Websites, Systems & Support Built for Festivals
REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS
A festival website is only the beginning.
Festivals have websites, of course. But they also have ticket buyers, volunteers, performers, vendors, staff, schedules, gates, promotions — and a hundred moving pieces behind the scenes.
We build and support the public-facing websites people see — and the practical systems festival organizers rely on behind the scenes and when the gates open.
FESTIVAL WEBSITE
Podunk Bluegrass Festival
Held each August at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut
A festival website has to do a lot more than look good. It has to sell tickets, answer questions, promote artists, explain camping and parking, help people find their way around, and keep changing as festival weekend gets closer.
For the Podunk Bluegrass Festival, we manage and develop a site that works year-round — from early ticket sales and lineup announcements through the final days of the festival itself.
What we help with
- Website design, development and ongoing updates
- Online ticketing and e-commerce
- Festival schedules, artist information and visitor resources
- Mobile-friendly festival-week information
- Timed and changing homepage content as the event approaches
- Ongoing technical support before, during and after the festival
The result is a website that changes with the needs of the event — not a static brochure that gets updated once a year.
FESTIVAL OPERATIONS
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Volunteer Applications
Held each July in Oak Hill, New York
Some of the most important festival work happens where the public never sees it.
For the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, we developed and maintain a volunteer application system that helps manage the process from the first application through final crew assignments.
Applicants submit their information online, pay required fees, and move through a workflow designed around the way the festival actually manages its volunteers.
What the system handles
- Online volunteer applications
- Fee collection
- Applicant information and status tracking
- Crew assignments
- Automated email communications
- Administrative tools for festival staff
The important part is not simply that the system is online. It was built around an existing festival workflow instead of forcing the festival to change the way it operates to fit an off-the-shelf product.
That same approach can be applied to volunteer programs, staffing systems, registration workflows and other event operations of almost any size.
CUSTOM FESTIVAL CHECK-IN SYSTEM
Podunk Festival Check-In
Not everyone coming through a festival gate has purchased a ticket.
Artists, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, special guests and other authorized attendees all need to be identified, admitted and tracked — and somebody at the gate needs a quick answer when a person shows up and says, “I’m supposed to be on the list.”
For the Podunk Bluegrass Festival, we built a custom Festival Check-In system — FCI — specifically for that job.
The system can manage
- Artists and their party members
- Volunteers
- Vendors and vendor staff
- Sponsors
- Special guests
- Wristband assignments
- Group and individual records
- Gate check-in
- QR-based scanning and lookup
- Real-time check-in information
Instead of juggling printed lists, spreadsheets and handwritten notes at the gate, authorized staff can work from current information in one system.
And while FCI was built for a four-day bluegrass festival, the idea is much broader. Any event that needs to manage staff, performers, exhibitors, VIPs, vendors, volunteers or invited guests can benefit from the same kind of purpose-built check-in system.
WEBSITE MAINTENANCE & LONG-TERM SUPPORT
Foxhole Bluegrass Pickin’ Party
Held each July in Preston Hollow, New York
Not every website needs to be rebuilt every few years.
Sometimes the better service is simply having someone who knows the site, knows the organization, and is still there when something needs to be changed.
We took over hosting and maintenance for the Foxhole Bluegrass Pickin’ Party in 2010 and have continued supporting the festival ever since.
Our ongoing support has included
- Website hosting and maintenance
- Festival information and content updates
- Technical troubleshooting
- Promotional assistance
- Social media support
- Advertising materials
- Festival merchandise
- Printed handouts and promotional pieces
Long-term maintenance works best when the relationship is not limited to opening a support ticket every time something changes.
Over time, we learn the event, the people behind it and the way they work — which means updates become faster, easier and far less complicated.
AND ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS…
We know festivals.
But the same thinking works everywhere.
A business may not have artists arriving at a gate or hundreds of volunteers to assign — but it still has customers, processes, information and problems that need solving.
If you like what we can do for a four-day festival, imagine what we can do for your business.