It’s that time of year where town festivals and fairs are at their highest. Most festivals and fairs utilize the outdoors for the space and aesthetic it has, but if you plan anything for your community, we suggest holding the event at a park. With their open spaces and activities, there are many reasons to hold your event at a local park. Here, we list some tips for planning a community event at a park—make your planning less stressful, and follow these tricks!

Ask for help

Before you even start to plan, you should make sure you ask for help. Community event planning is a stressful job, and going at it alone can make that even more stressful. Remember, volunteers make an event successful, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Round up volunteers as soon as possible, and delegate tasks—the sooner you do it, the fewer minor details you’ll have to deal with.

Start with the basics

Finally, when it comes to fully planning the event, you have to outline the basics first. You should establish the event’s name, date, and time, and you may also need to obtain the correct permits, such as food permits or a special event permit. Parks typically have their own system for events, so make sure to check with the park, and see if they require any special permits or plans. Once you figure out these baseline things, you can delve deeper into planning.

Scout a spot

When it comes to planning an event at a park, it’s imperative to find the spot that works best. This means you need to look into how much space you’ll need for the different activities you’ll offer. If you hold a food festival, make sure you’re set up next to the commercial park grills. If you plan a car show, you’ll need a grassy area that goes right up to the parking lot. The sooner you plan where the event will take place, the less stress you’ll have when the day arrives.

Get the message out

To have a successful event, you need to get the message out there. If people don’t know about it, then there’s no point in having one. Advertise your event as soon as you have the details set. Use different restaurants and cafés, and other places around the community, as a sounding board. If more people see your event, you have a higher chance of people going.

Make lists

You probably already know you need to do this, but lists are an essential aspect to solid event planning. You’ll need lists that include your different set-up needs, foods, drinks, and volunteers. Any area where you have more than three things to do should have its own list—it will help you stay organized throughout the process. If you created piles and piles of lists, there’s a big chance you’ve made things a bit too complicated than necessary. Keep things simple, especially if this your first time planning an event.

Get there early

Finally, make sure to get there early. Thirty minutes is not enough; plan to get there at least two hours early or more. You want everything to be set up in time for guests, and you want to make sure other park visitors won’t meander around your area once the event begins. Parks are designed to have people wandering, so the earlier you get there, the more time you have to get wanderers out of your event area.

For all your event activities’ needs, from volleyball nets and balls to aluminum bleachers, turn to Discount Playground Supply. We have the items you need, so people enjoy your event and have fun.