location can be given further shape. You want to give the visitors a pleasant day at the fair. Below we will discuss some conditions to achieve this.

Permits

Organizing a fair requires the necessary permits. Inquire, with the relevant authority of the place you will have your fair, what permits you need. You can’t have a fair without the necessary permits. Make sure you take care of this.

Decoration

Provide your fair with a nice decoration. When it’s a theme fair you already know what style you need for decoration. For most people it is a day out. Play on this and give the visitors a festive day. A festive day starts with a festive appearance.

Food and drinks

People are strolling all day to score the best bargains and to enjoy the cosines. This includes a bite and a drink. Make sure there is enough catering presence. Make sure you don’t forget the candy stall for the children. Always check the standard and qualifications for storage, transport, preparation and serving food.

Electricity

Does the location offers possibilities to provide electricity supply? A question you have to ask yourself if you organize a fair. Electricity will be needed especially for catering. As an organization, make sure that market people have access to electricity.

Keep your fair clean

You want to give the people a pleasant day. Therefore arrange sufficient places people can leave their waste. Think of waste bins, waste nets and large containers people can put their waste in.

Script

A good organization needs a detailed script. A script consists a general part and an overview of the tasks and actions.

General part / phone list

The general part of the script consists of the contact details of all employees and suppliers who are involved in the organization and execution of the fair. Mention the names, addresses and telephone numbers. Make sure that the list is complete, so that in the event of calamities direct contact can be made.

Overview of tasks and actions

This part of the script is no more than an overview of the agreements made and division of tasks for the event. Who performs which task, during which time, at which place. This gives you a clear overview of the various program components, when and where they take place and who is responsible for them. At fairs, the following points must be included in the script:

• Putting down and picking up the stalls
• Parking attendants
• Decoration of the fair
• Building times of the participants
• Parking spots for the participants
• Possible cooperation of volunteers
• Opening of the fair (perhaps by a certain person)
• Cleaning up the stalls

Give a clear overview in the script of what is expected of the participants and what you can do for the participants. Send the script to the participants well in advance. Ensure that all parties involved in the organization receive the script in time.

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Promotion plan

You are almost ready with the preparations for the day itself. Now it is only a matter of promoting your event. Prepare a solid promotion plan in which you include the following points:

• Make sure you are on market agendas
• Approach the locale newspaper
• Map your target group and try to investigate where they get their information
• Approach specialized magazines to promote your event
• Promote your event on to different social media channels (website, Facebook event, blogs, Instagram etc.)
• Start your promotion campaign well in advance. Try to instruct your target group about your event as good as possible.

The day itself

Almost all preparations have been made. Now it is time to make the day itself become a big success. Is the location easy to find by the visitors? Ensure clear instructions by means of signs and arrows. To give the visitors a warm welcome, you can choose to appoint a hostess/host. As clear starting times have been set in advance, all market participants are ready to receive visitors at their stall. Yet there are still some practical thing that can be taken for the day itself.

• Photographer
• Map of the location
• Times of special events that take place during the fair
• First aid post

Of course, the above points should be included in the organization process. How big you make it during the fair depends on your objective. Whether or not to engage a photographer is therefore optional.

Evaluation

As important as preparing for the event and the event itself, the evaluation after the big day is also very important. Evaluate with the organization team whether the targets have been achieved. Submit an internal report with, among other things, the good points of the event, the points of improvement, what was noticed etc. Also send an evaluation to the participants. Also report to the press with accompanying photos ( if taken ). Possibly you can already consider planning the next fair.

Resume

The article shows that organizing a fair takes a lot of time and energy. Have the necessary permits and always keep your targets in mind. Try to do everything to give the visitors of the fair a pleasant day.