Organiser FAQs

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A word about 'Art'

We are passionate about enabling those who do not consider themselves ‘arty’ to feel safe and un-judged enough to create a window display. To encourage those who feel invisible to participate.

Sadly, Art has a bad rap, and Lucy found people were reluctant to engage if it was seen as Art, so she deliberately avoided words like art or artist, creative, happy or inspire in the original marketing of Wanderland. She concentrated on those who would not normally join in.

We believe everyone is creative, but that the dominant political and socio-economic model at present does not champion this. We find that inviting makers through ‘play’ and ‘fun’ results in people signing up. Thanks to this, there are now a wealth of Artist created videos, that show techniques so that they can create amazing displays!

The images we now have in the Gallery is due to residents feeling safe enough to have a go.

 

Organising a Wanderland

No, most information you need to sign up is on our Organise page. But there is an enquiry form there should you want to send it in, we will give you a ring!

Of course you can, we are glad we inspired you to brighten your neighbourhood.

We ask that you register your area for FREE on our map first, this is so we can share you, and that if people find us, they find you. This will give you a webpage so local people can contact you. Advice and tips on team structure, timings and raising money to plan your Wanderland.

You can then choose a toolkit to publish your festival,  this is from £0, depending what you need, we love sharing your festival!

Our goal is to give all our resources for free, and since 2015 we have consistently applied for funding to do just that. However we have not been successful so we have no choice but to minimally charge to stay afloat. Consequently we are a tiny social enterprise and all of our time is dedicated to supporting the areas that have joined the Wanderland family. If the small registration fee is not possible to raise please contact us at admin@windowwanderland.com, as you never know!

If you have any questions about your own version of this festival you could ask one of the Wanderland organisers for advice, they are experts after all, either find them on social media or they can be contacted directly on their own pages here.

If you choose not to register with us, please don’t use our name, films or images. Thank you.

We have several different Toolkit packages. Our Deluxe and Essential Toolkits give you unlimited access to images and videos. Our Listing only package means you get access to a limited number of images with our logos embedded.

The festival is for your community and it’s up to you.  If your neighbourhood would find it easier to feel safe around a theme, then it could be a good idea. We strongly recommend that you find a time that is not in competition with existing festivals, this is due to people being busy/having expectations around the artistic skill needed to make displays.

Some communities already have Christmas festivals in their areas, and create a Wanderland alongside. Some communities have chosen to hold Remembrance Day Wanderlands and tie-in with other special national festivals and holidays.

On registration (Stage 1) you get your own webpage, like this one, which you can share far and wide. This should give you an indication of how many makers are interested.

We will give you tips on how to engage through social media, local groups and community centres, before you make the commitment to go ahead. When you set up your facebook page, you co-host it with us, so we can share it.

We will also share your sign up page when you join us, to get the ball rolling.

 

Absolutely and we offer fundraising support and advice in our Toolkits.

Timings

Traditionally Wanderlands have been organised in the Winter months, but Spring and Summer trails also work really well, showing off gardens and daytime displays.

Our main message to ensure success is to give plenty (months) of engagement time and concentrate on one local walkable area, and AVOID being within a month of  existing established festivals.

There is more information about this in the registration pack, to help you decide the perfect time.

This is up to you, but in our experience we strongly suggest a few days, at specific times in those days, over one weekend. We find Saturday to Monday works best, friday can be too soon for those at work, and monday allows for those away at the weekend to see the displays.

It depends on the type of community you live in and how you want to create the festival. We recommend you give yourself at least three months to give people time to sign-up as window makers. We provide tips on timings when you complete Stage 1 Registration.

Registering and buying toolkits

You can have a festival page for FREE, but please remember to publish it, with a link to your own website so we can share you to inspire others. Share your love.

Window Wanderland CIC is a non-profit organisation, and we need to charge for the resources we provide. This enables us to continue our work dedicated to bringing communities together and reducing isolation.

Our cost effective toolkits take the pain out of the tricky bits and save you having to make your own website: planning, dates, funding, making flyers, maps, signing up Windowmakers, promotion and much more.

Our GDPR compliant customisable toolkits and webpages are easy to use and have different options for different communities, so you only need to buy the most suitable one for your area.
If you create your own website you can link it to our site for free!

Our toolkit explains how to raise money through sponsorship to applying for community grants.

We also offer expert fundraising and grant application advice, so if you are a voluntary or community organisation we can help – please fill in our enquiry form

Ideas also include:

  • Asking for a small donation from each window maker.
  • Selling hot chocolate/cakes during the festival.
  • Selling the route maps.
  • Having donation buckets available on the night.

Each area and Wanderland is very different so it’s very hard to say, but in the deluxe toolkit there is a budget outline that allows you to input your local costs to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.

We ask you to register as an Organiser first for free, with your area’s webpage, like this one. You will appear on our map which can guide people to you.

When you share this page  local makers can connect with you to show their interest.

You can then organise as many Wanderlands as you like in future years. You will need a toolkit for each festival, which there are free options.

The registration also means that no-one else can register that area, you will be the local organiser and point of contact.

Our initial planning kit will give you comprehensive advice and tips on team structure, timings and raising money to take you through to the next stages of planning your Wanderland.  This ensures you have time to get your team and relevant funding in place.

We’ll also give you a shout on our social media welcoming you to the Wanderland Community, and share your webpage, encouraging locals to contact you.

 

Register now

If you know for sure that you do not want to publish a festival let us know at support@windowwanderland.com and we will remove the area page to give someone else a chanve to use it.

You can do it all on the same day, just remember you need to complete the two stage processes described. If you know the date of your festival, you can even publish that on the same day as well!

We can raise an invoice but don’t do this as standard. If you need an invoice we need to make an administrative charge of £15 which will be added to your invoice. Please contact us and we can make these arrangements.

We offer three options: Deluxe toolkit, Essential toolkit and FREE Listing only. You can compare and contrast these options on the Organise page and choose the one that’s best for your local festival.

Festival size

Wanderlands are designed to be walking trails, for a neighbourhood. If the area can’t be clearly printed on an A4 page at home, then it’s probably too big for a Wanderland and people would not get round it all. This festival is a local event, it is at it’s best when it is focused on one community.

If you want to make your Wanderland a larger festival, or split it into smaller areas across one festival, we can support this with some bespoke IT resources. If you’d like to discuss this and the costs involved please fill in our enquiry form or if you are sure you want to make a festival, email admin@windowwanderland.com

Yes, we offer bespoke options including:

  • Workshops-in-a-box through the post to hand out to your residents
  • Online workshops
  • Bespoke window displays
  • Writing fundraising applications
  • Over the phone advice
  • Inspirational talks/local workshops for residents

To find out more about the services available please contact us.

Wanderlands are a great opportunity for businesses and the community to work together and encourage people to enjoy their local high street. If you want to discuss how to put on specific commercial Wanderlands please fill in our enquiry form.

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