Use Freelancing To Fund Your Festival Dreams

Do you feel as though you’re missing out on all of the festival opportunities that come your way because you have to work?

What if you didn’t have to choose? What if you were able to work and attend any festival you wanted to?

Well, you can do both! If you want to know how to pay for musical festivals and actually go to festivals when you want to, keep reading about how freelancing can fund your festival dreams.

What Freelance Opportunities Are Out There?

Freelancing seems like the perfect gig, you can work for yourself, make your own hours, not deal with a horrible boss, and live on your terms.

It can however be pretty daunting when you realize you no longer have an employer who helps you out with your health insurance or a paycheck that automatically takes your taxes out. You’re on your own for all of that but it is not as big of a deal as you might think.

So is it really worth it to freelance? If you want to pay for music festivals while also doing what you love, yes it’s worth it!

Choosing to be a freelancer can be one of the most difficult yet rewarding decisions you can make. There is a lot to deal with as a freelancer, but if you know how to pull it off, you can live on your terms and make money along the way.

In the music festival scene, there are so many opportunities to work as a freelancer doing work inside the industry, and there are tons of opportunities still beyond the music industry.

Let’s dive into just a few of the options you have

Become a Writer

They may have told you in college that writing was dead. They said there are podcasts, TV, and YouTube to give us our news and entertainment. But that’s not true.

Writing comes in all different forms such as emails, advertising, creating greeting cards, social media captions, and more.

If writing is something you love to do and are good enough to stand out, which you will need to be in this day and age, you should dig into the opportunities here.

There is a lot of competition in this space, but if you stay focused and develop a unique voice, you can stand out and find yourself with more gigs than you can imagine.

Learning how to become a freelance writer is not difficult, you can learn your chops pretty quickly and one of the best things you can do is just start writing, then find people or companies that need copy for their newsletters, social posts, website, etc.

Design Your Own Jewelry

If you have a love for festivals, you probably also love getting ready for them and wearing something that fits the vibe of the music.

If this sounds like you, you may have a knack for creating jewelry that fits the mood of different festivals or occasions like them.

You could start creating your own jewelry and selling it on your social media platforms and Etsy. As you attract more customers, you can expand your shop to sell to even more people.

I have known several people over the years who make amazing jewelry of all types and manage to make more than enough to cover their travel and festival expenses just selling at the festival alone, that’s not even including what they sell year-round on their website.

In this day and age with platforms like Shopify and Etsy, getting up and running is actually pretty easy. You could have a full-blown store in a weekend if you really wanted one.

And there you have it – you’re creating jewelry to fund your music festival dreams.

Become a Professional Photographer

Have you ever thought about making your passion for photography your career? Well, what’s stopping you?

If you’re looking for freelance opportunities to work on your own schedule, becoming a photographer will give you the flexibility and financial means for how to pay for musical festivals.

Better yet? You could work with festivals that hire you so you can work and play at the same time. Who doesn’t love making money while having the time of their lives?

There are tons of photographers in the music industry that absolutely love what they do because they often times get to see their favorite bands up close and personal year-round.

The best place to start here is to build a portfolio and start reaching out to bands, festivals, and media outlets to find opportunities.

They will want to see that you have experience with live music so start going to small local festivals and just start taking shots. You could even reach out to the festival promotors and show them the shots you got and ask if they wouldn’t mind posting with a plug and a link to your portfolio.

Start small, but hustle and get as many pics in your portfolio as you can.

How Do I Make Sure I’m Making Enough Money While Freelancing?

Since freelancing is not as steady as a “day” job, you’ll have to pay extra attention to the amount of time you’re working and how much you make per week. There are a few other ways to make sure you’re saving enough and not overspending.

Track Everything

As a freelancer, you are spending money without a steady paycheck.

You may be thinking to yourself, but I know every Monday I’ll be paid. Sure, but how much? Is it the same every week or does it change based on how much time you put in?

With a freelance position, you may be working a ton one week and taking some days off the next.

Because of that, you want to set a realistic budget and keep track of what you spend to make sure you’re not overspending. You should take into account how much you will spend on groceries, your dog, your health insurance, music festivals you want to attend, your apartment and its utilities, and any gas for our car that you may need. List out all your categories and jot down the expenses next to it to budget.

On top of tracking your spending, you want to keep track of your paychecks and any other money you count as your income. You will need this as taxes come around, and they may even get you some tax deductions as well.

Divide Your Bank Accounts

Before becoming a freelancer, you may have only had two accounts: savings and checking. Once you become a freelancer, you may want to think about adding another account for your business.

You’ll be able to set aside money to pay your taxes down the line instead of taking out of savings when the time comes. Whatever income you are bringing in you’ll have to pay state and federal income taxes.

Write-Offs

Setting up an LLC or filing as a Sole Proprietor means you can start reducing your taxes by writing off expenses related to your gear, travel, etc. If you are taking photos for a festival for example you can write off your travel expenses and meals while you are there.

We are not tax specialists or attorneys so be sure to read up on this subject before you head out on your own.

So Many Advantages

There are legitimately so many advantages to going freelance and the music industry is ripe with opportunities. The list goes on and we don’t have all day so if this sounds like something you would be interested in we encourage you to check out our friends over at School For Freelancers to learn more.

They offer a ton of freelance resources, an awesome newsletter, and online training and coaching to help you live your freelance dreams.

Apply to the School of Freelancers

Finding a freelancing job to fund your love for musical festivals can be tricky. You want to make sure you’re making enough while also not drowning in work.

How do you find clients who need what you specialize in? How do you set your rates?

If you find yourself asking these questions, the School of Freelancers offers coaching, courses, and resources to walk you through everything you need to help you freelance and fund your festival dreams.

Get Ready for Year-Round Festivals

Once you become a freelancer, you won’t have to say no to festivals when they conflict with your work schedule. You get to decide when and where you work, which opens up your schedule to live the music festival lifestyle.

Contact the School of Freelancers for the support you need to get started living out your dream lifestyle by attending festival after festival!