How to Plan a Music Festival in 54 Days
Our mission at Krugo is to get people excited about the things that they love doing and help them find more of it wherever they go. With the lack of events and lull in entertainment in our community due to COVID-19, we knew there was something we could do to bring everyone together and create a unique experience for people in Saskatchewan.
Sheepdogs perform on the final night of KrugoFest — Photo by Munz Media
We decided to throw a one-of-a-kind summer rooftop concert series. Over two August weekends, three Juno award-winning artists took the KrugoFest stage. Attendees were socially-distanced between hotel room balconies and watched the show while enjoying a meal from local caterers.
Since KrugoFest was put together on such a tight timeline — just under two months — our team faced many challenges and bumps in the road along the way. This timeline will give you an idea of what it’s like to plan a big event in a short timeline given the current circumstances of the world.
Day 1 — Tweet about an event you just made up as if it’s happening
During some Friday after-work beers on the Path patio, Kirk glanced up to see all of the empty DoubleTree balconies and came up with his socially-distant concert series idea. Each hotel balcony would pose as a private box seat for attendees to watch a concert. He included some other crucial details in the original tweet including supporting local caterers & the Food Bank.
Kirk’s original KrugoFest Twitter thread
Day 2 — Respond to messages about an event that doesn’t exist… yet
Kirk received an overwhelming response to his initial tweet. Since he wrote the tweet as if the event was happening, he had people asking him who was performing and where they could get tickets. The event seemed possible with the amount of support he received, and he already had a name: “KrugoFest.”
Day 3 — Connect with important people
David Froh, Chad Guy & Kirk Morrison on the parkade rooftop
The Food Bank had increasing pressure with COVID-19, a 60% increase in demand from last year, they were an obvious choice for our charitable partner with KrugoFest. Kirk connected with David Froh, VP at the Food Bank to ensure this partnership was something the Food Bank would be interested in. He went on to connect with some other potential partners including Mike Ash of RAWK Entertainment Group, Chad Guy of Capital Staging & Productions, and Tourism Saskatchewan. Everyone was on board to make it happen.
Day 4 — Connect with more important people
We needed to make sure the SHA could approve an event like this provided the proper safety precautions were followed. We connected with them early on to make sure KrugoFest was even a possibility. Luckily, it was.
Kirk before the Corb Lund show — Photo by Munz Media
Day 5 — Tell your team what you got them into
Kirk announces to the Krugo team that KrugoFest is a major possibility & brings me on to the “party planning committee.”
Some of the Krugo team enjoying the final show — Photo by Tandem X Visuals
Day 6 — Meet with the DoubleTree Hotel, the only possible event location that would work for the idea
Kirk, David and I met with contacts at the DoubleTree Hotel to go over the idea of KrugoFest and what the partnership could look like. We posed the initial idea of having the stage on the ground level in the parking lot in front of the hotel. Some initial concerns of logistics are communicated and quickly worked through by the Krugo team.
The socially-distant crowd before the Jess Moskaluke show — Photo by Munz Media
Day 12 — Change the location of the stage
The “party planning committee” took the first tour through possible stage locations to realize that the stage on the roof of the adjacent parkade was a much better viewing experience for attendees
Day 13 — Outline safety measures
After connecting with the SHA, the team outlines safety measures that will be enforced throughout the event to comply with provincial regulations including: assigned arrival times, enhanced cleaning, limited capacity, & mask requirement in public areas.
Attendees entering KrugoFest — Photo by Munz Media
Day 17 — Please sponsor us
Kirk & David head the sponsorship hunt and start reaching out to businesses.
Day 25 — JDC West saves the day
JDC West, a group of business students from the U of R, comes on as the driving force for KrugoFest volunteers.
JDC West volunteers welcome attendees
Day 26 — Drool over possible catering options
Our obvious first choices were Sprout Catering, Prairie Smoke & Spice, & Legacy Catering.
Legacy Catering provides options for VIP Cabanas — Photo by Munz Media
Day 27 — KrugoFest branding comes to life
KrugoFest marketing team comes together & Conor gets to use his festival branding book he ordered for the occasion.
Conor with his KrugoFest poster design
Day 34 — One third of the party planning committee goes on vacation
I leave for a nice relaxing vacation while the rest of the team stresses out - whoops!
Day 35 — Order an excessive amount of volunteer t-shirts
With an unknown amount of volunteers, Conor put in the order for our volunteer t-shirts and other KrugoFest signage, including some MASSIVE stage banners. We were cutting it pretty close on time (S/O Uno Printing!).
Gillian takes a photo of the crown — Photo by Tandem X Visuals
Day 37 — Hire an engineer
An engineer from Calgary assess the structural integrity of the (very old) parkade as we plan to crane a stage on top of it.
Day 40 — Get a liquor license
Well we tried to get a liquor license, it didn’t quite work out though.
Day 41 — Force a developer to act as a customer service representative
As we began pre-sale for organizations that we shoulder-tapped before the public announcement, Lindsey switched roles to customer service representative as he dealt with the backend of ticket sales, not his usual role.
Lindsey (KrugoFest Customer Service Rep) before the Corb Lund show — Photo by Munz Media
Day 42 — Announce KrugoFest to the public
Our social media announcement goes out & we host a media event on the roof where the stage will be positioned for the event. Details are released to the public for the first time just 13 days before the first show. The same afternoon we had our first video shoot with Munz Media for our launch video.
Day 43 —Buy Party City’s entire stock of yellow cups
Since glass wasn’t allowed on balconies we had to provide a different option for attendees. We purchased 1800 yellow cups to make sure every attendee had one. The Party City employees were unimpressed with me while they scaled a ladder to reach every last Krugo-coloured cup.
1/2 of Gillian’s cart at Party City
Day 44 — Scramble to replace a headliner
After a headliner dropped out, Mike worked hard to replace them with another group we originally had our eye on.
Day 45 AM — Jess Moskaluke, Corb Lund, & The Sheepdogs
We announce our performers & ticket package details. The ticket package includes a hotel stay, view of the show for 4 people, a meal catered by local caterers, & a swag bag.
Corb Lund performs — Photo by Munz Media
Day 45 PM — Get roasted online about the price point
Only a few, it could have been worse. Also — it’s for charity!
Day 46 — All hands on deck
Tickets go on sale & our team works hard to coordinate corporate & public ticket sales, fielding questions through our customer service rep, Lindsey!
David takes a photo of the stage before the first show — Photo by Munz Media
Day 47 — Insurance is expensive
Insurance for the event ends up being WAY more than anticipated. Alcohol & balconies don’t usually mix.
Day 48 — Do a breakeven analysis
$21K in the hole 7 days before the first show isn’t too bad… right?
Day 49 — Engineering report comes back
The $8K engineering report stated that we needed to provide extra bracing to the parkade before the stage was craned on (in 4 days).
Belle Plaine takes the stage — Photo by Munz Media
Day 50 — Brace the parkade
$4K of extra bracing is installed to the parkade, on a long weekend!
Day 52 — It’s crane time!
The truck delivers the stage and it is craned onto the roof of the parkade, set up begins. Meanwhile, 1700 Red Bull are delivered and 400 swag bags are packed.
Crane lifts stage on to the roof of the parkade
Day 53 — Get a liquor license (for real this time)
With a little help, we finally secure our liquor license for the VIP area. Set up continues for the VIP cabanas and lobby.
Day 54 — Showtime!
The Krugo team comes together to finish all of the final details before the first show — set up, hauling ice, chauffeuring artists, & so much more.
Krugo Team before the Corb Lund show — Photo by Munz Media
KrugoFest had four successful shows with three Juno award-winning Canadian recording artists. Krugo was able to make a $15,000 donation (45,000 meals) to the Regina Food Bank & support over 10 local businesses who had been greatly affected by the pandemic.
1,600 socially-distant attendees
70 volunteers & 200+ volunteer hours
16 corporate partners
4+ National Media stories
$200,000 local business revenue
We wouldn’t have been able to make KrugoFest happen without all of the support from our sponsors & the community. We’re proud of the experience we were able to create for attendees and the contribution to the community.
