It looks like my last event this year is in "Balls Falls Conservation park"
for the Balls Falls Thanksgiving Craft show. You got to see this show - 5
food vendors for between 20 - 30,000 people ;-) The show is open from 10 AM
to 5 PM Thursday thru Monday, and for 6 hours each day I will have a 50 - 70
foot lineup (thats with 10 people working ) , and hat lineup lasts for the
full 6 hours ))))))

Presently I am waiting for a delivery of 400 pounds of pork butt, and about
500 pounds of sides. They were supposed to be here on Teusday - and I am
getting nervous. (Supply has been a big problem this year - I have been
shorted on at least 50% of my orders this year)

The reason for the nervousness - I have called all of the packing houses,
and not one has any extra butts for this week or next, and I will not have
enough pulled pork to get through the 4 days of the show. (my current supply
will last until Sunday night - leaving me high and dry for Monday)

Ribs are not a problem, I can cook at the event, and three of my suppliers
tell me they will definatly have some teusday of next week. (But that is
what they said last week as well)


John D
What the hell - if they squack, just Q'em (comment from one food vendor
regarding his in-laws at last weeks show)

"butch burton" wrote in message
om...
John-thanks a bunch-you obviously know a great deal about this
endeavor. Will contact you later-now for the important-where are your
Q events occuring-assume since you are N of 49th that means maple leaf
territory.

thanks

"John D" wrote in message
...
You are looking for a show promoter, or an event organizer. That is what
I
do in the winter - the summer it is just Q Q Q ;-)

Now up here in the civilized land north of the 49th, there are many
Gov't
programs for "cultural" or "civic" development (read waste of tax
dollars).
I am sure that there is something similare down south.

The first thing you need to do though is to identify your market. Is it
horizontal (wide general appeal), or is it vertical (very specific
demographic target)

The second thing is to identify and quantify the desired results.
Increased
exposure for downtown core? Increase exposure for busines? A venue for
talented local musians? put money in your pocket? Who will buy into the
idea?

The most important thing is the third step - How to marry the first step
to
the second - and promote it successfully.

You mention a food festival. Who is it you want to reach and why? Is it
for
profit, or non-profit? Are you looking to increase exposure of local
resturants and food joints? or are you looking for a community festival
that
has food as a primary component or feature?

The fourth thing that you will need is resources. While this include
$$$$,
you will find that man hours will quickly become far scarcer than $$$.

When it comes to advertizing, you will need shinny shoes to tapdance
around
and get all of the "free" PSA's {Public Service Announcments). It is
generally easier to affiliate yourself with a known and respected
charity or
not-for-profit group in your area to facilitate this. This will
generally
cost you a guarenteed donation, or the rights to a segment of the event
(usually the drinks - avoid this if at all possible)

Radio stations will offer "sponsorship" for title rights. (ie - CKPC BBQ
championships) - Avoid this - it limits your options, and generally the
give
a discount on ad-rates in return (which you can get anyway by playing
one
station off against another). Rather, try and get the Radio stations to
sponsor a specific act Friday night or Sat., and include in your print
ads
"Soand So brought to you by CKPC" and include logo. This way, you have
three
nights of primary acts to "sponsor off", increasing your cash flow.

TV will not respect you for your first two or three years - so don't
bother
(are too much at the start anyway's)

Don't forget to get in touch with local politicians - get the week
declared
"whatever BBQ week" or some such - you will be amazed at the amount of
free
press you can get.

Now from experience, I can tell you that to get the first event off of
the
ground for a "for profit" event, you are looking at abount 18 months of
work
(depending on size of course) This includes market research, identiying
potential vendors, pricing out ad rates, site location and rental,
insurance, accessing Gov't programs, visiting other events of a similar
nature ( and taking notes on what works and doesn't), identifying
parking
needs, dealing with Gov't with regards to street closures or utilizing
public parking, setting up waste water and grease contracts - and of
course
the lovely johnny on the spots.

Now, if all of this is done - then the real work starts - the local
board of
health will need to be involved. You will need to ensure that all of the
vendors that you have lined up for food have proper insureanc (listing
you,
the city, and the parks commision as co-insured), have proper sanitary
equipment, and are in compliance with all local by-laws and licences.

I have skipped much in this post - and glossed over much more. It is a
full
time job for one or two people to get an event off of the ground. But if
you
are succsessful, you will notice that it will tsake less and less effort
as
the event grows and the reputation of the event expands.Realistically,
you
will need a good war chest to get an event off of the ground (unless you
do
it non-profit as a community event). A for profit event will likey loose
money, or break even for the first three years. Then it will grow - and
grow
fast if you have good dates, good venues, good parking, good weather,
and
good exhibitors

I just finished working a small festival called Canal Days near Fort
Erie.
Population of the town was about 16,000. The event attracted about
45,000
people. The size of the town is irrelevant - it is the number of people
within 3 hours of the event that matters (people will travel up to 2 to
2
1/2 hours for certain events)

The most important thing to remember is not to believe what any show
promoter says - we are all trying to protect our markets ;-)

John D
Two more events to go - then I am done for this year (pushing 4000
pounds of
pulled pork and approaching 3900 rack of ribs - I don't think I can eat
either of them any more)



"butch burton" wrote in message
om...
Anyone know of any web sites having a discussion of or how to organize
a food festival. All of the basic steps including how to get the
people together, promote and plan the event. Want to make it wider
than BBQ-attended a KCBS event in Madison WI and while that was fun-it
was really more about the contest than people attending the event.
Also the space required for the contestants would keep the activity
from our downtown parks and it is the downtown area we want to get the
people to visit.

thanks