Whisky Revealed: Whisky Festivals with Sean Williams
Welcome to the latest Summerton ClubWHISKY REVEALED
Learning about whisky from the experts…
Dan Humphrey (Summerton Whisky Club founder) poses the question to industry expert and organiser of the Wales Whisky Fest, Sean Williams (Welsh Whisky Society founder):
How do you put on a whisky festival?
“When Dan asked me to answer ‘how do you put on a whisky festival?’, my first thought was why would anyone else be mad enough to put one on!
In all seriousness, whisky festivals are amazing. A great way for consumers to try amazing drams from distilleries and bottlers all in one place in a friendly and safe environment. From an organisers point of view however alcohol festivals are a lot of work.
Having run lots of different events over the last two decades both independently and with my business partner Charlotte. Ranging from charity music festivals, motorsports events, food and drink events along with outdoor events. The one thing you need to be is good with people management and communication.
Events and whisky festivals in this case are all about people, people wanting to sell or show what they have to offer and people wanting to buy/try what is on offer. The key is striking a balance between what both parties want.
Meet the expert
Sean Williams, Wales Whisky Fest & The Welsh Whisky Society
So here is my check list for making a whisky festival (or any other event/festival):
Venue: this is the first thing to find, you have to plan the festival around the venue’s positives and negatives. Location, amenities, is there parking, is there public transport, is there licencing and insurance for ticketed events?
We often plan events purely on the venue as it has such an impact.
Event Team: this is normally the second thing we look at. How many staff members or volunteers and security are needed. Do we need bar tenders, medics, SIA badge holders or any other professionals? What will they cost and will the event make enough to cover this.
The Show: in this specific case, just putting a load of whisky in a room for people to try is not the only consideration. What makes this festival unique and what’s the hook to attract ticket holders. Is it location, exclusivity, appealing to a unique demographic or consumer base?
More than anything, if you were the punter, would you want to go to your own festival? How much would you want to pay and why would you want to?
Time: this is so hard to plan for as you always spend more time in organising events than you first plan for. You will be extremely busy on launch of the event and on the last few weeks before along with the obvious marathon that will be your festival. Plan to be on site (at the venue) before everyone and leave after everyone else.
Make sure you have the time it will take to organise a successful festival before you start (big or small) especially if you already have full time work or/and family commitments.
Money: not the main motivator unless you are doing this as a job, but before you commit any money to starting a festival do your research and get your costs and projected revenue nailed down. There is no point planning a festival with say a per head cost of £50 and you have planned to sell tickets at £40 per person.
Whatever your cost total is add 20% as a contingency, and then when something happens (and it will) you have planned a buffer to absorb the new costs.
Finally, if you want to start any new festival, make sure you have passion for what you’re doing and take pride in building something for others to enjoy.”
