For those who don’t know, I have been planning the first annual Midsouth Homesteading Conference and Festival to take place on September 19th (conference) and 20th (festival) of this year. I mentioned this briefly in a previous post as well as on the farm Facebook page and the Facebook page of the event.

This is my first time planning something like this, and I have learned a lot along the way. I suppose when I first had this grand idea, I thought that it would be easy-peasy and fall together effortlessly. Not! It really takes a tremendous amount of time, effort, and patience to plan a farm event. It takes more money than I expected, too. The good thing is that in the end, it will have been worth it…I hope! 

If you have ever thought about planning any kind of farm or homestead event, be it a class, conference, festival, farm tour, or something else, I have a few tips for you based on what I have learned from this experience thus-far.

1. Start planning early. I had about four months to plan this event when I started. In hindsight, this really was not enough time. Don’t get me wrong, things have come together, but I do wish I had either started earlier or planned the event for later. Why? Well, I missed out on some speakers and demonstrators I had hoped to land, because they were already booked for the dates of the events. One demonstrator even said that I should contact him in January of next year if I wanted to book him for September! 

2. Be realistic with your budget. Money has been a challenge for me to deal with for this event. I really didn’t think it would cost much at all because I didn’t have to actually rent a locale (instead, a portion of any profit above the red will be given to my grandparents for letting me use their land), but it adds up quickly. Here are some of the expenses:

• Some speakers (though not all) charge speaking and/or travel fees. Typically the further away they are, and the more well-known, the more they cost. 
•  Advertising is a surprisingly big expense, too. Word of mouth and free advertisements don’t cut it, especially for a first-time event. Between the cost of printing flyers, paying for online and paper advertisements, and the banners and signs I will be purchasing, it adds up.
• I also chose to provide food and drink for the conference attendees and conference speakers. Because we do not have a certified kitchen or the means to cater ourselves, I will not only be paying for the food itself but also the preparation of it. Don’t forget little things like cups, drinks, plates, silverware, etc.
• For the festival, I wanted to set up a kid’s play area. This required the purchase of material (plywood and paint, mostly) to make fun games and face-in-hole paintings, game prizes, face painting material, and straw bales.
• There are also expenses for readying the locale. Port-a-potty rentals, caution tape to keep people away from farm equipment, and the cost of small things required for a general clean up (because, as you know, farms can be messy places!)

3. Prepare to deal with naysayers. I mentioned above about how some people will not think your prices and policies are fair, and may try to make you feel guilty about it. Try to remember that their negative opinions don’t stem from a dislike for you or any hateful place, but simply from a lack of understanding what goes into hosting an event.

There will also be naysayers on other subjects, too. I have received comments from people unhappy with the dates, unhappy with the schedule, or unhappy with the classes offered. A couple of my own family members have even had negative things to say. I won’t name names, but one didn’t want me to hold the event at all and tried to have it called off behind my back.

At the end of the day, you can’t please everyone. The quicker you realize that and let the negativity slide off your back, the better your event (and even your life!) will be.

4. Don’t forget about liability issues. Part of the reason my family and I can’t cater the event ourselves (even though we are pretty darn good cooks!) is because of liability. If someone were to get ill — from the food or not — we could get in big trouble for violating food safety laws, which require a certified kitchen. There are also areas of the farm, including a pond, that will have to be roped off and labeled “do not enter.” I certainly don’t expect tragedy to strike, but if it does, being able to prove that we took appropriate safety measures will help protect us in case of a lawsuit. Farm Commons has some really great webinars on the liability of on-farm events. 

5. People have a tendency to not call you back. I think the single most difficult thing I’ve had to deal with is people not answering attempts at contact. This is another reason to start planning early. Some people just have to be reminded (like me!), but others simply will not respond to you. They will not email, call, or message you back. After dealing with this a few times, I changed my philosophy: If a person didn’t respond to two attempted contacts, I gave up and moved to the next person. If a person is not willing to respond to me, they are obviously either not interested or not reliable. Either way, they are not someone I want involved in my event, because I want everyone involved to be as enthusiastic as I am!

Bonus! 6. Don’t forget to have fun. It is way too easy to get stressed about stuff like this. The best thing to do, at least in my experience, is to set aside specific periods of time to work on the event, and let it “slip my mind” for the rest of my time. That way I can dive in head first, really hit the planning hard, and then simply not worry about it when my work time is up. Thinking and worrying about it constantly will take away all of the fun!

I hope these tips are at least a little bit helpful. I’m sure there will be a part 2 to this post after the even takes place (we certainly learn best in hindsight), so stay tuned!

Cheers