Parade 2023 Coordinator, Freelance contract, Macclesfield Barnaby Festival (MBF)

Macclesfield Barnaby Festival is looking for Parade Coordinator February – June 2023. 

Macclesfield Barnaby Festival is a small, community-based, volunteer-led charity who have successfully delivered arts festival programmes in Macclesfield since 2010 which benefit the town, celebrate our creativity and heritage and invite people out to play. We are excited to reconnect with our communities and partners to bring a weekend of events and commissions for June 2023.

We are looking for someone with a track record of delivering and coordinating arts events, in collaboration with partners and community members, to help bring our traditional Parade event to life in June 2023. You will be passionate about the role of art and culture in everyday life and the benefits they bring, fluent in managing multiple tasks and work strands simultaneously, and enjoy building relationships with stakeholders to engage them in successful production and promotion of the Parade and the festival more widely.

Contract for: Parade Coordinator, Macclesfield Barnaby Festival (MBF)

Fee: £5950 (34 days at £175 per day, including VAT).

Start date: Immediate – Feb 2023

End date: end of July 2023

Note on festival dates: The traditional date of the Barnaby Festival is around the midsummer solstice and in 2023 the weekend programme dates are 16th -18th June 2023. These dates are subject to confirmation in line with safety restrictions, and successful candidates would need to demonstrate availability for planning in the weeks prior to the agreed dates.

The Parade is scheduled to take place on Saturday 17th June – the successful candidate must be available on this date and in the week leading up to it.

Location: Barnaby is Macclesfield-based. A certain amount of planning can be done remotely, but the role will require being in Macclesfield in person on a fairly regular basis, in order to successfully build relationships with key partners and stakeholders.

Part-time: This role is offered on a part-time freelance basis. We anticipate approximately 1.5 days a week from February and a full week in festival week, but the specifics of this can be discussed.

TO APPLY: Provide a full CV (maximum 2 pages) and letter of application (maximum 2 pages) demonstrating your experience and suitability for the role to parade@barnabyfestival.org.uk by Monday 13th February  2023

Click Here to download full details

Interviews will take place on Tuesday 21st February.

Purpose of the job: To plan, co-ordinate and deliver the 2023 Macclesfield Barnaby Festival Parade in response to the festival theme: “In a New Light”. To be the central point of contact for our key partners, volunteers, participants. 

Reporting to: Artistic & Executive Director and the Board of Trustees

Responsibilities:

Event Management

  • Work with artists, community organisations, volunteers and the public to devise, promote and deliver the MBF 2023 Parade
  • Liaise with Macclesfield Town Council, The Rotary, MTC Highways, traffic management, health & safety specialists and other arts venues/organisations to effectively deliver the 2023 Parade
  • Oversee and manage the Parade budget, working alongside the Artistic Director and trustees
  • Develop and deliver a project and events plan for the 2023 Parade, covering all technical, health and safety, safeguarding, licensing and other requirements
  • Ensure the parade is accessible for all who wish to take part
  • Prepare risk assessments and event schedules for the Parade and any related workshop activity

 Community Engagement

  • Lead on community engagement work and building relationships with new community organisations, schools and local businesses to widen access to Parade activities and build a stronger Parade community & legacy, particularly targeting those who are currently underrepresented in MBF audiences
  • Work with our key partner, Artspace, to deliver the Parade and creative community workshops to create content for the Parade 
  • Lead on the management of Parade volunteers and support the recruitment of volunteers for the wider festival weekend programme

Marketing & Communications

  • Promote Parade activity by creating visual and written content for press releases, the website and mailings
  • Manage social media channels and devise an effective social media strategy to promote Parade activity throughout the duration of the project 
  • Share communications with Macclesfield Town Council so they can also promote the event
  • Act as the first point of contact for all Parade enquiries, managing the Parade inbox
  • Using MailChimp marketing & CRM platform to manage all Parade contacts in accordance with GDPR regulations

Fundraising 

  • Support Barnaby’s broader fundraising strategy, identifying and implementing opportunities relating to the Parade, including collection buckets, local business sponsorship, crowdfunding, etc. 

Evaluation & Reporting

  • Attendance at monthly board meetings to provide project updates (usually online)
  • Provide scheduled updates to Macclesfield Town Council
  • Contribute to the evaluation of the festival, working with the evaluator to implement evaluation tools in relation to the Parade, gather relevant data and contribute to the relevant section of the final evaluation report in July.

Other 

  • Chair the Parade Working Group (a group of volunteers and MBF trustees collaborating to deliver the 2023 Parade), including setting agendas for monthly meetings, acting as the point of contact and circulating minutes where appropriate
  • To be aware of and adhere to all relevant Macclesfield Barnaby Festival policies to provide equal access to services and opportunities

Person Specification: Essential

  • Experience of all aspects of event management or producing, including budgetary, risk management and monitoring/reporting and demonstrable ability to realise an operational plan
  • Proven ability to deliver participatory arts or art for social change initiatives
  • Ability to build positive and collaborative relationships with key partners and stakeholders (including community groups and artists)
  • Excellent communication and team working skills
  • Comfortable working in a small, informal organisation, solving problems on a shoe-string and able to respond flexibly to the evolving needs of the project
  • Effective time management and the ability to prioritise own workload to meet deadlines
  • Understanding of good practice in volunteering and experience in managing or working with volunteers
  • Knowledge of health and safety, safeguarding, legal and other policy requirements for safe and compliant event delivery (including managing/coordinating online events)
  • Awareness of the broader landscape of arts and culture in the UK

Person Specification: Desirable

  • Specific knowledge of the Macclesfield arts and culture sector and town – or ability to demonstrate relevant transferable understanding and ability to build knowledge and relationships quickly
  • Experience of working in a small organisation
  • Basic graphic design skills
  • Experience in creating engaging and promotional content/copy for social media and website channels
  • Experience in effectively implementing a low-level giving/Crowdfunding campaign
  • Ability to use MailChimp
  • Ability to use WordPress
  • Ability to use Canva or Adobe Photoshop

Funded by Macclesfield Town Council