How to Organize a Nonprofit Festival: Our Experience

Organizing a festival: easier said than done

OnStage APS (Associazione di Promozione Sociale, Italy's "social promotion association") was born on 10 February 2016 in Botrugno, from twenty friends who wanted to give the young people of the town a platform to create the events they loved. Since then the association has organized a reggae soundclash, Salento Summerclash (since 29 July 2016), the Giovedì Ciak film screenings, the street art festival RestArt (since 5 May 2018) and, since 2023, the freestyle contest Salento Block Battle. In between came the pandemic and a generational change, after which the new crew started again from small, low-cost events.

What did we learn?

1. The permit is the real festival

Red tape: this is the first obstacle that many associations never get past. Public land occupation permits, SIAE (Italy's collecting society for copyrighted music and performances) authorizations, notifications to law enforcement, noise-impact assessments... the list goes on.

Practical tip: start the paperwork six months in advance. Build a direct relationship with the municipality's cultural office — not with the forms, with the people.

2. Budget: the rule of three

Whatever figure you estimate, multiply it by three. The unexpected is the norm, not the exception.

Items that get forgotten:
- Event insurance
- Waste disposal
- Fair compensation for volunteers (expense reimbursement, meals)
- Backup equipment (the PA system always breaks)

3. Communication: start before you're ready

Many associations wait until everything is finalized before they start communicating. Mistake. Build anticipation months ahead: teasers, behind-the-scenes content, countdowns. The audience becomes loyal during the wait, not during the event.

4. The day after

A festival ends that same evening: the next one starts the day after. Gather feedback right away, thank your partners, publish the photos. An event's collective memory is built in the 48 hours that follow.

Start small again

If the group is new, don't start with a festival. When, after the pandemic, many of the original members left the association, the new crew started again in autumn 2021 with Urban Connection, DJ nights every Friday in collaboration with local venues: small, low-cost events designed to help newcomers grow. Only afterwards did the more demanding events come back, such as Restart in 2022.