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What is it?
What is it?
The Art of Mass Gatherings is an experiential learning symposium that uses festivals as classrooms to activate an arts-focused approach to community resilience and emergency preparedness. It invites artists, event producers, and emergency professionals to come together to share knowledge and strategies for enhancing the safety, accessibility, and sustainability of large gatherings. By bringing together a variety of professionals involved in producing mass gatherings, event producers and emergency responders alike will become more fluent in each other’s craft.
The core framework of the Art of Mass Gatherings is these four pillars:
Safety, Accessibility, Sustainability, and Community Engagement
Safety, Accessibility, Sustainability, and Community Engagement
The Four Pillars
The Four Pillars
THE ART OF MASS GATHERINGS
The focus on arts and cultural events is strategic. “Producing over 120 festivals over 12 years led to the realization that people who set up festivals are skilled at creating temporary cities with all of the necessary infrastructure such as water, waste, power, security, transportation, and structures,” explains Matthew Kowal, co-founder of Majestic Collaborations. Many of the same skills required to produce safe, accessible, sustainable live events are transferable to contexts requiring any combination of the development of temporary infrastructure, management of large groups of people, and support of community mental health and wellness.
By sharing their knowledge and building skills in these areas, artists and event workers create more inclusive events, expand the safety and resilience of their entire communities, and increase qualifications for a range of job opportunities both in and outside of the arts.
Working with locally-based host committees, Majestic Collaborations customizes each symposium to meet the specific needs of the areas in which they are held. Topics at past events have included mental and physical first aid, power systems design for events and emergency response, stages and structures, alternative energy design, and cultural asset mapping to identify unique regional capacities for creative resilience. Presenters include both local luminaries and special guest experts from around the nation. The event format encourages attendees to take turns as students and teachers, fostering learning and professional networking at the interesting intersection of event production and emergency management.
See it in action
See it in action
This short video shows footage from our Art of Mass Gatherings event in Greensboro, North Carolina at the North Carolina Folk Festival in September 2021.
Who's Involved?
Who's Involved?
What does it take to put on an Art of Mass Gatherings event, and who is involved?
Festival producer
Festival producer
An arts or cultural festival that serves as the host location of the Art of Mass Gatherings learning symposium.
Host committee
Host committee
A small group of local organizations who help ensure the success and local relevancy of the event by providing input into programming, identifying session presenters from within the community, and spreading the word about this opportunity to their networks via e-mail and social. Events tend to look like their organizers, so ideally the host committee comprises a diverse mix of arts and cultural organizations, emergency service agencies, and advocacy groups that also is inclusive of diverse demographics. The host committee should comprise key folks who share our target audience: people and organizations who produce mass gatherings. The host committee need not necessarily include specific subject matter experts (e.g. a composting company), although might in cases where there is a shared target audience (e.g. a local climate resilience agency). At least some host committee members ideally have good press contacts they are willing to reach out to about the event.
Session presenters
Session presenters
A mix of local and national professionals who lead sessions on symposium day. Ideally some of the session presenters are festival staff and contractors who can give us an overview or tour of their work. Others will include safety, accessibility, and sustainability experts and advocates identified by the host committee. Majestic Collaborations will facilitate the involvement of nationally recognized presenters where appropriate.
Participants
Participants
Event producers, artists, emergency professionals, and activists: anyone who is involved in convening or stewarding large gatherings, and who would like to increase the safety, accessibility, and sustainability of their events. Students are also encouraged to attend!
Press
Press
Spread the word! We rely largely on the festival producer and host committee to get local and regional press involved and help spread the word about the event to potential participants. A limited number of press passes are available for journalists to attend all or part of the event.
Sponsors (optional)
Sponsors (optional)
In-kind sponsors might include food or beverage providers, venues for event activities, photographers or videographers, or companies specializing in event equipment/services related to safety, accessibility, and sustainability. Paid sponsors might include local restaurants, venues, or others.
Advisory committee
Advisory committee
Behind the scenes, we regularly convene national and international experts, advocates, and industry leaders who provide feedback and input about the relevancy of content, prioritization of specific kinds of learning outcomes, and program strategy for the Art of Mass Gatherings. Their input shapes the Art of Mass Gatherings program and curricula as a whole. Members of the advisory committee are not necessarily directly involved in the planning/management of any specific events.
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