viva la cheeky!
In January 2017 the streets of Christchurch were transformed into the ‘Comic Republic Of Busk.’ A bright, silly, happy place where being a bit daft rules & the catch cry is ‘Viva La Cheeky!’ Heading into its 24th year, the World Buskers Festival is one of the most loved & attended events in the summer calendar & a “must do” for Artists around the globe.
With over 300,000 people attending 650 shows by over 60 of the most wild & wonderful performers imaginable from all over the globe, this madcap festival needed a rock solid digital platform to control the chaos.
We initially became involved in 2008 when we were approached to help take the World Buskers Festival, based in our hometown of Christchurch, to the next level.
The Festival team had been let down badly by their previous supplier, so we stepped in to save the day. It was a crazy time of big ideas, incredibly short timeframes, lofty goals and micro budgets - but presented a challenge that we threw ourselves into completely.
This required the use of a strong colour system while retaining readability. Discoverability of content was also a focus so that people would graze through the various & varied shows.
Our first festival was a huge success & we are now looking forward to delivering our 10th Buskers in January 2018!
Festivals like the World Buskers Festival are often seen as the glamorous star of the creative arts sector but are notoriously underfunded. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of underperformance.
The key to a successful partnership in this sector is an understanding the business of the festival. From the pre sales marketing period, through to programme launch and ticket sales, right through to the festival itself with its focus on audience engagement.
Ultimately the success of a festival is defined by ticket revenue and filling of all available seats in each performance – something we’ve consistently delivered for the last decade.
Viva La Cheeky!
NV has had a strong relationship and been a proud partner with the World Buskers Festival since 2008. 2017 was a special year for Buskers, as after a 4 year hiatus they returned to their sacred home at the newly refurbished Arts Centre.
In 2017 Buskers had its best year to date with an incredible amount of bookings and social interactions coming from online.
The 2017 festival was the most successful yet, with 98% of bookings purchased online. Furthermore, 35% of all bookings were multis due to the newly implemented recommendation engine, resulting in the highest revenue & most sold out shows ever in Buskers history!
Festival Director“The 2017 Buskers broke all records for ticket sales. A key reason for this is the engaging & intuitive website delivered by NV that makes ticket sales seamless.”