How to Host a Successful Local Festival: The Story of Around the Town Festival
Festivals in Northern Ireland
Across Northern Ireland, hundreds of festivals take place annually, generating significant economic benefits. For instance, in 2023, two festivals in Belfast—Belsonic Festival and Emerge Music Festival—contributed £30.8 million and created nearly 6,000 paid employment opportunities. However, the success of smaller, community-focused festivals in local towns is equally intriguing. This case study examines how Positive Carrickfergus successfully introduced a new festival, Around the Town, that not only brought events to Carrickfergus but also embodied the spirit of the town.
Positive Carrickfergus and Community Building
Around the Town is a concept of Positive Carrickfergus, a community-driven initiative founded by local resident Lee Robb in 2017. Initially started as a Facebook page to foster positive discussions about the town amongst residents, Positive Carrickfergus grew into a community movement, with its own website, and numerous local projects. The group aimed to challenge the narrative around Carrickfergus, to evidence that it is a great place to live and encourage collaboration amongst residents, businesses and the council.
Positive Carrickfergus adopted an asset-based community approach, focusing on utilising local spaces to showcase the town's potential. One notable project was the Wildest Dreams Postcards initiative, funded by the National Lottery, which collected feedback from residents on their aspirations for the town. Suggestions included tidying the town, embracing diversity, and creating more arts and cultural spaces within the town itself.
The Beginnings of Around the Town
Seeing the growing momentum of the group, Lee (along with Positive Carrickfergus’ team member and Creative Producer Lynn McKenzie) and the Board realised there was more that could be done to enhance the local arts and culture scene. Positive Carrickfergus secured £155,000 in National Lottery funding to create a two-year arts strategy for Carrickfergus. The initiative aims to establish a foundation for developing a vibrant arts and culture scene, with the town hall envisioned as a central arts hub. The plan includes hosting monthly events to showcase the potential of the town hall as a key cultural venue.
Positive Carrickfergus held monthly gatherings, bringing together their team and local musicians. These musicians were key players from the start, having contributed to the initial lottery application. Their enthusiasm and quick engagement led to regular meetings where they shared ideas for utilising the town hall as an arts venue. As these monthly events at the town hall unfolded, the group gained valuable insights.
Building on their experience with monthly events, the group came up with the idea of hosting a festival to represent Carrickfergus in January 2024. The team of musicians and Positive Carrickfergus members naturally transitioned into the festival's planning group. Lynn explained to the group that they needed to raise a practical budget of £10,000 for the event, with £15,000 as the target if additional funding became available within three months. Between February and April 2024, Positive Carrickfergus secured £10,000 in funding—£5,000 from the Revitalise program (supported by the Department of Communities) and £5,000 from special council funding. With two-thirds of the budget secured, unexpected funding from the Royal Mencap Society, earmarked for overall inclusivity project work, was also approved to partially support the festival. This allowed the team to move forward with organising the first "Around the Town" festival, aimed at bringing cultural events to various locations across Carrickfergus.
Organising the Festival
The festival was pulled together in just six months, a remarkably short time for such an ambitious project. Lynn set a three-month target to see how much the group could achieve. With time constraints, Lynn had the idea that artists involved in the festival, like the local music collective Flame 'N' Ukes, organise their individual events, and Positive Carrickfergus held the administrative and organisational weight of the planning.
One critical factor in the festival's success was the strong relationships within the organising team. Bill Buchanan, who runs Déjà vu Promotions, handled communications and social media, helping to attract over 1,000 followers within six months to the festival’s Facebook page. The page was also helped by the support of the musicians and team behind the festival and their friends and family. Local businesses were featured in the festival’s brochure and made sure to promote the Facebook page, too.
The festival’s success was also driven by effective data collection. The team distributed their own survey after the event, asking attendees how the festival made them feel about Carrickfergus, what changes they’d like to see in the future, and their thoughts on ticket pricing. The feedback showed that many attendees were willing to pay more for certain events, leading to the decision to introduce a tiered payment system for next year’s festival. Although some respondents noted they hadn’t heard about the festival in advance, most events still sold out. To boost visibility, the team plans to ramp up promotion even more for next year’s festival.
As organisers, Lynn and Bill attended every festival event and made a deliberate effort to actively gather direct feedback from festival-goers throughout. Insights from their ticketing system, Glistrr, along with survey responses, provided valuable information that will shape future editions of the festival. (Psst: If your organisation uses a ticketing system and needs help improving it, book an audience appointment with us to discuss further.)
Key Festival Outcomes
Prior to the festival going ahead, Lynn, stated to the planning group, “We’re not going to look at this festival as a success or a failure. Because the success is that it happened.” It was also a priority for the group to reflect on the festival afterward, focusing on what went well and the key takeaways.
Held from August 2-10th this year, the Around the Town Festival featured 22 events and attracted over 1,000 attendees, with more than 75% of events selling out. Lynn and her team were able to track these milestones through their diligent data collecting. The festival provided a platform for local talent and strengthened bonds within the community. The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive.
Lessons Learned: The Dos and Don'ts of Organising a Festival
Based on the experience of organising Around the Town, Lynn shared several valuable insights for others looking to launch community festivals:
- Do foster connections with your team and community: The festival thrived due to solid teamwork and local support. Through fostering strong relationships and a sense of interconnection, the festival planning process emphasised mutual equality, going beyond simple partnerships or contracted work.
- Do begin modestly but stay flexible: The team started small, planning only 6 events, but successfully expanded to 22. Being adaptable and ready to change course was crucial in handling the festival's unexpected expansion.
- Do track everything carefully: Writing down details, using spreadsheets, and collecting data helped the team keep an eye on how things were going and figure out if the festival was doing well.
- Do manage expectations: While it's essential to stay ambitious, it’s also important to recognise limitations. Lynn advised starting with what’s achievable and being open to scaling down when necessary.
- Don’t disregard community input into your project: The festival was founded on community input, not just incorporated into the decision-making process, highlighting the importance of truly understanding and addressing community needs.
- Don’t go back on principles: From the start, it was a priority for Lynn and her team to provide fair compensation for all project contributors. Lynn's team asked for initial quotes from artists and performers but was upfront about possible budget talks later. This balanced fairness with financial reality.
The first ever Around the Town Festival marked a significant achievement for Carrickfergus, showcasing the power of community-driven initiatives. Through careful planning, strong relationships, and a commitment to the town’s cultural development, Positive Carrickfergus successfully brought a brand new festival to life, paving the way for future cultural events in the area.
Photos by Ian McKenzie
