We ran our first Farm Open Day a few weeks after we had our alpacas arrive. Our faithful friends were interested in seeing them and we were happy to share our delightful new arrivals. We have learnt a lot over the years – mostly how to do it better – here Steve Heatherington shares some of that hard-won experience to hopefully help you get a good start, if you are thinking of having your own Open Day.
SCALE
- What is the maximum number of people you can cope with at one time?
- How many cars can park safely and get in/out?
- Make sure you have enough helpers – and some spares
- Limit numbers by having tickets – decide if, and how much you will charge
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
- Health and Safety – do your risk assessments and put things in place to keep visitors safe.
- Insurance – you will need Public Liability insurance and keep within any restrictions they impose.
- Security – house and workshops or stores
WELFARE
- People – toilets, handwashing facilities; access for people with disabilities
- Animal – as stress free as possible; no dogs
OFFERINGS
- products
- payments (cash or card)
- selling animals – not easy to do on a farm open day; collect contact details and arrange for another time
- refreshments – decide extent and price
- demos
- feeding the alpacas
MARKETING AND PROMOTION
- social media (including paid adverts?)
- signs to make you easy to find
- banners and information signs
CONTINGENCIES
- weather (too hot; too wet)
- disasters and cancellation policy
PACKING UP
- returning to normal
- take signs down
- feed yourself and the alpacas
LINKS
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk
Eventbrite – Discover Great Events or Create Your Own & Sell Tickets (NB other providers available)
https://squareup.com
Take card payments with Square and get fast deposits, low rates, simple to use point of sale software, dedicated support and powerful eCommerce tools.
(Note: other providers available)
https://farmsunday.org/
Homepage – Open Farm Sunday
OPEN FARM SUNDAY INFO PACK – very good resource
https://farmsunday.org/uploads/homepage-slides/2019-LOFS-Information-Pack-FINAL.pdf