Announcing the Festival Lab: Real tactics from real festival & event organizers—delivered in 60 minutes.
We are pleased to announce the launch of a Skills & Strategies series geared toward Event Organizers. Join us every Wednesday this March and April for Festival Lab, a lunchtime webinar series where your peers share how they tackled specific challenges—everything from volunteer burnout to demand-based ticketing to summer heat. If you are an event organizer who is short on time but looking for practical solutions, this series is time-efficient and tactical. Each one-hour session features two rapid-fire case studies from Ontario festivals. No theory, really—just what worked, what didn’t, and what you can try next.
Each of these sessions crosses multiple topics such as Marketing, Risk Management, and Sustainability.
Please join us! Each webinar will have a separate Zoom registration highlighted below, highlighted as ‘Register Now!’
Here is the line-up:
Session 1
Residents First, Story First: Designing Regenerative, Community-Rooted Festivals.
Weds. March 4, 2026: 12noon-1pm
Join Cheryl Prashker of the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival and Jeff Stewart of Elora’s Longest Barbecue to learn how they build festivals that rely on and reinvest in local communities, to learn what “regenerative” really looks like in small-town contexts—from billeting to legacy branding—and to learn how a compelling local story can power media, partnerships, and long-term sustainability. Register Now!
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Session 2
People Power on a Budget: Staff & Volunteer Engagement.
Weds. March 11, 2026: 12noon-1pm
Join Kris Bernard from Stratford Festival and Tracy Van Kalsbeek of Oktoberfest to learn how to do frontline staff training for exceptional customer service; what recognition hacks work, why role clarity matters, and how to build return volunteers. Register Now!
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Session 3
Beyond the Box Office: Ticketing, Pricing & Digital Tools that make life easier.
Weds. March 18, 2026: 12noon-1pm
Join Mike F. Jean from the Good Games, (which was founded by Helen Stoumbos) and Patrick King from the Stratford Festival to learn how to set up demand-based pricing models, what kinds of data are worth collecting (and how), integrating digital apps, and learning from visitor data. Register Now!
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Session 4
Shade, Sanity & Survival: Event hacks for Climate-Ready Festivals.
Weds. March 25, 2026: 12noon-1pm
Join Neal Moogk-Soulis of Emmanuel Concerts to learn how to create shade and cooling zones affordably, how to plan for heat, rain, and weather disruptions, and how to plan for contingencies for outdoor events.Register Now!
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Session 5
Stayin’ Alive: Self-Sufficiency & Sustainability for the Long Game
Weds. April 1, 2026: 12noon-1pm
Join Steven Karcher of Drayton Entertainment to learn how to build recurring revenue streams that align with your event’s purpose, lessons in expanding attendee support beyond your festival, and strategies for reducing dependency on grants. Register Now!
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Session 6
Tuned In: Reaching Younger Audiences and Staying Relevant.
Weds. April 8, 2026: 12noon-1pm
Join Peter Pearse-Elosia from Afrovibes and Kate Johnston from Hillside to learn about engaging youth through cultural programming, inclusive practices, and sustainability storytelling. Register Now!
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Our intensive series takes the identical approach as the Festival Lab core series, but each session is half an hour longer—so, 90 minutes instead of 60. It gives festival and event organizers exposure to more case studies on two topics that they’ve asked us to delve into more deeply: Marketing and Risk Management.
Session 7
Weds. April 22, 2026: 12noon-1:30pm
Festival Marketing: Tactics that Deliver: an intensive case-based session with presenters from Blyth Festival, Guelph’s Jazz Festival, Spirit of the Season, and Oktoberfest. Topics include owned, paid, and earned media, as well as influencers. Register Now!
Session 8
Weds. April 29, 2026: 12noon-1:30pm
Risk, Responsibility, and Readiness: case-based strategies for safer events with presenters from Guelph Pride, Hillside Festival, Fergus Scottish Festival & Highland Games. Topics include incident command structures, conduct and culture challenges, security staffing, and insurance. Register Now!