Exploring the festival venues
AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SQUARE AND BOZAR
21 October 2022
On this autumn morning, part of the Various Voices 2026 organising team visited the two main festival venues, SQUARE and BOZAR, to get a more specific idea of what we’ll need.
Negotiating contracts
We were excited to meet up this morning alongside our events expert Caroline from MCI, with quotes and floor plans under our arms.
Asking questions
Importantly, we thought up the many hypothetical situations that could occur and asked our contact people at the venues all the questions we could think of. That way, we made sure we were aware of all possible implications, meaning we can move forward organising the event with a clear idea of possible eventualities.
How will we organise festival-goers and visitors moving around the venues? Are the halls equipped for video streaming? How can we optimise the rental of spaces based on how we will actually use them? Can we set up a catering area if it rains? It’s enough to make you dizzy, don’t you think?
Two heads are better than one
We make lists of all the information we need to make arrangements and ensure the event goes off without a hitch for our audiences. We let our imaginations run wild, then come back down to earth, remembering to keep structural and budgetary realities in mind. Paradoxically, this just makes us even more creative.
We figure out what time the parties will end, adjust the programme timings, think about how many dressing rooms we’ll need to book, estimate how long we’ll need to set up. We check accessibility for people with reduced mobility and the maximum capacity of each space. BOZAR, for example, is a unique venue and has precise safety rules which limit the flow of visitors.
We can really see the festival taking shape before us!
We know that some things might change by 2026, but we’re already so excited to welcome you to these venues!