The first time I read about having a prize table instead of giving away prizes at games, it seemed like a great idea. The prizes the kids had been getting at the games were less than impressive – cheap bits of plastic and stickers that had an annoying tendency to accumulate in the corners of my home. So I jumped at the chance to give kids better prizes. They would earn tickets at each game instead of actual prizes, and then they could “shop” for the prize they wanted at the prize table, using their prize tickets like money.
In the beginning, we were selling tickets to play each game instead of unlimited wristbands, so I was able to carefully control the budget by knowing the ratio of prize tickets awarded to the tickets required to play the game. I was able to calculate about how many prizes to buy because we knew from past experience how many game tickets parents were likely to purchase for their children. But it wasn’t perfect – we ran out of smaller prizes and had too many large prizes. I hadn’t been able to predict with accuracy how many prizes we would need at each level, and our budget prevented me from purchasing a lot more than we needed.
I didn’t anticipate things like kids with 20 tickets wanting 4 5-ticket items instead of 1 20-ticket item, or that if we offered items at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 tickets, people with 16 tickets would always have one left over and so we would quickly run out of 1-ticket prizes as they were basically being used as change. I also thought kids would earn a lot more tickets than they did, but at the same time was dismayed to realize that a volunteer could accidentally give out ten times too many tickets much more easily than they could accidentally give out too many prizes. The prize table system had many more variables than giving out prizes at games
Later, a new variable was introduced – unlimited wristbands. While it is obvious this leads to much more game play, it also allows kids to become proficient at a game by playing over and over again until they can win every time. Controlling prize tickets becomes an exercise in maintaining throw lines and game rules, and this is quite difficult in the context of a school or church carnival, where there are no permanent fixtures. Moreover, it tends to over-burden volunteers, who are now expected to pay careful attention to winner ratios and accurate prize ticket distribution as well as running the game. Other variables, such as the age of children, the overall mood of the crowd, and the number of players relative to the size of the venue all influence how successful players will be at winning prize tickets. Some organizers resort to running around the event, directing game operators to increase or decrease ticket awards in response to what they are seeing at the prize table. For some, this works well, especially when the group is experienced and well-organized. But all in all, this is a complex way to award prizes, and makes accurate budgeting and buying more difficult, especially if your carnival organizing committee is new.
Unlimited wristbands + prize table system = chaos
If the difficulty of budgeting and purchasing is not enough to make you rethink the prize table, consider whether or not it really does what it is supposed to do. First, kids are supposed to get better prizes. Is that really happening at your event? Or are you offering more or less the same prizes you would at the games, but at a prize table? And if you have better prizes, are the majority of players able to earn them? Consider that if your prize table prizes range from .10c to $1.00, and the average prize given out is in the .25 range, that you might be able to simply purchase all prizes in the .25 range with little change in the experience of the majority of players.
The final reason why I abandoned the prize table system is because it is often a chaotic place for both children and volunteers. Children tend to crowd around the table at the end of the event, fighting for space at the front. I have seen this happen even when volunteers were detailed for line control. The rush on the table at the end of the event can be hectic enough that many children will forego prizes rather than fight their way to the front of the crowd. Children with special needs and shy or younger children may inadvertently be excluded. When I really looked at the prize table, I saw many children and parents approach it, survey the crowd, and then walk away with their unspent prize tickets. And so I made the decision to stop doing the prize table.
The result? Worth it. For one, budgeting and organizing is much easier. The prize table is volunteer and resource-heavy, requiring people, table, accessories, and organizing time. Giving each operator a mixed bucket of prizes takes almost no resources at all. It works perfectly with the unlimited wristband carnival, and prize usage is so consistent and predictable that at Kidsmart we can now offer prizes included with the price of a carnival. It’s easy for game operators to see how quickly they are going through prizes, and to make sure everyone gets one eventually.
Giving out prizes at game stations requires fewer volunteers and more control over the prize budget.
And the kids? They don’t seem to miss the prize table at all. We offer a variety of prizes at each game and allow winners to choose their prize. If the event is not too crowded, we let them dig through the prize bucket for what they want. We create mixes out of various prizes at different price points so there is plenty to choose from in each bucket.
At other times we fill up 3-4 buckets at each station with a different type of prize in each bucket, and then refill those with still different prizes as they are emptied. Kids still get a choice, and the average value of the prizes is about the same as the medium level prize at a prize table.
How to Increase Your Event Profit without Increasing Spending
There are three simple ways to increase your income for an event without spending anything.
Form partnerships with local businesses and ask them to sponsor your event.
Many carnival organizers don’t want to do this; they say they feel uncomfortable asking for money. But you aren’t asking for money at all – you are giving these business people an excellent opportunity for some targeted marketing at a spectacular price. What’s more, most local businesses are eager to support the schools in their community. In our many years of requesting such donations, we have occasionally not heard back, but have never had anyone respond negatively. In fact, once you have one or two sponsors, local businesses will likely start approaching you and asking to get involved.
We recommend different levels of sponsorship with different suggested donations. For example, you might do silver donors at $50 in return for mentioning their sponsorship on your flier, and gold sponsorships for $100, for which the sponsor gets a booth space at your event. Most school districts allow this, although you need to check your district’s regulations. These booths do more than just bring in income. They also make your carnival more interesting. It can be a chance for parents to shop local summer camps and after-school programs, for example.
Occasionally, a group can’t give a monetary donation, but offers a service instead. For example, at one carnival a local nonprofit summer camp runs an interactive game for kids during the event, and another business provides free balloon twisting. A piano teacher provides music for the cake walk. These partnerships make your carnival a more vibrant, interesting event.
The easiest way to request sponsorship of your event is to draft a simple letter. Include your group’s tax identification number, because PTO donations are usually tax-deductible. Mail the letters at least a full month before your event, two if possible. Include local businesses that provide services for students in your school, such as lessons and sports. Also include your local grocery stores and big box stores. They are unlikely to want a booth at your carnival, but will often provide you with a gift card that you can use to shop for carnival supplies.
Sell pre-sale tickets.
Pre-sale tickets increase your income because they don’t significantly reduce your door sales. This is partly because many of those tickets are never used – perhaps as many as 40%. People may also buy more tickets in the pre-sale than they do at the door. In any case, you can add over 25% to your total income with a good pre-sale campaign. That means starting at least 6 weeks before the event and sending out weekly reminders. People tend to put it off until the last minute and then forget – make sure you provide constant reminders of the closing date. Close the sales a week before the event to give yourself adequate time to get the tickets out.
Advertise, advertise, and advertise some more.
Advertise your event beginning 6 weeks before it happens and continue right up until the day of. It may seem like overkill, but it is necessary to build excitement and anticipation for your event over a long period of time in order to maximize turnout. Choose a theme for your advertising that highlights your star events and gets kids wondering. For example, if you are planning archery, build your campaign around popular characters, like Katniss, Merida, Legolas, or Robin Hood – whatever is popular with your attendees. Let kids know about what exciting new activity will be at your event in a fun way, with catchy slogans.
If you do all three of these things, you will be certain to increase your income significantly. And best of all, none of these ideas will cost you anything!
School Carnival Planning for Rookies: Last Minute Tips
If this is your first time organizing a school carnival, you probably think you’ve anticipated everything that could possibly go wrong. We hope so! But just in case, here are some things to watch out for, and some helpful hints to implement before event day.
Keep it Together
You can’t be in 2 places at once, much less 4 or 5. If you spread your carnival out all over the school, you will be running madly from one of the school to the other all night, and in general be unable to effectively coordinate. Keep everything in one area, within eyesight.
If that’s not possible – let’s say your event has to be inside due to rain and you have a smaller school – then designate one good volunteer for each separate space. Hopefully these are people who have helped organize the event and know what’s going on and can run the site independently.
Make sure they know which vendors to expect when, and what the requirements for each vendor are (who needs a check, where does the equipment go, etc). They should also know how many volunteers to expect. Putting a list of volunteers and their time slots in each area is a good idea.
Be Ready for Vendors
This many vendors in a small space? Plan ahead!
Vendors have tight schedules, and yours is not their only event. Have any required payments ready to go when they get there, and know exactly where the equipment will go. You might need to designate someone to do this job, but be prepared for the possibility you’ll need to do it yourself (we were just at an event where the designated vendor greeter didn’t show up). And on behalf of all vendors everywhere, please please do not have a meeting with your team about where to put things while the vendor waits.
Where should things go? Ask the vendor ahead of time. Here at Kidsmart, we welcome photos, and especially videos of the area, so we can identify potential space problems ahead of time (i.e. it’s a fire lane, the incline is too steep, etc.). And remember – vendors need space to set up and a nearby spot to unload. Make sure they don’t have to compete with each other – or your volunteers! – for access.
Concessions Need Power
If you have concessions or other powered equipment, you’ll need to be within reach of a power outlet. It’s usually 50-100 feet, depending on the vendor’s requirements (here at Kidsmart it’s 50 feet). That means directly to the wall outlet, not to a power strip or other extension cord. Otherwise, you’ll need to rent a generator from the vendor. (And please don’t plan to plug one vendor’s equipment into another’s generator unless you clear it with both vendors – generators have wattage limits).
Dunk Tanks Need Water
If you rented a dunk tank, you need to provide the water. And be careful what you place downstream or near the dunk tank – if you leave the hose in and forget it, it will overflow and could flood the ground nearby or run downstream. Likewise, when the tank is emptied, it will run out and you’ll need to think about what might be nearby or downstream that you don’t want to get wet. Hint: Kidsmart won’t place tents or wooden games close to or downstream of a dunk tank.
Sno Cone Machines Need Ice and Coolers
No vendor we know of supplies ice with a sno cone machine. Make sure you designate someone to get bags of ice, and – this is important – coolers or at least buckets to put them in. If you leave bags of ice on the ground, they will melt, and you will have water everywhere. If you’re outside on concrete this might be ok, but if you end up inside due to weather you will have a flooded and slippery school floor, and if you’re on grass, the area around the table will turn to mud.
Sun and Shade
If your event is outside on a hot day, in a hot place, and especially if you are on shadeless blacktop, you will need to be mindful of sun and its direction throughout the day. When placing Kidsmart tents, try to place them with the backs to the sun to create shade at the game table. That means taking note of the sun throughout the day beforehand. Get extra tents for concessions, face-painters, and anyplace you will have volunteers or vendors standing for long periods. Remember also to place tents so that they provide shade – if the sun shines directly into the front of the tent, the tent will not be very helpful. Shade is more important than what will look the prettiest.
Avoid the Crowds
If your school has 700-800 students or more, you can probably expect a very crowded event. That means more stress and more mess. You can reduce crowds by stretching out your event over a longer period – for example 3 or 4 hours instead of 2.
Don’t Just Schedule Volunteers – Coordinate Them
The Welcome Table
Ideally, put a list of volunteers along with their time slots at each station. That way, people know who is replacing them and when. This is a hard thing to do, of course, if you find most of your volunteers last minute, or end up just hoping some extra people decide to show up. If your volunteer count is not looking good a week out from the event, then consider changing or eliminating things to create less need for them. We can help you find games that require less supervision, for example.
It’s best, if you are able, to designate a volunteer coordinator who job is simply to round up volunteers and make sure they go to the right places. A volunteer check-in at the welcome or ticket table is a good idea, and usually one of the easier volunteer positions to staff.
And here is where having it all in one place will really help – it’s much easier to coordinate your volunteers if you can actually look around and see which areas are staffed and which are not at that moment. Trying to get messages back and forth to different parts of the school is difficult and inefficient, even with cell phones or radios.
If you are using high school students who need “volunteer hours,” be aware that you may not be getting the most willing volunteers, and they are more likely to abandon their posts (we’re not knocking teens – they can be great volunteers – but when forced into service, not all will be enthusiastic). One thing we saw that seemed to work well was for the volunteer coordinator to have all the teens show up a half our before the event, and then have them all wait in one area until she was ready to give everyone instructions (versus trying to instruct each person as they came in).
Plan the Parking Lot and Beware of Buses
If you are using a parking lot for your event, make sure you block it off well before the event starts. Ideally, two hours before, when vendors begin arriving. Be aware that some schools have bus parking in the evening, meaning that you may be surprised when several large school buses show up with the intention of parking in your event space. Occasionally, even the principal might not be aware that buses will park there overnight, as in some school districts this decision is made independently of the school or even last minute. Check with the appropriate facilities office to make sure your parking lot is really available.
Be Financially Responsible
If you will be charging money for tickets, we’d like to strongly suggest that you encourage parents to pay with a check (or if you have the ability, a card or other electronic payment) instead of cash. You can sell tickets for concessions as well, reducing the need for cash all around.
Cash can go missing fairly easily. It can be lost, or….well, all PTO’s and PTA’s are vulnerable to fiscal mismanagement and even outright theft. It happens more often than you would think. Checks and electronic payments ensure that money will be deposited into the correct accounts, and the last thing any organizer wants is to find out that the monetary fruits of all their hard work have literally disappeared.
If you’ve volunteered to organize the annual school carnival or fall festival for the first time, this article is for you. No need to reinvent the wheel and figure it all out from scratch – we’ve already done that and we’re here to share the info with you. From budgeting to finding volunteers, here are the basic steps to organizing a school event.
Games:
For a school of 200 – 1,000 students, you’ll want about 8-15 games. It’s obviously not much of a carnival or festival without games. Many schools make them, and some even have a collection of fairly nice games created by handy parents. Others use some handmade games and rent others. Obviously, handmade games are cheaper, but renting games means getting a wider selection of higher quality games, having someone else set up and break them down, and not needing to store them. Imagine just heading home while someone else cleans up! But if you don’t have the budget to rent, here are some common handmade carnival games that are fairly easy to make:
DIY Bottle Ring Toss carnival game – easy to make with just a few dozen bottles and a couple of soda crates. Don’t try to use bottles without the crates – you’ll end up with shattered glass on the school playground or gym floor (ask us how we know).
DIY Fish Bowl carnival game – plastic (not glass!) ivy bowls can be purchased inexpensively on Amazon. You’ll need 2-4 dozen and some ping-pong balls. If you plan to be outside, add some small fish bowl rocks to hold the bowls in place in case of wind. Skip the water, and please, please skip the live fish.
DIYBasket Tosscarnival game – simply nail a basket or two to to a piece of wood, and get some whiffle balls to toss. For even less work, just line up some dollar-store buckets or baskets on the ground. Spray-paint the baskets for more effect. Remember to weight them down a bit with something, so they don’t blow away or get knocked over too easily.
Football Toss: If you happen to have a tree nearby, you can suspend a tire (or pool noodles taped into a circle) from a rope and make a football toss. You can also purchase some relatively sturdy but inexpensive games from SWOOC Games or GoSports.
Of course, if you rent games, you will have a much larger selection. At Kidsmart we have over 50 different carnival games you can rent.
Inflatables:
If your district allows inflatables, this is a popular activity at a school carnival. We recommend a large obstacle course or two, instead of a bounce house. Many more children can go through an obstacle course than can jump in a bounce house. You won’t have to worry about timing different groups of kids, or separating them so that small children and large children aren’t jumping together (an important safety consideration).
Activities:
DJ Brian Trace getting kids involved in a game of limbo
In addition to games, most school have some fun things for kids to. The most common are:
DJ: Look for a DJ that not only plays music, but also engages the children in different activities. Call us for a recommendation if you are in Northern Virginia. If you are only planning music and dancing, you can DIY it just as well with an Iphone and speaker.
Juggler, magician, or clown act: This is another volunteer-free way to provide kids with a fun activity. Ask Kidsmart for a recommendation in your area.
Haunted House or Obstacle Course: These require a lot of work, but you have some parents interested in creating one of these, the results can be pretty spectacular.
Field and Lawn Games: You may be able to borrow some of these from the PE teacher. Think tug-of-war, egg&spoon races, cornhole, and so on. Even putting a soccer goal and some balls out on a field will get kids playing. Some of these games can be purchased inexpensively, others can be borrowed or even rented. At Kidsmart, our Giant Connect 4 goes to every carnival – it’s a crowd pleaser that everyone loves, and it requires no volunteer to run it.
The Slingshot game requires no volunteer, and 4 people can play at once.
Balloon-Twister: This is a great addition to your carnival, because it’s faster than face-painting, meaning more kids served, and also gives them something to take home. The balloon-twisting station is guaranteed to be one of the most popular places in your carnival. Be sure to station it near the center of the action. In Fairfax, invite Focus Family Academy Martial Arts to your carnival for a free balloon-twisting station manned by instructors.
Face-painting: You might get lucky and have a parent who is a face-painter, and who is willing to volunteer their time. Otherwise, you will need to pay for this activity – expect to pay $250-$300 for 2 hours in the DMV area. One thing we do not suggest is having teens or volunteers paint faces. For one, professional face-painters use only FDA-approved, hypo-allergenic paints. For another, the difference will be very noticeable, both in the speed of faces painted and the quality of the work. A better alternative, if you cannot hire a professional face-painter, is to have a tattoo station instead.
Local Entertainment: Local martial arts schools are often happy to perform at your carnival for the chance to sign new clients. Your school probably also has students taking dance classes, or maybe a spirit squad, or other performance group that would like to perform. You can even have a full-blown talent show, if you have the time and the volunteers to do it.
Food:
People will be hungry, and you’ll want to provide some food. You may even make a few dollars (or more than a few) off the sales. Here are some ideas for food:
Concessions Rentals: Rent a cotton candy, popcorn, hot dog, and/or sno-cone machine and have volunteers make them. This is a good option if you want to make money on the sales, since the cost of the equipment and supplies will probably be less than what you bring in. 2023 prices run about $100 per machine in the DMV, and $15-25 for every 50 servings. If you need to choose just one, cotton candy is the most popular concession at a carnival. Hot dogs will also sell very well.
Food Trucks: This is especially easy for you, since you don’t have to do anything other than find one willing to come. Be sure to have information about how many people you expect at your carnival (a school of about 800 in the DMV usually has about 400-500 people at an event if the weather is nice). Even better, see if you can find a truck that will allow pre-orders, in order to cut down on the line. The downside of food trucks is that they are slow, since they have to cook each order individually.
Ice Cream: Ben and Jerry‘s in Northern Virginia will often bring a truck or set up a stand at your event. You won’t have to do anything, so this is a great option if you lack volunteers. Likewise, Scoops2U, Rita’s Ice, Kona Ice, and Capital City Snowballs will also come to your event. Check local ice cream stores and ice cream trucks in your area for more options.
Pizza: Pizza is one of the easiest and fastest things to serve. You can work with a local pizza place (well in advance) for a large order, and then simply sell slices for a few dollars each. Many pizza places will give you a significant discount. In Fairfax, try Paisanos Pizza.
Volunteers:
For most schools, this is the hardest part of a carnival. Here are some of the best ideas for dealing with a volunteer shortage:
Use students. 6th grade students and up are capable of working carnival games. They will need an adult to supervise, but that’s only one or two adults, versus 8-10 adults needed to run the carnival games themselves. High school and middle school students may also need community service hours, and your carnival can count for those hours. In Fairfax, you will need to find out who is the contact in the school for coordinating those hours, or better yet, try reaching out to parents who may have older children in the upper schools.
Add more self-run activities. Instead of 8 carnival games and 2 or 3 field games, try 4-5 carnival games and then add more field games and other activities. You can use one adult to monitor the entire field or yard game area, instead of having one person at each game. Some of the lawn and field game choices available at Kidsmart are: Connect 4, Tumblex (plastic Jenga), Cornhole, 2 or 4-Player Slingshot, Giant Jacks, Baseball Toss, Ladder Ball, Tug of War, and Sack Race.
Prizes:
Most schools give away prizes at carnival games. There are 4 ways to handle prizes.
Candy: Some schools on a tight budget use only candy as a prize. This is the least expensive type of prize. The downside is that it’s a little boring for the kids after a while, and it’s also a lot of sugar that parents don’t necessarily want their children to have.
The Cheapest Amazon Prizes: Buying bulk bags at Amazon is another common way to handle prizes. These prizes are the lowest quality and are in the 5-20 cent range, but the bags tend to contain a lot of filler, like stickers, tattoos, and broken bits of unusable prizes. If you choose this type of prize, you must check the bags carefully, as they often contain stickers and tattoos that are inappropriate for children.
Collections: Some school organizers collect prizes all year long, through donations from parents (like left-over party favors) and by picking up items on sale at the dollar store, Walmart, or similar.
Purchase Prizes from a Carnival Prize Retailer: Some common ones include Oriental Trading, Carnival Savers, and American Carnival Mart. This gives you the ability to choose exactly the prizes you want, but it can be pricey. If you are in the Northern Virginia or DMV area, you can purchase discounted prizes from Kidsmart. We also offer Prizes on Consignment – you pay only for the prizes you use, and we take back the rest. Kidsmart sells prizes in the 20 – 50 cent range for 30 cents each, with no filler, stickers, or tattoos. To figure out many prizes you’ll need, read our blog post on it HERE.
So there you have it! Games, entertainment, food, volunteers, and prizes – everything you need for a great school carnival. Now, how to pay for it?
Budgeting
Here in Northern Virginia, the average school carnival or fall festival budget is about $2500 (2023-24 school year), but some schools manage on less than $1,000, and others spend up to $5,000. Before knowing how much you should spend, you’ll need to answer a few questions:
Will you sell tickets/wristbands or will the PTO or school cover the whole cost of the carnival?
If your school or PTO is covering the cost, then the only thing you need to know is how much they have budgeted for the event.
If there will be ticket sales, then is the event meant as a fundraiser, or does it only need to cover its own expenses?
If it must make a profit, then you’ll need to estimate the ticket sales in advance, and be sure that the amount you spend leaves something left over.
How much has the school brought in from ticket sales in past years?
Hopefully, you can get some of this information. This is helpful for knowing what attendance patterns have been like in the past, and how much you can expect to bring in this year.
In Northern Virginia, we suggest the following estimations:
Estimating ticket/wristband sales: Ticket sales at the door are usually equal to a quarter to a third of the school population. Some schools of course will have more, and other even less, especially if the weather is poor or the event poorly advertised. So a school with 800 people, selling tickets for $10 each, can expect to make – conservatively – about $2,000 on ticket sales.
Pre-sale tickets: If you also do pre-sale orders, you can expect to add another 20-30% in ticket sales (surprisingly, this will not decrease your door sales). So with good weather, $10 tickets, and a strong pre-sale campaign, a school of 800 will have about $2500-$3500 to work with as a budget.
First-time carnivals: If organizing the carnival for the first time, without any prior history of ticket sales, a safe number to work with is probably about $1000-$1500. Our suggestion for groups without a lot of data from previous years is to choose a budget that the group can cover, even if the carnival doesn’t entirely pay for itself. Although it most likely will bring in enough, it is unnecessarily stressful for volunteer organizers to worry about losses the group can’t cover.
How to Price Tickets
Give tickets away. Many organizers will be concerned about leaving out children whose parents cannot afford $10 tickets, and rightly so. We cannot emphasize this strongly enough – if you do ticket/wristband sales, you can safely give away tickets to families who need them, and it will not affect your bottom line. It will not affect your sales, because these families would not have attended without the free tickets. At Kidsmart, we have organized enough carnivals to have tested this out in real life, and we are confident that you can give away tickets without going into the red. We even know of Title 1 schools that do this. We suggest giving a few roles of tickets (or sheets of wristbands) to your school counselor and letting them distribute them to anyone they feel needs them. We believe it is important to include all students in school-wide events, regardless of their ability to pay.
Make pre-sale a bargain. Pre-sale tickets should be discounted by at least 25%, in order to encourage people to purchase them. As we have mentioned, this will not decrease your door sales. You can even do an experiment to verify this – make your pre-sale tickets a different color, and see what percentage of them come back on carnival day. You will be surprised how many are not used.
Avoid cash. Finally, a word on collecting money. If at all possible, use non-cash methods. Whether it is online sales or checks, non-cash methods are better than cash sales. No matter how well you think you know and trust your fellow PTA/PTO members, cash on hand lends itself to being lost or stolen. Sadly, this is more common than you think, even in groups full of “nice” PTA ladies. Don’t risk it or make your group attractive to thieves – work with cash as little as possible. For pre-sales, this is especially useful, as it will alleviate the problem of students losing cash along with their ticket orders, or people claiming to have sent in cash, but which you have no record of.
Here are what some typical carnivals look like in the DMV area, and what they might cost:
Small Carnival ($1,000 budget):
5-10 rented games (with tables and tablecovers if needed)
2-3 school-provided or DIY games
1 Concession Machine Rental + Supplies for 300
DIY dance music, field games, and a food truck and/or cold treat vendor
Entertainment from local martial arts academies or other children’s programming vendors
Medium Carnival ($2000 budget):
4 rented carnival games in carnival booths OR 8-10 rented carnival games on tables
2-3 school-provided or DIY games
Face-painter and/or balloon-twister
Obstacle course
1 concession machine rental with supplies for 300
DIY dance music and food truck and/or cold treat vendor
Large Carnival ($3000 – $5,000)
4 Carnival Games in Carnival Booths OR 8-10 Rented Games on Tables
4 Field or Yard Games
2-3 DIY or school-provided games
2 Inflatables
2-3 Concession Machine Rentals with Supplies for 300
Face-Painter and/or balloon twister
DJ or DIY music and dancing
Food trucks and cold treat vendor
We hope this article is helpful to first-time carnival organizers! If you’re in our area, give us a call and see what we can do for your school event. Advice is always free!
