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Rationale

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Introduction and Event Overview

We have undergone a process in order to plan a live music event over the course of the last semester which required balancing creative input with logistical and financial factors. Our event is a fundraising event for food banks in Leeds in an attempt to bring a community aspect to a showcase of music that we are passionate about. We structured our planning to try and make this an event for a wide audience of people who love not only the music, but the well-respected independent venue and the charity aspects of the event. The event will be at Wapentake which is a nice small bar with a friendly atmosphere perfect for any charity event and with a group of amazing staff who have been eager to help us put on this event. The essay will cover each subsection of our planning and all of the areas we need to cover in order to prepare for any problems we might encounter both before and during the event. I will explain why we have made the decisions we have and give insight into what you have to consider when planning a live music event. This includes a time management strategy, production planning, our marketing strategy and financial planning. 

Rationale for Event Choice

We chose our event based on lots of different factors and ideas. We knew that we wanted to do a charity event and decided to choose Leeds foodbanks to make it local and give a sense of community with the event. We have decided on a minimum donation of £5 and encouragement to bring food for the foodbanks. We decided on the minimum donation because the venue that we are using is non ticketed and free entry. This, in our view, is an ethical use of a free venue and an encouragement of participation in this good cause. For the venue, we eventually decided on Wapentake. It is a very good atmosphere and a close knit community. At first, we asked Mabgate Bleach and they didn’t respond so we decided that a slightly smaller venue with a good feel would be more suitable for a fundraising event. We tried not to limit our audience too much with the music and also wanted people to really get involved with the charity aspect as well as the live music. We have carefully curated a lineup that will keep things fun and lighthearted all through the evening. Our lineup consists of 4 bands and one solo artist who play originals in an indie grunge genre. It is our understanding that lots of people like the idea of this lineup along with the fundraising aspect. We understand that the audience we are to expect is friends of the bands and regulars of the bar itself, both of which should make a good turnout for our event. We have chosen to hold our event on the 13th of March 2026 as it is the date we found that aligns best with the venue and the artists schedules. We have planned a lot in advance so that we do not run into any conflicting fundraising events as we understand the importance of having a standout event that really raises money for our chosen cause while having people enjoy themselves and enjoy donating. The venue we’ve chosen is well-respected and in a student city so with our carefully devised marketing plan we will have a manageable turnout and hopefully raise lots of money. 

Time Management Strategy

We had to ensure that we were organised in our process of planning this event. So I have created a Gantt chart to show the timeline of our planning process. 

Week/ Task

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Ideas and brainstorming

X

X

Planning and objectives

X

X

Food banks contacted

X

Venue confirmation

X

Artist confirmation

X

X

Marketing plan

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Production planning

X

X

Final confirmations

X

Event week

X

We used the first couple of weeks to think of ideas for our event and in terms of time management this was slightly relaxed as we knew we had time until we needed to confirm anything. These two weeks helped us be as creative as possible while also mapping out our deadlines of when we needed things confirmed such as artists and the venue. We created a shared calendar in which we put all of the important deadlines and meet ups where we would discuss what needed to happen in the following weeks. Though we all shared the work load, each of us had a different area to focus on which enabled us to keep everything under control in the given time. For example, one of us was tasked with contacting the venue, one of us was responsible for the lineup of artists and one of us needed to start working on the marketing plan. I was in charge of contacting the food banks to confirm where we send the donations and what items of food will be accepted as donations. This enabled us to stay ahead of time as we all had tasks and made sure we kept in contact and updated on each area. We had to ensure we were prioritising the right tasks such as venue confirmation rather than smaller things such as poster art that can be focused on later. The marketing plan was considered for a long part of the planning process as we had to consider the time management of it leading up to the event and also afterwards. For this we had a team meeting about when to release each part of the marketing plan in order to stay on schedule for the event. This will be detailed later in this essay. We came across a few overlapping tasks, such as booking artists to play at the event and also trying to start a marketing plan. We navigated this by keeping each other updated on word from the artists but also keeping in mind the risk of the artist not being available and having started the press kit/social media design. Another part of our time management strategy is planning ahead for what we need to do on the week leading up to the event. As I have detailed in the Gantt chart above, we will need to contact the artists and the venue about production planning in the coming weeks in order to know what we’re doing on the night in terms of lighting, sound etc. Our shared calendar already has dates in which we need to meet and discuss these final factors before the event which enables us to stay on time and be prepared. Our time management strategy really helped us reduce stress and risk during this planning process. 

Production Planning

a) Technical Production

It is very important to have a plan for the technical side of the event as no live music event would be able to go forward without a strong plan behind the production. We have been in contact with the staff at Wapentake and they have a PA, mics, mic stands and a mixing desk. We would need to provide amps and all the necessary cabling which the artists will bring and a drum kit which we will rent from the conservatoire. The equipment in the venue has all been approved for the venue’s size and acoustics and the equipment that we bring will be surveyed in the soundcheck. This has all been agreed with the staff and we have planned for any problems with equipment. We have decided that the soundcheck will be at 5 allowing us time to adjust to the sound and fix any problems with the equipment before doors at 6:30. This will allow each performer to get comfortable with their equipment and make adjustments. Wapentake has a sound engineer on their staff for live music events and he has agreed to do our event for free. He has worked with a few of the bands we have on our lineup and so he knows their sound and has an idea what levels work best for them. He will be on duty all throughout the event so that he can respond to technical difficulties. 

b) Logistical Planning

The logistical side of things is just as important as the technical because it ensures that everything runs smoothly and everyone is where they’re supposed to be on time. The load-in and set up will happen at 4 giving us plenty of time to move equipment around and create the stage setup that we want. There is an access area directly outside of the venue where we can load things in from however most of the equipment is already in the venue and the things that we are bringing can be carried by the musicians. This is all fairly straightforward as long as we stay on schedule. The artists will arrive at 4 to help set up for a 5 o’clock soundcheck. In Wapentake, there is not so much a stage but an area where they host gigs and open mics. It gives it a more intimate feel perfect for a charity event, this means that the stage layout will be down to the artists and how they feel they should be set up. We will have a donation collection point where people will be encouraged to donate £5 or more for a ticket though this is not compulsory. In this station, we will also collect any food that people have managed to donate all overseen by one person. 

c) Hospitality

Hospitality is important so that artists feel safe and able to ask if they have any questions or feel uncomfortable. The artists will be arriving early in the evening and don’t have access to a green room but have a 10% discount on drinks and are able to store equipment in the downstairs area. We will greet the artist and ensure that their every need is tended to including the free supply of water from the bar throughout. Our team will be accessible to the artists from the moment they arrive; we have briefed them on what they are to expect from the venue and from us. All of the members involved in our event, paid or unpaid due to the charity event, will be made comfortable when they arrive and will get an explanation of how the evening will run.

d) Health & Safety

We carried out a risk assessment which is attached below. It includes crowd safety, electrical safety, equipment safety, fire exits, first aid arrangements, and staff briefings. Health and safety is paramount in regards to putting on an event. Without a detailed risk assessment aided by the venue, a live music event will not go ahead. Crowd safety was one of the things we had to consider in relation to the venue’s capacity, as it is not a ticketed event. We have prepared for the possibility of turning people away at the door should it reach full capacity as our risk assessment has only accounted for about 58 people in the space. Electrical and equipment safety is very important as it is a small intimate venue and we need to prevent fires and electric shock. The sound engineer has been briefed on all of the equipment we are bringing (all PAT tested) and knows where all of the power sockets are. We will ensure that no sockets are overloaded at any point. Cables will be mainly kept away from audience areas and will be gaffer taped so that the artists know where they are and have no danger of tripping. We have draughted a stage plot in our technical specification which details that the fire exit and access to toilets will not be obstructed. The staff will be briefed in the week leading up to and day of the event in first aid procedures and any events that may cause harm to staff or the public. For example, they will not be tampering with equipment and our sound engineer will oversee all moving or handling of equipment. These safety measures will ensure that people come of no harm at our event.

Contingency Planning

Our event will be a small intimate fundraising event. This comes with risks in performer attendance, public attendance, technical issues, staff absence, and health and safety incidents. We have a lineup of 4 bands and 1 solo artist which runs the risk of not everyone in the band being there on time or a band cancelling at the last minute. With our lineup being so broad, we have had to fit a lot of artists into a small amount of time. With this being the case, we are able to be flexible. For example, if a band is late then we would be able to reshift the lineup around the headliner. We also have a backup band in the event of anyone not turning up on the day. With our event being small scale, low attendance could be a financial risk and high attendance could cause safety concerns. Our plan in mitigating these risks on the night is briefing our door staff to monitor capacity closely and having flexible donation collection methods to ensure that things run smoothly. Technical issues are a risk in that we may have equipment failure or sound issues. Planning for this includes having spare microphones and spare cables to hand in case of an equipment failure and our sound engineer monitoring technical faults and being ready to respond. Staff absence is a risk because we have a lot of 1-person jobs for example security and donation collection. This will be addressed by ensuring that most members of staff could take on a role if we are lacking in one area. For example, all 4 of us in our group have been briefed on how to effectively take donations from the public while monitoring capacity and costs. Finally, health and safety risks have been considered. We have carried out an in detail risk assessment with the help of the staff at Wapentake and are prepared to mitigate any problems with capacity for crowd safety. The team we have running our event are fully prepared to run into some problems on the night as it is expected of a live music event but we will be organised and coordinated in order to control any risks. 

Financial Planning and Risk

When we decided that we were going to do a fundraising event we knew that we had to be careful with our costs. This is especially true because the venue we have chosen is a free entry bar so we won’t be able to ticket it. This means that we don’t have a way of calculating how many people will donate upon entry and won’t know the numbers of attendance. This means we have had to rely on our marketing abilities to get the event some outreach. The main goal of the event is to raise money and collect food items for food banks but keeping the event accessible and giving the option to donate. Because of this, we decided that people will be encouraged to donate £5 minimum upon entry, though not compulsory, to try and raise as much as we can. It’s hard to predict our income for the event as some people may choose not to donate and some may choose to donate more than the suggested amount. As detailed on our cost sheet, our expected turnout is 58. This means that our potential gross is £290, with our costs at £110. We aren’t paying the venue as it is a free entry bar so the costs that we have accumulated are as follows: we are paying the headline band a flat rate of £80, we are paying an artist £15 to do the posters, we are then paying £5 for the posters and £5 for the leaflets. This comes to an estimated profit of £180 giving us leeway if there is an underestimated attendance. On the posters, leaflets and social media posts it will be clear that this is a charity event and that we expect to raise funds for the food banks, giving people the information on donation before they arrive. Donation collection points are to be clear and accessible so even though this event comes with financial instability we will be able to push for donations. To manage financial risk we will have a hold percentage of our budget. Our costs come to £110 and we will have 15% of that (£16.50) on hold should we run into any problems such as staff or equipment faults.

Marketing and Publicity Strategy

The marketing for this event is paramount for a successful fundraising event. We understood that the marketing needed to be cost effective and also strong in order to reach the local community but also appropriate for a small venue. While discussing our marketing plan we had to come up with our target audience. All of the bands we have on the lineup are Leeds Conservatoire students so we will mainly be targeting other students for this event. This includes making leaflets and posters and handing them out at university and sticking posters on ‘What’s going on’ boards. In the leadup to the event we will man a stall in the Conservatoire with all of the information about the event and also have members of the bands dropping by to see us at the stall to try and maximise outreach. Another area of our target audience will be community driven people who regularly attend music events in Leeds or the bar that we are holding the event at. To market for this audience, we will have lots of promotion at the bar itself so that regulars are informed. Physical marketing methods will also be very useful for this audience. For example, we will give a handful of flyers to the bars surrounding Wapentake so that staff or people who frequent the surrounding bars will be made aware. We aim to make our marketing transparent and concise; the fundraising element of this event, such as the suggested £5 donation, will be very clear on all of our promotion channels. This ensures that people know exactly what kind of event we are holding. Additionally, social media will be a primary point of promotion. Wapentake will put this event on their social media encouraging people to look into it; we will also have it on our social media accounts and will be encouraging our friends to share and repost. This is an excellent way to get widespread attention for our event especially with students and music lovers around Leeds. Content will include performer announcements, behind the scenes rehearsal videos, event details, and information about the fundraising aspect. Regular posting will be scheduled in the weeks leading up to the event to ensure visibility and engagement. 

Conclusion

This essay has given an insight to our planning process of a small-scale fundraising live music event at Wapentake, Leeds. Taking everything that I have learnt over the semester, I have applied my project management skills to ensure that this event is planned and prepared for any problems we might encounter. This has included time management, production planning, financial planning, contingency planning and marketing strategy all combined to ensure a safe and fun event. Overall, this event plan has been made with organisation and attention to detail and we hope to deliver a successful event for the enjoyment of all who are there.

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Technical Specifications

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Press Kit

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Press release

Replace this example with your press release as a PDF.