Imagine the following situation: you’ve selected a day for an open-air festival a year before, spent a long time preparing all the events for this date, planned the schedule, and invited speakers and presenters. And now day X is approaching, but the weather forecast is not comforting – rain! What should you do, how can you solve this problem and are weather conditions really a problem?!
Of course, rain can dampen your mood and force you to rearrange your plans. Stay calm and keep a smile on your face, in order to be of the most use to your guests and emerge from a difficult situation with dignity. And our advice will help you solve this “wet” problem.
Tip 1: Change the festival location
If the insurance in your contract covers you for a deterioration in the weather conditions, then it makes sense to change the location of your event. This means switching it to an indoor venue and informing all the guests and participants of the festival.
If this option is not available, then:
Tip 2: Projection dome
Install projection domes over areas such as the lecture area, kids’ zone, etc. It will protect your guests from the rain, and you will still be able to hold all the planned lectures, concerts, etc. In a cozy atmosphere, visitors will be able to have a bite to eat and drink hot tea. You can also show projections with the day’s itinerary so that nobody misses what they have come to see.
Tip 3: Protective tents
Put up protective tents and marquees over open areas and hardware in advance. They will fulfill a protective function and will give your guests the opportunity of receiving satisfaction from being at your festival. You can always take them down if you don’t need them.
Tip 4: Free ponchos
Perhaps you are planning to include zones reserved especially for exclusive visitors to your festival. This could be in the form of VIP-ticketed areas, or maybe you want to invite Instagram influencers to promote your event. Keeping the possibility of bad weather in mind, why not buy (or, if it is an option, rent) ponchos and waterproof footwear to be offered free to all your special guests? Individual care always makes a good impression!
And, following on from this…
Tip 5: Take care of your visitors
You can’t change the weather, and you have no influence over it, so you need to try to take as much care of your guests as possible; give them a mental hug. Prepare hot drinks and meals for all the participants, buy blankets, and if you know for certain that there will be children at your event, make sure to organise a space where they can change and give them the possibility of sleeping, if there will be parents with young children – a place where mothers can feed their babies in peace and comfort.
Remember that visitors might not remember what guest speakers say, but they will always remember the care taken of them. Love and protect your clients and they will always reply in kind.