34 Planning a Farm Open Day
Episode description
We ran our first Farm Open Day a few weeks after we had our alpacas arrive. Our faithful friends were interested in seeing them and we were happy to share our delightful new arrivals. We have learnt a lot over the years - mostly how to do it better - here Steve Heatherington shares some of that hard-won experience to hopefully help you get a good start, if you are thinking of having your own Open Day.
SCALE
- What is the maximum number of people you can cope with at one time?
- How many cars can park safely and get in/out?
- Make sure you have enough helpers - and some spares
- Limit numbers by having tickets - decide if, and how much you will charge
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
- Health and Safety - do your risk assessments and put things in place to keep visitors safe.
- Insurance - you will need Public Liability insurance and keep within any restrictions they impose.
- Security - house and workshops or stores
WELFARE
- People - toilets, handwashing facilities; access for people with disabilities
- Animal - as stress free as possible; no dogs
OFFERINGS
- products
- payments (cash or card)
- selling animals - not easy to do on a farm open day; collect contact details and arrange for another time
- refreshments - decide extent and price
- demos
- feeding the alpacas
MARKETING AND PROMOTION
- social media (including paid adverts?)
- signs to make you easy to find
- banners and information signs
CONTINGENCIES
- weather (too hot; too wet)
- disasters and cancellation policy
PACKING UP
- returning to normal
- take signs down
- feed yourself and the alpacas
LINKS
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk
Eventbrite - Discover Great Events or Create Your Own & Sell Tickets (NB other providers available)
https://squareup.com
Take card payments with Square and get fast deposits, low rates, simple to use point of sale software, dedicated support and powerful eCommerce tools.
(Note: other providers available)
https://farmsunday.org/
Homepage - Open Farm Sunday
OPEN FARM SUNDAY INFO PACK - very good resource
https://farmsunday.org/uploads/homepage-slides/2019-LOFS-Information-Pack-FINAL.pdf
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