This is by far the biggest project I’ve ever been part of. From co-founding an association with two others and building a community, to raising more than 150,000 DKK through grants, sponsorships, and crowdfunding, all the way to bringing my graphic flower designs to life with powertools and welcoming several thousand guests over the course of a single day.
Admission was free, but guests could purchase a completely voluntary ticket in the months leading up to the event. This triggered a print-at-home PDF with a fictional ticket — designed to function as a kind of “people’s share” in the festival.
We invited a variety of food vendors to take part. We created the framework — all they had to do was bring lots of delicious food.
We developed a large-scale social media campaign to generate as much organic growth as possible. As a newly established association with no budget, this was the most effective solution. The consistent visual identity ensured that followers and viewers were reminded it was Ry Folkefest every time they encountered a new post, while still maintaining enough variety to avoid monotony.
As part of our social media strategy, we produced stories and videos featuring participants, volunteers, and board members sharing what they were most looking forward to at Ry Folkefest. This highlighted the wide span of age groups involved and reinforced the fact that a folk festival is, and should be, truly for the people.
Without the volunteers leading up to the festival, none of this would have been possible. Beyond creating a sense of community during the event itself, the many hours spent preparing were just as, if not even more, community-building. And that is the whole point.
In addition to digital marketing, we produced printed posters for both indoor and outdoor display, along with other point-of-sale materials placed in several shops across Ry, Skanderborg, and Silkeborg. On top of that, our volunteers handed out more than 500 small bags containing a short note about Ry Folkefest and flower seeds — a symbolic gesture to reinforce the grassroots spirit of the festival.
We designed logos for each stage and our own bars, reinforcing the visual identity and ensuring a consistent look and feel throughout the festival.
I also designed and developed the website — you can explore it here.
