Day 9 & Day 10

Day 9 - Festival Debrief

Today is a chance for me to catch up with Ernst post festival.  Over the past week I’ve been on a fact finding mission to learn about how their festival differs to ours, what the similarities are, the approach to the programme, the typical customer profile, social media, pricing and PR strategies, how they advertise and how important the brand is.  There are some similarities between our festivals including the range of artists and variety of concerts on offer that can satisfy all jazz tastes. There are some really unique offerings too – jazz for schools, young people and the elderly, and the link with NTNU and their students. The branding across the city is fantastic and it’s great to see people interacting on social media.

What is clear is that there is overwhelming support for the festival and the volunteers are a key part in making this a successful event. Tonight is the Volunteer Party – it’s a chance for the organisers to say thank you to the 50+ volunteers who have dedicated their time and passion over the last 7 days to making the event run smoothly. The volunteers are asked to complete a feedback form, an essential part of the debrief process – what they thought went well, issues they were faced with, what they thought of the marketing, programme and importantly... who they want to see at next year’s festival.

Day 10 - Goodbye Trondheim!

Today is the first evaluation meeting with the team. It’s a chance to assess how successful the event was and to address any challenges that were encountered. Similar to our own festival debrief meetings, we discuss the programme, marketing, front of house, ticketing, transport logistics, back of house and technical. Overall, the festival has been a success. While some concerts have had disappointing sales, others have had a fantastic response, and have been named the gig of the year.

Over the last 10 days I’ve attended as many of the events as possible here at JazzFest. Quite exhausted but very happy with how much I’ve enjoyed the festival and how much I’ve learned, I will head back to Gateshead International Jazz Festival with some great stories and lots exciting ideas to take forward.

For now though it was time to say goodbye to my host and his team, and the beautiful city of Trondheim. I was looking forward to exploring more of the fantastic Norwegian culture that I’d experienced over the last 10 days and visit a part of the world that has been on my bucket list for quite some time... I was taking the night train to Bodø, the gateway to the Lofoten Islands.