If you’ve ever wanted to throw your own music festival, enrolling in Northeastern University’s college course, “Making a Festival,” may be a good place to start.
Helmed by professors Rebekah Moore and Andrew Mall, the course is designed for the school’s music industry students, many of whom have aspirations to produce their own festivals. The class reportedly educates students about the many different elements that go into planning a successful festival, including accessibility, logistics and sustainability.
Learning about festival production helps the students better understand the mercurial nature of the music industry and the many professional opportunities therein. The curriculum employs case studies to explore how and why festivals exist, and sheds light on the importance of diversity and community.
Throughout the course, students attended a number of festivals big and small, including Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza. They also designed their own event, “Avalanche Festival,” learning the ins and outs of marketing, budgeting, talent booking and more.
“Several years ago when I was conceptualizing this course, it seemed like a really clear need and could be a very good strength of the music department’s course offerings,” Mall told Northeastern University’s native media brand, NGN Magazine. “This is one of the growth areas in the music industry. If we were to look at even just revenue, the revenue in live music has been steadily increasing for at least two decades, if not longer. And there’s lots of professional opportunities for students who want careers in music.”
