The Festival Isn’t Over When the Music Stops
A successful wine festival leaves attendees buzzing with memories, but the producer’s job isn’t done when the gates close. In fact, the period immediately after your event is critical for strengthening relationships with all who made it possible. From paying artists and vendors promptly to thanking partners and securing commitments for next year, thoughtful post-festival actions can turn one-off participants into loyal, long-term allies. These “wrap-up” practices are what differentiate an average event from a beloved annual tradition.
Attendees enjoy the festivities at the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival in California. Festivals that cultivate loyalty among vendors, performers, and sponsors can recreate such vibrant scenes year after year. Prompt payments, genuine gratitude, and early invitations are key tactics to retain these crucial participants.
Why Post-Festival Follow-Through Matters
Every festival producer should remember that how you end an event sets the tone for the future. Consistency in follow-through builds trust over time. For example, a boutique wine & food festival in Texas has made charity and community support a cornerstone of its mission; “from the beginning, we at Wine & Food Week have felt that giving back to the community is as important … as putting on great events” (wineandfoodweek.com). Such values-driven follow-up not only benefits the community but also enhances the festival’s reputation among partners. In short, if you treat people well after the event – paying on time, saying thank you, and giving them first dibs on next year – they’re far more likely to support you again. This loyalty is invaluable: it means less scrambling for new vendors, easier talent booking, more sponsor renewals, and even attendees who return yearly due to the consistently great experience your reliable team provides.
Let’s break down three key post-event practices that build loyalty for your wine festival: timely settlements, thoughtful thank-yous (with shared assets), and enticing re-up offers. We’ll also look at how engaging the community and adjusting for scale (small vs. large festivals) can further solidify your festival’s standing. These insights apply whether you run a local boutique wine fair or a massive international wine and music festival – the principles of respect, reliability, and appreciation hold true across the board.
Settlements: Pay Everyone On Time, Every Time
Nothing undermines a festival’s reputation faster than late or missing payments. Paying artists, vendors, and contractors on time is non-negotiable for a professional festival producer. When a jazz band or a winery agrees to participate in your wine festival, they trust that you’ll honour your financial agreement promptly. Failing to do so can burn bridges not just with that act or vendor, but within the wider industry – word travels fast if a festival is flaky with its finances.
Why Prompt Payment Matters: Paying on time isn’t just about contracts; it’s about respect and trust. Consider the cautionary tales: a major Scottish festival faced a boycott call after it left previous performers and crew with unpaid fees (www.scotsman.com) (www.scotsman.com). In New Zealand, a 2022 community festival’s months-long delay in paying artists caused public outcry, with one local producer lamenting that if everyone had been paid properly, “I could trust you again,” but repeated failures meant trust was broken (thespinoff.co.nz). These examples underline a simple truth – if you don’t fulfil your payout promises, people won’t work with you again. On the flip side, festival organizers who always settle up swiftly earn a positive reputation. Artists will prioritize your event in their busy touring schedule if they know you’re reliable, and wineries or food vendors will eagerly return to pour their wines and serve dishes knowing their token redemptions or revenue shares will be paid without a fight.
Concrete Tips for Smooth Settlements: To ensure timely settlements at your wine festival:
– Prepare in Advance: Before the festival even begins, have all payment details, invoices, and methods lined up. For example, if you owe wineries a reimbursement per tasting coupon redeemed, calculate the amounts as you collect the coupons. Some festivals use cashless systems or token systems to track vendor sales – if so, be ready to reconcile quickly.
– Set a Settlement Timeline: Make it clear in contracts when payments will be made (e.g. “within 5 business days post-event”). Then beat that deadline if possible. Many festivals pay performers on the final day or next morning – a gesture that often pleasantly surprises artists accustomed to waiting weeks. If your festival is small, you might hand out checks or do online transfers during teardown. Larger festivals might process dozens of payments via bank transfer – still, aim for the shortest practical turnaround.
– Use Reliable Ticketing and Payment Platforms: Cash flow can be a concern if your revenue (ticket sales) is held by a ticketing platform for weeks. Opt for an event ticketing service that offers prompt or rolling payouts to organizers. For instance, Ticket Fairy’s platform ensures you have quick access to your ticket funds, helping you pay suppliers and artists without delay (and importantly, Ticket Fairy avoids controversial practices like dynamic pricing). A healthy cash flow and a dedicated finance team on standby will prevent excuses like “we haven’t been paid by X yet” – excuses that ring hollow to those awaiting payment.
– Don’t Neglect Small Vendors: It’s not only big-name performers that need timely pay. Your stage crew, sound and light technicians, cleaning staff, and even local farmers supplying produce for a food & wine pairing event – all deserve prompt compensation. Many wine festivals involve community vendors (e.g. artisanal cheese makers, craft sellers); if you promised to reimburse expenses or split profits, settle those accounts quickly to maintain goodwill.
– Contingency Funds: Festivals are high-risk ventures; if ticket sales were soft or weather hurt turnout, you might feel financial strain. Never solve cash crunches by delaying paychecks. Instead, maintain a contingency or insurance so that you can fulfill obligations even if you took a loss. It’s better to absorb a short-term hit than to default on payments and damage your festival’s name permanently. Remember how the infamous Fyre Festival not only stranded attendees but told its own employees and vendors that “there will be no payroll” (www.theguardian.com) – a move that destroyed any goodwill and became a byword for event mismanagement. Don’t be that festival!
Case Study – Doing It Right: Look at Adelaide’s Barossa Vintage Festival in Australia – a long-running wine festival since 1947. It involves dozens of local wineries, marching bands, and community events. The organizers attribute its 75+ years of success partly to treating participants honourably and paying everyone involved (from the big wineries to the local dance troupe) as promised. That reliability encourages the same groups to participate every festival, sustaining a treasured tradition. While not every festival has the Barossa’s history, any festival can decide from day one to build a reputation for integrity. Pay your bills on time, and you’ll find that partners will be eager to work with you again, year after year.
Saying Thank You and Sharing Assets
Once the dust has settled and the last stage is struck, it’s time to express gratitude. A sincere “thank you” costs nothing, but it’s incredibly valuable in building loyalty. Festivals are a team effort involving artists, vendors, sponsors, staff, volunteers, media, and local authorities. All these stakeholders will appreciate acknowledgment of their contribution. Coupling your thank-yous with some tangible takeaways (like photos, videos, or data from the event) makes the gesture even more impactful. Let’s break down how to thank each group and what “assets” you might share:
1. Thanking and Recapping with Performers/Artists: Whether your wine festival featured a live jazz band, a DJ spinning tunes in the vineyard, or cultural dancers, reach out personally after the event. Thank them for elevating the atmosphere. Highlight specific positive feedback (e.g. “Attendees haven’t stopped talking about your set during sunset!”). Along with the note, send them professional photos or video clips of their performance if available. Most festivals hire photographers – make those shots work double-duty as thank-you gifts. Artists love having high-quality media of them on stage; by providing these, you not only say thanks but also hand them shareable content that will likely end up on their social media (often with praise for your festival). This is free promotion for you! Many major festivals do this: for example, Belgium’s Tomorrowland and California’s Coachella send artists post-event photo sets, knowing the artists’ own posts extend the festival’s reach. Even at smaller events, a few good photos can delight a band. If you recorded audio or have a compilation video, share that too. The artist leaves with great memories and material – and a positive impression that you cared about their experience.
2. Appreciating Wineries, Breweries & Vendors: At a wine festival, the winemakers and vendors are the rock stars alongside the entertainers. Imagine you’ve invited a boutique winery from a different region or country to pour at your festival. They may have spent on travel, logistics, and product to be there. A warm thank-you letter or email recognizing their effort is essential. Mention how attendees loved their wines (share any specific praise or survey results that named them). If your festival had a “Best Wine” competition or popular vote, include those results and congratulate the winners publicly. Also, share useful data or assets: for instance, footfall numbers (attendance at the session they poured at), demographic info about attendees (if available), or social media highlights that featured their booth. Prominently, send photos: e.g. a great shot of their booth with a crowd, or the winemaker interacting with guests, or a photo of their branded stall. These are valuable for their own marketing. One Australian event, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, is known for providing professional photos to vendors and chefs after the festival (alquemie.com.au) – a gesture that shows appreciation and helps those vendors promote their appearance. By sending such assets, you’re effectively saying “we want you to benefit from having been here.” It strengthens the partnership.
Don’t forget other vendors: food stalls, artisan crafts, or sponsors with activation booths. Send them attendee feedback if you have it (e.g. “95% of attendees surveyed loved the food options – thank you for dazzling them!”). If a sponsor had on-site branding, send pictures of their banners and crowd interactions. Corporate sponsors in particular will appreciate an impact report that includes media clippings, social media reach, attendee quotes, and how their brand visibility played out. This sets you up well when it’s time to talk renewal (they’ll remember you went the extra mile).
3. Gratitude for Staff and Volunteers: Your festival crew – from the volunteer who scanned tickets at the gate to the site manager who oversaw power and lights – absolutely deserve thanks. Happy crew members become repeat crew members, and their enthusiasm is contagious. Many festivals hold a small volunteer appreciation party or an after-work drinks gathering to celebrate. If that’s feasible, do it: host a casual post-festival meetup for staff/volunteers with some wine and snacks (perhaps sponsored by a grateful winery!). Hand out volunteer certificates or fun awards (“Best Dressed Stall Helper” or “MVP of Tent Setup”). Publicly thank them on social media as well, posting a group photo of the crew and praising their hard work. For example, Montreal’s La Fête des Vendanges (a Canadian wine & harvest festival) routinely posts a heartfelt thank-you to its volunteer team on Facebook, tagging those who are comfortable with it – this not only honors them but also shows the community the faces behind the festival.
If a meetup isn’t possible, at least send a personalized thank-you email to all staff and volunteers. Mention the success of the event (with any cool stats: “We uncorked 3,000 bottles for 5,000 attendees thanks to your efforts!”). People love to know they were part of something impactful. Be sure to also pay any stipends or reimbursements to volunteers promptly (tying back to settlements – if you promised lunch or travel cost reimbursements, deliver quickly). Some festivals also provide volunteers with access to event photos – do share those if appropriate, so they can proudly show “I was part of this.”
4. Thank the Audience and Community: Often overlooked, but extremely important for loyalty: thank your attendees and the local community that hosts your festival. For attendees, an email blast or social media post saying “Thank you for coming and being part of our festival family!” goes a long way. Include a link to an event photo gallery or aftermovie so they can relive the fun. Many will share these, spreading positive post-event buzz. For instance, Spain’s Rioja Wine Harvest Festival (Fiestas de la Vendimia Riojana in Logroño) publishes albums of the grape-stomping competition, fireworks, and concerts for everyone to see – extending the festival’s life online for weeks after and building anticipation for next year.
For the local community, especially if your festival took over a town square or quiet vineyard region, it’s crucial to show gratitude for their support (and patience with any disruption). Take out a thank-you note in the local newspaper or community Facebook group: “The organizers of the Sunnyvale Wine Festival extend our heartfelt thanks to local residents for warmly welcoming thousands of guests to our town and for supporting the event.” Beyond words, consider giving back: donate leftover items or a portion of proceeds to a local charity. A shining example is the BottleRock Napa Valley festival in California, which donates all its leftover food (thousands of pounds) to local food banks and shelters (www.pressdemocrat.com). “The community really benefits in a huge way,” noted one organizer about BottleRock’s food donation effort (www.pressdemocrat.com). Another example: some festivals auction off signed wine bottles or memorabilia post-event for charity – engaging both attendees and locals in doing good. Such gestures show that the festival isn’t just about making profits off a community, but about being part of the community. In the long run, this wins you local allies, smoother permit approvals, and eager local volunteers, all of which make future festivals easier to produce.
In summary, a culture of genuine gratitude should permeate your festival team. It must be more than a perfunctory email. Tailor your thank-yous to each audience, back them up with photos or facts that demonstrate the success everyone contributed to, and make people feel valued. When artists, vendors, and volunteers feel your festival values them as partners (not just as hired help or sources of fees), they’ll be first in line to join you next time.
Re-Up Offers: Securing Priority Commitments for Next Year
One secret weapon of sustainable festivals is a high retention rate of participants from year to year. If your best wineries, musicians, sponsors, and vendors are excited to return, planning your next edition becomes much easier. How do you achieve that? By making compelling re-up offers soon after the festival, while the positive vibe is still fresh. Essentially, you’re saying: “We loved having you, and we’d love to have you again – here’s a special opportunity if you join us now for next year.”
There are several ways to structure re-engagement offers that build loyalty:
Early Bird Re-Sign for Vendors and Exhibitors: Many wine festivals give their previous year’s vendors (wineries, food stalls, craft booths) the right of first refusal to return, often with incentives. For example, a regional wine festival in New Zealand might invite all the wineries that poured this year to secure their spot for the next festival before the general vendor applications open. By doing so, you grant them a sense of priority and security. You can sweeten the deal by offering a small discount on the booth fee for early committers or keep the same fee while new vendors might face a slight increase. Another incentive is allowing returning vendors to request their preferred booth location. If a winery had a prime spot near the entrance or music stage that worked well for them, letting them lock in that same spot for next year is a huge draw. They’ll appreciate not only the financial predictability but also the familiarity (they can plan booth setup knowing the space). The Great British Beer Festival in London, for instance, informally ensures many popular breweries come back annually – the organizers reach out months in advance to those brewers with strong sales or fan feedback, offering them a place in the next fest if they sign on early. This practice isn’t always publicized, but it’s common sense: keep your all-star vendors happy and returning.
Advance Booking of Performers: While most festivals change up their entertainment lineup, there are cases where a certain band or performer becomes a festival favourite. If your wine festival attendees raved about the acoustic guitar duo that played by the vineyard or the headlining band that got everyone dancing, consider re-booking them for next year before their calendars fill up. Offer them a priority slot: perhaps a better time (e.g. moving an afternoon act into an evening headline slot if they drew a crowd), or at least the assurance they will be part of next year’s lineup. Early booking can sometimes even save you money – you might negotiate this year before they become more popular or raise their rate. But even if not, the artist will be inclined to say yes because they had a positive experience (thanks to your timely payment and thank-yous!). For example, SulaFest in India, a wine and music festival at Sula Vineyards, often brings back crowd-favourite acts – by securing commitments well in advance, they can announce part of their lineup early, which also boosts early ticket sales. If you can’t confirm exact acts, you can still express to artists that “we’d love to work with you again; you’ll be on our priority list when scheduling next year.” That personal touch can make a mid-tier artist choose your festival over another gig during the busy season.
Loyalty Perks for Sponsors: If you had sponsors (say a glassware company providing tasting glasses, or a bank as a presenting sponsor), approach them soon after the festival with a renewal proposal. Emphasize the success of this year – deliver a sponsorship report highlighting ROI – and then offer a renewal perk if they sign on for next year early. The perk could be a modest discount on the sponsorship fee or added value like a larger booth space, an extra advertising placement, or first pick of a new opportunity (e.g. “next year we plan to have a VIP lounge; as a returning Gold Sponsor you get the first right to brand it”). The key is to make them feel that as a returning sponsor, they are a top priority. Many brands appreciate stability and will choose to lock in their spot with you rather than test the unknown at another event – but only if you make the ask while the excitement is still high. Wait too long, and budgets might already be allocated elsewhere. By sending a renewal offer within a few weeks of the festival (when you send their thank-you and report), you capture their goodwill. Additionally, if you use Ticket Fairy for ticketing and marketing, you can highlight how your festival’s data (demographics, online engagement) can help sponsors tailor even better activations next time – a tech-savvy value-add that not all events offer.
Build a Loyalty Program (For Attendees and Participants): Some innovative festivals create formal loyalty schemes. While more common for attendees (like early access to tickets or discounts for returning ticket-buyers), you can apply similar ideas to participants. For instance, a wine festival in France might offer any winery that has participated for three consecutive years a special designation, such as “Legacy Winery Partner,” which could come with benefits like extra mentions in press releases, or a prime booth spot, or the option to host a featured tasting session on the program. This kind of long-term reward signals that you recognise and value enduring partnerships. It encourages vendors to stick with you year after year to unlock those perks.
Example – Vendor Priority in Action: One U.S. example is the Finger Lakes Wine Festival in New York. It has dozens of wineries from the region participating each year. The organizers invite all wineries back annually and report a very high return rate. Wineries that participate regularly get preference on limited things like seminar presentation slots or on-site storage locations. New wineries can join when space opens, but the long-term partners effectively have a “membership” in the festival. As a result, the festival consistently showcases fan-favorite wineries, and the wineries treat it almost like an annual tradition – some even build their marketing calendar around it. This symbiosis didn’t happen by accident; it was cultivated by festival directors who communicated early, often, and treated the wineries like partners rather than just exhibitors.
In implementing re-up offers, timing and tone are everything. Don’t wait until six months later when enthusiasm has faded; get in touch while everyone still has the post-event glow. And frame it positively: rather than “Do you want to sign up again?” (which sounds transactional), say “We’d love to have you back, and as a valued part of our festival family, we’re offering you this opportunity/reward if you join us again.” It makes them feel special – because they are! Their presence and loyalty will make your next festival stronger.
Engage and Learn from Your Community
Building loyalty isn’t only about the transactional relationships with vendors or artists; it’s also about the broader community and culture around your festival. Particularly for wine festivals – which often celebrate local terroir and culture – engaging the community can yield passionate, long-term supporters. Community engagement can mean the literal local community where the festival takes place, and the community of wine enthusiasts and festival-goers who support the event each year. Here are some ways to bolster those bonds:
Local Community Goodwill: We touched on thanking the host community, but engagement can go further. Invite community members to give feedback at a town hall or through surveys. Show that you’re listening: for example, if local residents were concerned about noise or traffic, acknowledge it and explain any improvements you’ll make next year. Some festivals create a Community Advisory Board or include local city council or tourism board members in debrief meetings. When locals see that the festival respects their input, they are more likely to embrace it. The Barossa Vintage Festival in South Australia is a stellar example – it started as a community-driven celebration of the grape harvest in 1947 (www.barossamag.com), and to this day features events like a grand parade with floats made by local towns (www.barossamag.com). Generations of local families take part. While your festival may not have such deep roots yet, you can still incorporate local traditions (like involving local farmers, schools, or cultural groups in the program). The result is that the community feels ownership of the festival, not just seeing it as an outsider event. That feeling of ownership translates to loyalty: they’ll want to see it continue and succeed.
Another community angle is philanthropy: as mentioned, donating to local causes or involving charities can endear your festival to people’s hearts. Wine festivals often have charity auctions or dinners – make them a highlight and publicize the outcomes (“$50,000 raised for the regional children’s hospital”). Participants love to know their fun had a purpose, and many will come back specifically to support the cause again. In Houston’s Wine & Food Week, for example, 100% of certain auction proceeds go to charity and they’ve raised funds for causes for over 20 years (wineandfoodweek.com). This not only feeds the ego of those festival producers (rightfully proud of their impact) but also feeds loyalty: sponsors, vendors, and attendees feel good about being associated with an event that gives back, increasing their commitment to return.
Global Audience Engagement: If your wine festival draws people from around the country or even internationally (as many do – wine tourism is huge), think of these attendees as an extended community. Engage them online throughout the year, not just at festival time. Social media groups, wine tasting webinars, countdown announcements for next year’s festival, or highlights of your region’s wine news keep the festival alive beyond the event weekend. The more connected attendees feel, the more likely they’ll fly in again next year (and maybe bring friends). The Vancouver International Wine Festival in Canada, for example, maintains a year-round newsletter and social presence where they share wine education tidbits, winery spotlights, and festival news. This keeps their diverse audience (wineries and wine lovers from dozens of countries) plugged in and eager for the next edition.
Crucially, use these channels to listen as well. After your festival, ask attendees for feedback through a survey. What did they love? What could be improved? Show that you heard them by implementing popular suggestions. If many attendees say “lines were too long at the Italian wine pavilion,” you might increase the number of pouring stations next time – and you can mention that in your next year’s promotions: “New for 2025: Twice the pouring stations for Italy – we heard you!” This demonstrates responsiveness and respect for your audience’s input, which builds loyalty. People support events that value their experience and opinions.
Finally, don’t forget to celebrate successes publicly. If your festival achieved something notable – record attendance, an award, or even just “10th annual edition” – share that news and credit everyone involved. A festival’s story, longevity, and mission can inspire loyalty as much as personal interactions do.
Scaling Your Approach: Boutique vs. Mega Festival
The core principles of post-event loyalty are universal, but how you implement them can scale up or down depending on your festival’s size and resources. Let’s address considerations for different scales:
For Small or Boutique Wine Festivals: In a local or regional festival with a few hundred to a couple thousand attendees, your interactions can be very personal. You likely know many participants by name. Take advantage of that intimacy. Handwritten thank-you notes can be wonderful in this context – for example, a small town wine & cheese festival in France might deliver handwritten notes and a bottle of local wine to each sponsor or key vendor as a thank-you. The budget impact is minor, but the gesture is huge. Similarly, you might gather all participants for a casual debrief meeting or celebration the day after the festival – something impractical at larger events. Use close-knit community channels (like a WhatsApp group for vendors or a Facebook community) to maintain a “festival family” feel. In terms of re-up offers, smaller festivals often have steady rosters – just make those personal asks, “We’d love to see you back, same time next year,” and perhaps offer flexibility in payment scheduling or booth preference as the perk. The main advantage of a small festival is you can tailor communication individually; the downside is you likely have a tiny team, so plan and maybe template your thank-yous to not get overwhelmed. But whatever you do, don’t skip the follow-through just because you’re small – if anything, loyalty is even more vital when you have a small pool of available partners!
For Large Festivals: If you’re running a huge wine festival that spans multiple days, venues, or is internationally known, the numbers of stakeholders can be daunting – hundreds of vendors, dozens of artists, big-name sponsors. Here, organization and delegation are key. It may not be feasible for the festival director to personally call every winery to say thanks, but you can still ensure each gets a thoughtful note from someone on the team. Segment your follow-up: perhaps the Entertainment Director handles artist thank-yous, the Vendor Coordinator emails all the vendors, the Sponsorship Manager meets with sponsors for formal post-event reports, etc. Use technology to assist: mail-merge tools for personalized emails, shared photo folders for different categories of participants (e.g. a folder of sponsor-related images vs. a folder of each artist’s performance images). Large festivals often produce a glossy post-event report – consider doing this not just for sponsors, but a slimmed-down one for vendors/artists too, highlighting key achievements (“100,000 visitors from 20 countries,” “trending on social media,” etc.) that they were part of.
When offering re-ups at scale, you might set a deadline: “Returning vendors, please confirm your interest by X date to enjoy priority booking.” You can even create a loyalty tier system: e.g. Gold Vendor status for those who have been 5+ years, giving them a 5% discount and first choice of booth; Silver for 3+ years with another perk, etc. Just ensure whatever system you use is transparent and fair, as larger events can get political. As an example of scale, Glastonbury Festival (though a music festival, not wine, but huge) gives local long-time food vendors prime spots and has a reapplication process that strongly favors past contributors – they quietly balance loyalty with injecting some new vendors for variety by having a limited number of new slots each year. The returning vendors appreciate the preferential treatment in a competitive field. You can adapt that idea: make your returning partners feel like VIPs.
One more tip for large festivals: use post-festival press releases or social media shout-outs to publicly thank major players (e.g. “huge thanks to the 200 wineries who joined us – especially our headliner winery partners from Napa, Rioja, Bordeaux, Barossa and beyond!”). Seeing their name or region highlighted in official communications adds to their sense of pride in being involved, which is exactly the sentiment that breeds loyalty.
Conclusion: Loyalty as the Secret Ingredient
When people talk about what makes a great festival, they mention things like the music, the wine, the vibe, the organization. But behind all those elements are relationships. A wine festival, with its many moving parts – from vineyard owners to volunteer coordinators – is really a network of people coming together to create something special. By taking care of those people after the last guest leaves, you fertilize the soil for next year’s event (to use a wine metaphor!). Each timely payment, each heartfelt thank-you, and each open invitation for the future is like a small seed of goodwill. Over time, those seeds grow into a loyal community that will sustain your festival through thick and thin.
Seasoned festival producers will tell you that loyalty can even save the day in tough times. Imagine a year with unexpected challenges (venue changes, date conflicts, even global issues). If you’ve built strong loyalty, vendors will cut you some slack, artists will be more willing to adjust, and attendees will still show up because they trust you. For instance, during the pandemic years, many festivals had to cancel or postpone. Some that had a loyal base were able to survive by rolling over tickets or having supporters hold on until the next event – a level of trust only earned by years of fair and respectful treatment. Thus, the loyalty you cultivate isn’t just warm-and-fuzzy nicety; it’s a strategic asset and an insurance policy for your festival’s longevity.
As you prepare to produce (or wrap up) your next wine festival, embrace the role not just of an organizer of logistics but of a community builder. Deliver on your promises, appreciate every contribution, and invite everyone to journey forward with you. Do this, and you’ll find your festival’s partners and patrons returning the loyalty in kind, year after year – turning your event into an institution that people love to be part of.
Key Takeaways
- Pay Promptly & Fairly: Always settle financial commitments on time (or early). Prompt payments to artists, vendors, and crew build trust and credibility – a festival known for paying late (or not at all) will quickly lose quality participants (www.scotsman.com) (thespinoff.co.nz).
- Express Genuine Gratitude: Thank everyone – performers, vendors, sponsors, staff, volunteers, attendees, and local community. Tailor your thank-yous with personal touches (mention specific successes) and include valuable assets like photos, videos, or data that they can use or cherish.
- Share the Spotlight: Send participants media assets showcasing their contribution (e.g. photos of a winery’s busy booth or a band’s performance). This not only says “we value you” but also helps them promote themselves – a win-win that fosters goodwill (alquemie.com.au).
- Offer Early Re-Up Opportunities: Don’t wait to invite folks back. Offer returning vendors/partners first choice of participation for next year, perhaps with incentives (loyalty discounts, priority booth placement, or prime performance slots). Early commitments secure your key players and make them feel valued.
- Build Community Engagement: Involve and give back to the community that hosts you. A festival that integrates local culture and charity will earn immense local support (wineandfoodweek.com). Happy communities and engaged audiences translate to loyal volunteers, cooperative authorities, and enthusiastic attendees in the long run.
- Adapt to Your Scale: Use personal approaches for small festivals (e.g. handwritten notes, informal gatherings) and systematic approaches for large festivals (e.g. tiered rewards for multi-year partners, formal reports). Regardless of size, consistency and sincerity are crucial.
- Loyalty = Longevity: By nurturing relationships through respect, rewards, and recognition, you’re investing in the future of your event. Loyal partners will stick with you through challenges, and loyal attendees will keep coming back – the hallmark of a thriving, sustainable wine festival.
25th August 2025