Best Practices

Climbing Festivals

By Massimo Cappuccio

Cover photo by Massimo Cappuccio

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Key lessons

• Understand your objectives and know your skillsets

• Plan every aspect of the event with care

• Prioritize the preparatory phase

• Engage in proper event management to ensure festival success of your festival

• Involve and respect the local host community

• Draw upon the advice of experts

About the author

Massimo Cappuccio is a climber, photographer, and traveler. He has been involved in outdoor activities for about thirty years: as a sportsman in the mountains around the world and as a promoter of outdoor activities in Sicily. He is also the founder of the first mountain bike club and climbing gym in Syracuse. He published the first edition of the climbing guide “Di Roccia di Sole” in 2004 and has since released five updated versions. For ten years (from 2009 to 2018) he organized the San Vito Climbing Festival, an international climbing gathering, and in 2023, the Scorace Block Fest, the first bouldering meeting in Southern Italy. As a photographer, Massimo has focused his projects around travel and outdoor sports, and his photos and articles have been published in Italian, as well as many climbing magazines around the world.

Peer reviewers

Wan Jutiporn, Grace Templeton, Agustin Sisamon

Editors

Ludivine Brunissen, Amos Lee

About the best practices project

The Global Climbing Initiative's best practices project taps the expertise of climbing leaders around the world to share lessons learned in crag development and maintenance, environmental conservation, equity and inclusivity, community engagement, economic impact, and climbing organizations. By making this information more accessible, we hope to foster a more united and supported global climbing community. To learn more about this project and how you can support, visit globalclimbing.org/best-practices

Introduction

Organizing a climbing event is equivalent to organizing a big party: challenging and tiring, but still a joyful event. A climbing festival is a special moment for the local community of climbers: it is a time of celebration, of aggregation, and sharing — but above all, of growth. A climbing festival is an opportunity for us to fully enjoy our passion by climbing as much as possible, while experiencing the beauty of nature.

To make this happen in the best possible way, a series of actions can be implemented that not only support the success of the festival, but will also bring permanent improvements to the location that hosts the event. For instance, all the new routes that will be bolted or re-bolted, the maintenance of existing trails and creation of new ones, as well as the construction of permanent fixtures such as wooden benches or seats, signage, and even toilets.

A festival can provide these benefits to the climbing area itself. But it is also important to the climbing community, because discussing issues relating to climbing represents a starting point for new ideas and personal growth. The festival can also be an opportunity for athletes and professionals to meet brands and potential sponsors. Conversely, brands have the opportunity to interact with their customers and receive direct feedback on new products.

Whether you are looking to create a new festival or improve an existing one, the following key lessons will be helpful to ensure you are building a safe, enjoyable, and well-run experience for both climbers and the local community.

Key Lesson #1

Understand your objectives and know your skillsets

If you want to organize a festival, you need to be clear about your objectives and identify your skillsets. It is important for the climbing community to recognize you (either an individual or organization) as a reference point. If you are a young organization with limited festival experience, it is crucial to convey the benefits that the festival will bring to the area and to climbers in general to the local community.

Key Lesson #2

Plan every aspect of the event with care

Event planning can be thought of in three phases: the creative phase, the market research phase, and the design phase.

Creative phase

This phase provides space to freely imagine a festival, then devise a rough program with all the possible ideas and activities that you would like to plan. These activities could include:

• Competitions on artificial structures or on rock

• Non-competitive climbing meet-ups on rock

• Workshops with mountain guides or climbing instructors for children/beginners

• Meetups/gatherings for underrepresented groups

• Festival games and activities (could be non-climbing related such as yoga!)

• Conferences and meetings with special guests

• Test-materials and presentations of new outdoor brand collections

• Live music concerts

• Typical local food and drink tasting

• Adventure movies projection

• Presentation of authors and climbing books

• Bolting education

• Award ceremonies

• Show of slack line, freestyle, etc.

Key Lesson #3

Prioritize the preparatory phase

Preparation is the most important phase. If you do it well, the festival will be a walk in the park, and you can enjoy it too!

Staff and crew recruitment

Based on the program and all the activities that will take place, there will be a need for an adequate number full-time workers during all festival days. The staff will be involved before, during, and after the festival. The crew, on the other hand, is the team employed only during the days of the festival. You can rely on local associations of volunteers for the crew or for simpler roles, but for the staff, always rely on people you trust and whose qualifications you know. Consider paying your staff from the revenue brought in by the festival. As with all large-scale events, it is important to clearly delineate duties and responsibilities amongst the volunteers, staff, and organizers.

Promotion

You will need to create graphics and images, visual content for advertising, a website, Facebook page, Instagram account, and other social networks. Invest in the production of paper materials (posters, leaflets, and flyers) as necessary. Launch a promotional campaign in coordination with local media, tourism organizations, and other climbing groups.

Swag bags, staff uniforms, and merchandise (to be purchased or donated by sponsors)

Prepare an adequate number of swag bags, make uniforms (at least t-shirts and caps) for the staff and crew. Prepare prizes for competitions or for a raffle. Prepare branded merchandise such as festival t-shirts that can be sold.

Preparation of climbing areas and competition spaces

Based on the activities of the program, prepare the physical locations. At the crag, it may be necessary to bolt new pitches, engage in maintenance, and verify/catalog existing pitches. The access paths and the base of the cliffs should be cleaned and parking areas set up where necessary. Outdoor areas should be further equipped with chemical toilets, refreshment points with food and drinks, and a first aid station. For activities that will take place indoors or on artificial walls, suitable structures should be prepared (climbing towers or boulder walls). Permits and reservations should be taken care of ahead of time if needed.

Be thoughtful of how a competition is formatted: choose safe climbs with good fall zones, reasonable heights for safe falls, and climbs that are bolted safely/properly. High balls or X/R rated climbs may be an exciting day for an experienced climber, but festival organizers should mitigate risk when possible. It is also important to keep in mind the social aspect of climbing. For instance, in a bouldering festival, organizers should think about listing boulder clusters that are close together so that climbers can climb together, share crash pads, and develop new relationships!

Village and stage set-up for concerts and award ceremonies

Set up stands for sponsors, equipment stores, or local businesses. Set up the stage for concerts or awards and have an audio system installed; if you plan to project films or videos, mount the video system as well. For concerts, the audience can stand and dance, but to watch movies, it is advisable to get chairs (or to use crash pads).

Registration

Registration is a critical part of the festival. To begin, you will need an account on a ticket selling platform to sell festival tickets before the festival and then a method to check people in. You will also need internet connectivity and a payment method such as the Square app for financial exchanges. You will need cash and a secure cash box, as well as all your registration items (already assembled swag bags, t-shirts, programs, pens, contest sign-ups, waivers, products, 21+ wristbands if you have alcohol vendors, etc). Consider renting a trailer for the festival supplies you’ll be bringing!

Special guests and shows

The best festivals have special guests and musical performances. Special guests such as professional climbers, climbing film directors, or professional photographers can attract a diverse group of climber participants. If you have the opportunity for multiple musical concerts on the same evening, consider having one musical performance targeted at your climber population and another with local musicians to support the community.

Media

Any information related to the preparation of the festival should go through social media. Assemble a staff of photographers, videomakers, and journalists to work closely with the organizers. Daily content, images, and text should be shared on social networks and on the web. The social media plan is particularly important in the modern age for selling tickets, attracting sponsors, and getting the word out! There should be an organization spokesperson to officially manage media relationships; however, the organizers should be available for interviews with newspapers and television stations, as well as with the local media even if they do not normally deal with climbing or sports. It is important to always remember the involvement of the local community.

Safety and medical assistance

An emergency plan will have to be prepared, which includes medical assistance and rescue services. The plan must be delivered to the authorities that issue the authorizations and should also be displayed in the organization's headquarters for inspection. All participants should sign medical waivers to participate in climbing activities at the festival to prevent liability issues.

In every sporting event, even non-competitive, it is mandatory that emergency services are present, consisting of an ambulance and medical professionals. If you carry out activities on rock walls, consider making use of the mountain rescue service, or if you include deep water soloing, bring in rescue specialists at sea. When planning evening activities, provide for a night surveillance service and security control during events.

Authorizations

In this phase, bureaucratic aspects are taken into consideration. You may need authorizations from public bodies and agreements with private individuals. Insurance aspects and any precautionary clauses should also be taken into consideration. Consult with a lawyer if possible.

• Ensure access to climbing areas is legal and legitimate. Landowners need to approve the climbing festival in advance, and could be involved in festival activities/planning.

• Permits for alcohol and food stalls should be obtained ahead of time.

Key Lesson #4

Engage in proper event management to ensure festival success

This is the big party and will be the test of your preparatory skills.

The program

The program will be your guidebook. It is the fruit of your work, and is what every participant expects. The program should be easily found on your website, but if cell service is unreliable during the festival, provide a printed version as well. Every climber should have a program packet to avoid missing events. This also means that all staff/volunteers/organizers should have access to both the festival program and their individual tasking requirements (a “work plan”).

The “work plan” is the tool that makes the program work. It specifies each activity and who is in charge. Each activity is assigned a manager (usually staff) and crew personnel. In the days preceding the event, each team member is trained in the activity to be carried out. Of course, in addition to the program and the work plan, you must also have a Plan B, meaning that if unforeseen causes (such as poor weather) arise, an activity can be canceled with a reasonable backup option. Typically speaking, a climbing gym or a municipal gym can save the event in case of rain.

The organizers and staff

All key members of the organization should be available 24 hours a day and always in contact with each other, either by cellphone or walkie-talkie. They will be the reference points for all the participants, sponsors, and bodies that have issued authorizations. The organizers are also points of reference for law enforcement agencies, previously notified internal security services, and health workers. The staff must always make themselves recognizable through their uniforms and always be very helpful to everyone.

The activities

The activities must always be well publicized, both in the program as well as with temporary signs to direct participants to event locations. The staff assigned to that activity should ensure that everything is ready, and that the actors involved are on time (e.g. appointments with special guests and with audio/sound technicians). For sporting activities, make sure that medical personnel with ambulances are already on site, as well as rescue teams.

Key Lesson #5

Involve and respect the local host community

A festival is not always organized in your city or in the area where you live, so even if we are the organizers, we will often be guests in someone else's "home" and we must behave accordingly.

Hire locals (zero km expenses)

We try to involve local workers and services for all activities in the preparation phase (Key Lesson 2) where possible. This is a much appreciated act for the local community. As a local festival, benefiting the local economy is important. Think about outsourcing local supplies, catering, and transportation services. Try to have a goal quota: 40-50% of the revenue generated by a local festival should ideally be reinvested into the local economy.

Use this opportunity to recruit local sponsors and government agencies to support the festival! For instance, tourism agencies, local hotels/restaurants, gear stores, and climbing gyms can all play an integral part in an inclusive climbing festival. Good practices include communicating clearly and regularly, as well as following up personally with stakeholders after the festival for feedback and personal thank-you's.

Outline activities

The festival is not just a competition or a gathering for climbers, it is also an opportunity to make a climbing area known to foreigners. Local guides can organize natural or cultural excursions for the families or the companions of the participants in order to discover local sights. The festival will also be an opportunity to raise awareness for local crafts and culinary specialties, which is why it is important to have spaces for local specialties available at the event. Culturally appropriate and relevant opportunities to include local music, dance, and food from local stores should be leveraged to acknowledge the local culture where the climbing festival takes place.

Be aware of one's territory

Even as festival participants enjoy the local climbing scene, the festival will also be an opportunity for the locals to become aware of the beauty of their hometown, and to look with a different perspective at their surrounding outdoors. This can create new opportunities for both leisure and sport in the community, and even job opportunities for those who want to invest in climbing.

Integrate the local community with climbers

In rural or less touristy areas, the hordes of multicolor-clad climbers may be unwelcome or viewed with distrust. The festival can represent an opportunity to educate people to welcome and respect each other. It is necessary to respect the environment, avoiding waste and traces of one's passage. So in addition to the surrounding activities, it would be desirable to create exchange activities, where locals take care of climbers and vice versa in other activities.

One exchange activity is community-run babysitting, where families of climbers can leave their children during the activity’s events. Other activities include cooking or craft courses for accompanying climbers. Vice-versa, climbers (usually through the presence of mountain guides or instructors) can make themselves available to help locals try climbing.

UIAA climbing festival categories

This set of criteria can also be found at theuiaa.org/rock-climbing/

Key Lesson #6

Draw upon the advice of experts

If you plan to hold a major event involving climbers and companies from abroad, it is likely that you need additional resources in addition to your staff. A good starting point is local volunteer associations that can bring a large number of people to help with the simplest tasks and where many hands are needed. On the other hand, for quality or specialized work, barring financial limitations, one can turn to specialized agencies, such as marketing agencies to search for sponsors and advertisers for the professional creation of the promotional campaign. For cultural events within the festival, such as Cineforum or Film Review, it is always a good idea to hire an artistic director who is already involved in the world of films. If, in the context of the festival, you also organize an indoor bouldering or lead competition, it is advisable to entrust the competition to or collaborate with a club that manages local competitions: they have all the regulations and tools in their hands for perfect success.

Conclusion

While organizing the festival, always keep your objectives in mind and demonstrate your passion. Your tireless effort will be perceived through every action by anyone close to you, even by those who are not in the world of climbing, and this will generate a great empathy that will be the trump card for the success of your festival. Make sure to distribute a post-event satisfaction survey and gather information about climbers who visited you at the end of each festival. Learn from your mistakes and be a better organizer next time around!

Additional resources

Unfortunately, there is not much written about how to organize climbing festivals. However, we can learn a lot from guides that have been written on how to plan other events such as music and film festivals.

• initlive.com/blog/festival-planning

• medium.com/@dirkjan2006/5-things-i-learned-organizing-a-festival-ae4c1fb879db

• thebalancesmb.com/planning-an-outdoor-music-festival-1223340

• billetto.co.uk/blog/how-to-organise-music-festival/

About The Global Climbing Initiative

The Global Climbing Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit equipping climbing communities worldwide with the knowledge and resources to thrive. We are the bridge connecting emerging climbing communities to the funds, gear, and skills they need to grow safely, inclusively, and sustainably. By investing in local community leaders, we are uniting the global community to build a more sustainable and equitable world through climbing.