How To Start an Event

[Anthony MTB]

So I've been thinking of starting an event in my area for a while and I'm just curious as to how it would get started. Would I first have to plan everything then ask an event organizer to organize it, or do I ask them first? How would they make their money? How would you get sponsors involved? If anyone has any feedback I'd really appreciate it.

[mecheng89]

26 minutes ago, Anthony MTB said:

So I've been thinking of starting an event in my area for a while and I'm just curious as to how it would get started. Would I first have to plan everything then ask an event organizer to organize it, or do I ask them first? How would they make their money? How would you get sponsors involved? If anyone has any feedback I'd really appreciate it.

@Frosty he can tell you everything.

My take on it - prepare yourself for a lot of red tape, and that no one will be pleased with everything.

Location, location, location. 

[Anthony MTB]

The idea i have is to make a race along the old makadas railway line between Laingsburg and ladismith in th Klein Karoo. If you did the whole line it would have to be a 2 day stage race but i was thinking to start a 1 day would be best.

[City Cycling Athletic Club]

We have ridden from Knysna to Cape Town on the road plenty of times and a few times on the dirt. your biggest challenge would be to satisfy everyone's diet and their expectations of a good sleep. We never had an issue finding value for money on the 'road' but our  'gravel travel' was a challenge

[117]

My biggeest issue for events was getting police clearance (coupled with fire approval, medical support in place, designated parking zones, will local roads be affected by the ride and if so, what are the alternative routes etc)

Its a standard form you get from the local cop shop, and will list the things you need to get in place. Its do-able, but it does take time

You could also omit this step as Im sure many do. But there's nothing worse than a power driven Fed shutting your show down on the morning of... 

[ChrisF]

30 minutes ago, 117 said:

My biggeest issue for events was getting police clearance (coupled with fire approval, medical support in place, designated parking zones, will local roads be affected by the ride and if so, what are the alternative routes etc)

Its a standard form you get from the local cop shop, and will list the things you need to get in place. Its do-able, but it does take time

You could also omit this step as Im sure many do. But there's nothing worse than a power driven Fed shutting your show down on the morning of... 

 

Search for the Gazetted "Community Fire Safety By-Law" as amended for the applicable district.

 

This is typically further tweaked per municipality for the types of events in the area.

 

LOTS of red tape to get these off the ground, especially the first time round.  Once you have a track record with the Local Authority it is much easier the second time round.

ByLaw_-_Community_Fire_Safety[1].pdf

[Anthem24]

Your first step, surely, would be to figure out the land ownership. If the land is still owned by Transnet, their permission would obviously be needed. 

If the railway line has been deproclaimed, the land may now be owned by a large number of local farmers, so that would involve a lot of negotiation.

Unless you plan to follow public roads in the general vicinity of the line, and I imagine some of those form part of the Klein Karoo gravel corridor that Makadas Adventures developed. 

[love2fly]

For urban areas for instance City of Joburg, and probably many others, there is an events act that governs any gathering above a certain number of people. Fire safety is one component of that. I've worked in the JOC of Walk the Talk and 947 Cyclechallenge and was exposed to this in fair detail. As was explained to me, when you're standing in front of a judge explaining deaths and injuries, you better have all your approvals ....

[Anthem24]

This would be 99% rural though -- the old line between Touws River and Ladismith is at least 140 km long. The municipalities would be the least of the problems, and would probably welcome any event that fills some beds. 

Would be interested to know if Anthony has ridden the route? Since the line was closed in 1981, there would have been many other washaways in more recent floods -- clear from following the line on Google Earth. There are adjacent roads in some parts but not all. Nice for an adventure tour. 

 

[Anthony MTB]

20 minutes ago, Anthem24 said:

This would be 99% rural though -- the old line between Touws River and Ladismith is at least 140 km long. The municipalities would be the least of the problems, and would probably welcome any event that fills some beds. 

Would be interested to know if Anthony has ridden the route? Since the line was closed in 1981, there would have been many other washaways in more recent floods -- clear from following the line on Google Earth. There are adjacent roads in some parts but not all. Nice for an adventure tour. 

 

I've never ridden it. I've ridden the roads alongside and small sections, but parts are overgrown and there are washaways too. The route would need some repairs first and I was planning to take it on the roads at bad areas.

 

And the land is no longer owned by Transnet. It's been decommissioned and is owned by whoever owns the farm it crosses. I heard somebody else tried to do the same thing once but there were unwilling landowners. I thought I could try again and also bypass farms using the roads.

[Anthony MTB]

But as regards expenses, would your sponsors cover everything? And how would you get an event organizer like dryland or something on board? Also, would having an organizer on board make the legal clearances easier?

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Anthony MTB

[love2fly]

Getting an organiser on board would be a big help in terms of sponsors, credibility, a verification that it's a valid idea, approvals and planning assistance etc ....but they might decide they don't need you, although a small part of something, is worth more than a big part of nothing.