We ran our first Farm Open Day a few weeks after we had our alpacas arrive. Our faithful friends were interested in seeing them and we were happy to share our delightful new arrivals. We have learnt a lot over the years - mostly how to do it better - here Steve Heatherington shares some of that hard-won experience to hopefully help you get a good start, if you are thinking of having your own Open Day.

SCALE

• What is the maximum number of people you can cope with at one time?
• How many cars can park safely and get in/out?
• Make sure you have enough helpers - and some spares
• Limit numbers by having tickets - decide if, and how much you will charge

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

• Health and Safety - do your risk assessments and put things in place to keep visitors safe.
• Insurance - you will need Public Liability insurance and keep within any restrictions they impose.
• Security - house and workshops or stores

WELFARE

• People - toilets, handwashing facilities; access for people with disabilities
• Animal - as stress free as possible; no dogs

OFFERINGS

• products
• payments (cash or card)
• selling animals - not easy to do on a farm open day; collect contact details and arrange for another time
• refreshments - decide extent and price
• demos
• feeding the alpacas

MARKETING AND PROMOTION

• social media (including paid adverts?)
• signs to make you easy to find
• banners and information signs

CONTINGENCIES

• weather (too hot; too wet)
• disasters and cancellation policy

PACKING UP

• returning to normal
• take signs down
• feed yourself and the alpacas

LINKS

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk
Eventbrite - Discover Great Events or Create Your Own & Sell Tickets (NB other providers available)

https://squareup.com
Take card payments with Square and get fast deposits, low rates, simple to use point of sale software, dedicated support and powerful eCommerce tools.
(Note: other providers available)

https://farmsunday.org/
Homepage - Open Farm Sunday

OPEN FARM SUNDAY INFO PACK - very good resource

https://farmsunday.org/uploads/homepage-slides/2019-LOFS-Information-Pack-FINAL.pdf