13 Jan 2020

Remember that time you went to that festival and had the best time of your life – ever - and everything was amazing?

You probably remember sitting on your friend’s shoulders in the mosh, screaming along to your favourite tunes. You probably remember how the bass literally shook your entire body, the hour-long waits for the bathrooms, and how convenient those phone-charging stalls were.

You might have wondered how they managed to convince so many amazing acts to play on that one day, wondered how many employees were needed to make the festival run, and wondered why your ticket was so exxy (or, you might’ve just been so lost in the music and the good times that you didn’t wonder about - or remember - a thing).

But if thoughts like that ever do cross your mind, you’re probably aware of just how much goes into the organising of a festival. It’s not just a matter of ringing up some bands and asking them to play.

The scope of making a festival is huge

From the marketing side of things, there’s marketing to artists (convincing them to play), marketing to local councils (convincing them to let you use their land), and, of course, marketing to the public (convincing music frothers like you and me to buy a ticket).

And each of those you can break down even further into things like marketing strategy, use of social media and digital marketing, competitions and promotions, getting sponsored by triple J… the list goes on!

Then there’s the actual event planning side of things. From answering the big questions like “where will we hold the festival?” and “which act is going to headline?” to the not-as-important-but-still-super-important ones like “how do we scan everyone’s tickets?” and “where will the first-aid tents be?”, to the small, nitty-gritty stuff like “how many portable toilets do we need to hire”, and “what design should we put on the wristbands?”

There’s also licencing, talent management, production, publishing, distribution, gaining sponsors, conducting feasibility studies, and touring plans. It seriously is just endless. And don’t forget the actual day itself. The grand test, to see if all the cogs in the festival machine work smoothly together and everything comes off as planned.

Imagine if that was you

If reading all that didn’t make you wanna run for the hills, then becoming a festival organiser could be your calling.

Some people get the greatest satisfaction out of seeing an enormous, grand-scale event and knowing that they were the one behind the scenes, making it happen. And can you blame them? Imagine knowing that you were one of the people responsible for thousands of individuals having one of the best days of their lives.

JMC Academy offers both a Diploma and a Bachelor of Entertainment (Business Management); both of which give you the skills you need to become an expert at building festivals from the ground up. In this course, you’ll explore everything talked about above, and cover a whole lot more as well.

The course is ace because it places a strong focus on giving you relevant, real-world experience, and gets you ready to jump into a bunch of different roles within the world of festival management. On top of that, you can do an accelerated course which lets you complete your degree in just two years, so you can enter the workforce and start making an impact on the music world ASAP.

So next time you’re Falls-deep in a fezzy and in absolute awe of how amazing your time has been, remember that it’s the people managing those jobs behind the scenes who ultimately bring that moment of divinity for those in the crowd. And remember that that could be you – check out more info and grab your free info pack over here.