Hay Festival Consultancy

The Hay Consultancy was formed in 2016 as part of our Jubilee celebrations. Our mission is to provide strategic advice and practical support to institutions, governments and entrepreneurs who want to develop their festival capacity or create new bespoke events around the world.

We analyse and reform the key areas of festival practice:

Strategic Vision & Programming

The key element in successful festival development is creating a clear vision and identity that has a compelling attraction for artists, audiences, media and partners.

We will help design and formulate an artistic policy in literature, music, comedy, science, visual art or food.

We can advise on themed programming, commissioning, and the balancing of populist and specialist programmes; local and international profile, and the logistical management of emerging and globally renowned artists.

Development & Fundraising

We specialise in creating a mixed economic model balancing corporate and public sector investment, earned income and philanthropic giving.

We advise on building and nurturing support networks, and create strategies for engaging governmental investment through economic development, education, culture and tourism departments.

We create metrics for reporting ROI to the private sector and advise on how to deliver brand association and value.

Communications & Campaigns

We help clients articulate and project the story of their community and their festival content to the media, direct to the public, and through social media.

We advise on the analysis of audience research and the targeted marketing to the most responsive demographics.

We counsel clients on how to identify and sustain collaborations with promotional partners in the media, on the high street and through institutional partnerships.

Environment Policy & Sustainability

We believe in the highest standards of environmental responsibility in festival management. We pioneered the Festivals Greenprint model for best practice.

We advise on sustainable sourcing of goods and services, energy provision, collaborative purchasing and travel.

We advocate the implementation of recycling, re-use and carbon-minimal policies to reduce costs and engage audiences creatively in responsible festival attendance.

Operations & Financial Administration

Our tech team have rigged and crewed multi-venue festivals sites, mainframed and off-grid, on four continents.

We advise on contracting hardware from fibre-optics to (you can never have too many women’s) loos, and on licensing and fully accountable health & safety compliance.

We advise on cashflow management, budget discipline, payroll administration and project viability.

Digital Delivery & Legacy

We advise on and can facilitate online events either live or pre-record.

We advise on the capture and distribution of digital video and audio recordings of the live festival events.

We tailor projection of the events via narrowcasting, streaming or broadcasting.

We counsel clients on the practice and viability of creating a searchable and accessible archive record of live events and festival programming.

Ticketing & Stewarding

Our Box Office company Tickettyboo operates around the world under contract or via a software license. The bespoke systems are tuned for high volume online and in your face ticket sales, data control, and public engagement.

We advise on creating and nurturing a robust volunteer steward programme to be FOH and frontline advocates.

We can provide training in visitor services, emergency protocols and crisis management, and first aid.

For more information please contact andy@hayfestival.org.