Festival and event management

Our course is offered online over a six-week period. Each week focuses on an essential aspect of festival and event management. Professionals with expertise and experience in the field teach each section of the course.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Create a business plan for a festival or event of your choice.
• Create and implement site management strategies, particularly in the context of a public health crisis.
• Create and execute marketing strategies and messaging.
• Manage a festival’s financial health and sponsor relationships.
• Oversee the recruitment, management, and retention of staff and volunteers.
• Identify appropriate approaches to assess sentiment and satisfaction among attendees and other stakeholders.

You can apply for a Certificate of Completion by actively participating in the course, completing all assignments, completing the Timely Topic, and submitting a business plan for a festival or event of your choice by a pre-designated deadline. For more details, review our certificate requirements.

Register for the six-week course

A Timely Topic is a one-week deep dive into a current trend or an emerging issue for festivals and events. It can be taken in combination with the full course or on its own.

In this Timely Topic, you will gain strategies to show the economic impact of your hard work. Learn the ins and outs of documenting the economic impact of your event. The course covers the basics of economic impact analysis, the special challenges festivals and events face, tips and templates for effectively gathering the “right” information, and examples of economic impact projects from festivals large and small.

Register for Timely Topic

Participants are eligible to earn six CEUs by completing the six-week course and one CEU by completing the Timely Topic.

CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS

Festival and Event Management (FEM)

University of Minnesota Tourism Center

Fall 2022

1. FEM Course — complete the following four requirements by Friday, February 10, 2023:
   1. Completion of the six regular modules
   2. Participation in all the discussion forum(s) in each of the six modules
   3. Completion of ALL the assignments for EVERY module
   4. Completion of the Timely Topic and its assignment(s)
2. Completion and submission of the FEM final assignment:

   1. Objective: Create a business plan for a festival or event of a student’s own choosing

   2. The majority of the business plan should have already been developed and reviewed by the instructors over the course of the six-week class. Students need to complete the remainder of the business plan, namely, Executive Summary, to make sure the plan is fully developed.

   3. A student’s submission of the business plan should reflect revisions made based upon instructors’ comments.

   4. Due date: Friday, February 17, 2023. Submissions will NOT be accepted after February 17, 2023.

   5. Format: Please use the template provided in the class.

   6. Submission: Please send the submission electronically to Xinyi Qian, qianx@umn.edu.

      Please proofread and spell-check!!

   7. Review process: Each submission will be reviewed within ten business days upon receipt. If sufficient, the certificate will be awarded. If insufficient, recommendations to improve the submitted business plan will be provided, and the student is expected to address the recommendations with revision(s) within ten business days after hearing back from the lead instructor. The submitted business plan will be finalized and accepted after all the comments are addressed.