Community Festivals and Events
Operations
Manual
Template
INTRODUCTION
What is an operations manual and why do I need one?
An operations manual should contain all the details of your event
in one place. It is a “how to” guide for running the event with all the
contacts, forms, and information needed to ensure that your event
runs smoothly.
Having an up to date operations manual serves a number of
purposes:
 It captures information for others to use.
 It saves “reinventing the wheel” every time the event is
staged.
 It forms part of your succession plan – making it easier for
others to come on board
 It may be a requirement of funding bodies
 It is a valuable communication tool ensuring that a
standard is set for the running of your event
Once a basic operations manual has been set up, it should be
constantly updated and kept current. This should be done shortly
after each event is staged.
To ensure that everyone is working from the latest and most
current document, there should be some sort of ‘version control’ in
place. The simplest is to clearly show the date on each page.
When a new version is produced, old versions should be
destroyed or archived, and everyone should be aware of which
version they should be working from.
The following pages outline some of the basic components of an
operations manual and how it should be compiled.
Each event will be different and have its own specific
requirements, there may be sections that are irrelevant for your
event, or others that you need to add in.
The operations manual along with other documentation is a
necessary part of running an event. It can be time consuming to
set up initially, but the benefits far outweigh the cost.
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History of the Event
Give a brief outline of the history of the event. How long has it been going,
what have been the milestones etc.
Aim & Purpose of the Event
Define why you are doing the event and what you hope to achieve by it. This
might change slightly from year to year, but needs to be stated to ensure the
event is fulfilling its aim.
Organising Committee
Structure of Committee: Incorporated/ non incorporated
Overview of committee – organisational chart
Names and roles of committee members, Key responsibilities, additional
responsibilities, contact details for each member
Position description or duty statement for executive roles + templates that
would assist each role e.g.Agenda, letter head,
Sub –committees
Name of sub committees
Purpose or role of each sub committee
Reporting requirements
Names and contact details of each sub committee member
Stakeholders
Who are the people who have a stake in your event? This can include other
community groups, businesses, sponsors, funding bodies, participants etc.
Who will benefit from the event? Listing the stakeholders gives a broad idea of
the breadth of the event.
This can then be broken down further to identify:
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Participants or likely participants
Paid staff
Volunteers
Funding Partners
Sponsors
Venue Details
Where will the event be held? If there are multiple venues or locations, list
each one with:
 Name of venue/location
 Map reference if necessary
 Booking or permission to use details
 Contact person for booking
 Cost of using venue
 Conditions attached to use of venue e.g. bond required
 Lead time needed to book venue
 Any particular features or requirements of venue e.g. alarm system,
heating or cooling etc.
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Map or layout of venue
Program
Break program down into its various elements. The nature of your event, the
length of it and the way in which the program is scheduled will dictate how you
detail these elements.
You should list all the elements of your program in a table and you may wish
to add any specific requirements relating to that element of your program.
List as much information as you can for booking and budgeting for the
program. (see attachments)
Then you will need a running sheet or a separate program that will be
available to participants to see what is going to be on at your event.
This should be broken down into a description of what is on, when, where,
and cost if applicable.
This might be accompanied by a brief description and even a photo if
appropriate.
Budget
Keep a detailed list of all income and expenditure.
Income should include Grant monies, sponsorship and in-kind donations, as
well as income from ticket sales, fees, sale of merchandise etc.
Expenditure should include anything that money was spent on – from cups of
coffee for volunteers up to major expenditure.
Sponsorship
List all sponsors – what they are sponsoring, a contact person, and what they
expect in return for sponsorship.
Funding Partners
List all funding bodies, the amount they have funded you for, conditions of
funding, a copy of the Grant agreement, Application deadlines, and a copy of
any funding application forms or a weblink to download)
Marketing and Advertising Schedule
Draw up a marketing schedule (see attachment) Include in this schedule:
 The types of marketing and advertising you will be using (free and
paid)
 Where that advertising will be
 Contacts for each advertising or marketing occurrence
 Any associated costs and payment details
 A calendar of when each advertisement or marketing opportunity
occurs and deadlines.
Some of the options to consider are:
Printed publicity material
e.g. Newsletters, brochures, event program, flyers and posters, mailouts and
letterbox drops.
Attach sample of previous advertising
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Mailing lists – *mailing lists are an important resource for any
organisation. You must protect peoples privacy and only use mailing
lists for the intention for which you have collected them. It is not
acceptable to pass on personal information to third parties for any
reason.
Signage and Billboards.
Check with council for local laws governing these. Attach any relevant details.
Print media.
Local & daily newspapers (events pages, editorial etc) Specialist magazines
and publications,
Attach sample media release, advertising copy, editorial copy.
Radio
Local radio station will usually be happy to mention community events or even
do interviews. Larger radio stations often have programs and segments where
listeners can feature their event. Keep a list of possible opportunities.
Television
Paid advertising is very expensive, but special travel and lifestyle shows may
mention your event if it fits in with their programming. It pays to ask! Keep a
list of any contacts you have obtained.
Internet
Council will list events on their website under calendar of events, as will
locality based websites.
List your website address wherever possible and try to get a link onto other
website Try to get events listed on special interest websites.
Attach sample internet listing
Local Businesses &Tourism
Talk to local businesses and tourism operators to include your events when
they are marketing their own business. Keep a list of those that you have
been successful with and those you may try in the future.
List of suppliers
List all the suppliers you need to make your event happen including contact
details and any relevant brochures or price lists. If you have any
recommendations or warnings about suppliers include these comments.
Waste Management
Outline details of your waste management plan, including any strategies you
have for reducing waste, Suppliers for bins. Schedule for delivery, schedule
for emptying, rosters for cleaning up etc.
Include issues if there are any, for removal of waste water.
Facilities
Describe the facilities that are available e.g. 3 phase power, toilets, access to
water.
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Outline extra facilities that need to be brought in such as generators, lighting,
stages and toilets. The suppliers should be listed in your suppliers section but
some extra detail around the delivery and installation of these might be
required.
Permits/ Notifications required
List any permits or notifications that are required, and the timelines for these.
e.g. road closures/traffic management plans, alcohol permits, raffle permits,
signage permits, notifications to Police etc.
Attach any relevant forms or weblink to download them.
Insurance details
List the insurance coverage, with any special relevant information. If you need
to check certificate of currency of any stallholders, performers, etc, make a
note of that.
Occupational Health & Safety
List First Aid arrangements and procedures
Attach a copy of the Risk Management checklist and Plan
Attach Emergency Management Plan
Identify any forms that need to be filled out by participants prior to or during
attendance e.g. Medical details for children, permission to obtain medical
assistance, Sign in-sign out sheets.
* Personal information such as medical details about your participants should
be securely destroyed after each event.
Meetings
You may like to attach minutes of relevant meetings. A template for minutes is
handy, with template action sheets
Develop a standard form for recording telephone conversations.
Timelines
Develop timelines for all activities associated with the event.
You will need a broad timeline for the development of the event, from
inception up to the staging of the event and this may then be broken down
into stages.
Action Plans
Use the timeline to develop action plans for the different components leading
up to and on the day/s of your event
Template attached.
Running Sheets
You may need several different running sheets for your event depending on
the complexity and how many different components there are to it.
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An overall broad running sheet for the whole event is essential, and you may
need separate running sheets for different components or different days.
Example attached.
Speech Notes
If there are speeches to be made at your event, develop a speech note
template to keep some consistency, and to ensure that people making
speeches know that they are meant to and why.
Staging of Event
Include as much information as you can about the staging of your event to
inform others and to ensure consistency from year to year.
Documents, Forms, Lists and Templates
Include copies of all the documents forms or templates that are generic or can
be re-used.
This might include standard signage, permission forms, maps, checklists, sign
in- sheets/attendance forms, evaluation forms, letters, etc. If any of these are
not date specific, consider laminating them so that they can be re-used from
year to year.
Evaluation Plan and Templates
Develop a plan for evaluating your event. Keep standard forms that you use,
and include in here any conclusions or recommendations that are drawn from
previous years.
Include statistics that may have been drawn from your evaluation.
Include any feedback particularly any that is either very good, or very bad.
(The good needs to be promoted, the bad needs to be followed up and acted
upon)
Develop a plan for how you will action any feedback gathered from the
evaluation process.
Follow up
Include any follow up required such as thank you letters, media, releases,
celebratory event, acquittals for funding etc.
File any media coverage, where possible burn images to disc and store for
future reference, future funding applications etc.
Attachments:
Speech notes template
Incident Report form
Running sheet template
Parent/Guardian authorisation form
Sample marketing schedule
Incident report form
Project timeline template
Sample program table
Event committee structure
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Writing a Media release
Name labels template
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