It’s clear that social media follower engagement is a key aspect of a festival promotional strategy, so how can you put your festival’s social efforts into overdrive to amplify the interest in your posts? Contests are a great way to get your current fans excited and expose your event to new attendees. If you’re not sure where to begin, never fear! Our event experts put together three social media contest ideas to get you started.
Fan Art Submission
Hold a Facebook contest encouraging your followers to submit fan art featuring their favorite performer on your festival lineup, and use a page like as the only barrier to entry for the contest. Request all submissions to be posted to your event page by a set date and time, and then compile all submitted images into an album so your followers can vote on their favorites. The artwork with the most likes wins an exclusive prize, like a set of VIP tickets and parking passes! Consider boosting these posts to your followers and their friends within a targeted geographic area for maximum contest exposure.
Lineup Hashtag Contest
Share a Tweet or Facebook post asking your followers to post the top three acts they’re most excited to see at your festival, along with a contest-specific hashtag featuring your event’s name (ex: #PrimaFestLineup). You can also run this contest on Instagram, asking participants to post an image of their favorite performers along with the hashtag. Once the entry period ends, pull all valid entries using that hashtag and select five winners at random (tip: consider using a randomization service like commentpicker.com to ensure legitimately random results). You’ll have exposed your festival and lineup to a wider audience, and five lucky entrants will win a pair of festival passes!
Instagram Video Contest
Ask your followers to upload a video of themselves on Instagram or Facebook singing along to one of their favorite songs by an artist on your festival lineup. Make sure each participant tags your account in the post and adds the hashtag. Then, your team can pick their favorite entry to win a backstage meet and greet! Consider running this contest a few times in the months leading up to your festival to drum up more excitement and engagement among your followers.
These are just a few examples of how social media contests can help expose your festival to new audiences! Let your creativity run wild but be sure to closely review each platform’s policies regarding giveaways and contests, as well as any applicable legal restrictions, before sharing your contest with your fans.