How to Organise a Halloween Event

Think about your theme

The best events begin with a spark. An idea that excites organisers and eventgoers, translating to a great time and plenty of ticket sales.

Plus, let’s face it: Halloween is a competitive market. So, you’ll need to deliver something exciting to your audience.

A good place to start is by looking at what’s already out there. Now, you might be thinking: why would I want to look at the competition? But this will help you determine what your area is missing.

When you know what’s missing, you can deliver an event catered to your audience. It could be a fancy dress Halloween ball with several activities, a scavenger hunt, pumpkin-carving night or Halloween-themed film screening.

With an event unlike the others in your area, you’ve already got a unique selling point (USP). This will make promoting your event much easier, so round up your team, get your heads together and see what you can come up with. 

Budget, Budget, Budget

Once your idea is in place, it’s time to set your budget.

Now, we know this can feel dry. But your future self will thank you in the long run.

Here, start with your non-negotiables. Things like site or venue hire, audio equipment, catering, energy and staff costs are all fixed costs, things in your budget that won’t change in price depending on how many tickets you sell.

Then, look at variable costs. These are things that will change in price depending on how many people attend, helping you set ticket prices and combat overspending.

Look for deals, too. If you’re planning on decorating your venue, think about where you can save money. It might mean striking sponsorship deals with craft companies or buying in bulk to get a discount.

Make sure to expect the unexpected on your journey to organise a Halloween event. The industry can be unpredictable, but it’s how you deal with it that matters. A rainy day fund can be great, but if you don’t have access, try to plan for a few potential scenarios and how you’ll deal with them.

Pick a venue

Next up? Sourcing a venue for your event. 

The type of event you organise will massively influence the choice you make. After all, a scavenger hunt in the local community centre likely won’t give you and your attendees the space needed. 

So, why not consider the local park, woodland areas and farming areas? You will have to liaise with the necessary authorities or owners, but these places have a lot of benefits. When it comes to local parks, people often know them well, which can take away some of the indecision when it comes to attending a new event. 

If the location is popular and easy to drive to, you’ve got a better chance of attracting customers, as they aren’t stepping into a total unknown. Local parks also have plenty of space, which means you can go to town to decorate and push the boat out for photo opportunities, which will help your marketing in the long run. 

List your event on Skiddle

Congratulations, you’re well on the way to making your event the most spooktacular spectacle this Halloween.

But you’ll need a reputable ticketing platform to help you sell tickets. This is where we can help. 

We’ve got a range of features like Discount Codes and RapidScan, which can help you with marketing, entry and workflow. You can use these features to drive ticket sales and make the listing process more efficient, which sounds like a win-win to us. 

Event Series, designed to make it easier for you to add and manage repeating events – known as ’dates’ – across the calendar year. By using this feature, you can create and manage a week-long series of Halloween events in a matter of minutes. 

If your Halloween event requires attendees to arrive at certain timeslots, you can use our Session Based Ticketing feature to set this up. It gives you control over queue management while improving the customer experience and reducing the number of no-shows. 

There’s plenty of support, too. Our Account Support team are on hand Monday-Friday via phone, email or webchat. And if you get stuck out of hours, our FAQ pages and How-To tutorials can give you the help you need. 

Oh, one more thing: signing up to the Promotion Centre is totally FREE. No hidden fees, just market-leading features at zero cost. Tap the button below and get started today. 

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Get promoting!

We’ve saved the fun part til the end.

Promoting your Halloween event is your chance to get creative and social media platforms can be your friend. 

Think of your Instagram feed as a canvas, then fill it with entertaining and informative content to make your event stand out from the rest. Jump on trends where you can and try to make your attendees feel part of your event. 

But don’t forget good, old-fashioned physical marketing, either. If you’re organising a family-oriented Halloween event, stick up flyers in local shops, drop leaflets through letterboxes and stick posters up on supermarket noticeboards. 

Getting out on the town can help, too. Chat with people, strike up conversations and make connections. You never know who might buy a ticket off the back of a short conversation. 

If you need help, we’ve got you covered. The Skiddle Promotion Centre blog has an array of articles that dive deep into the world of marketing and promotion. Tap the button and get ahead of your competition today.