Church Fall Festival: Safety Guidelines & Resources
During this time of year, church leadership places a strong emphasis on Church Fall Festival Safety. The fall season marks a period when many churches organize festivals that serve as valuable opportunities for fellowship and outreach within the congregation and the local community.
Depending on your church’s mission, your activities may be centered on ministering to children within the congregation or reaching out to the surrounding local community. Fall festivals can play a key role in both nurturing existing members and inviting new individuals to participate in church life.
As autumn approaches, your church leadership is focusing on the important topic of safe gatherings. We would like to share the following with you: Church Fall Festival: Safety Guidelines & Resources.
Church Fall Festival: Safety Guidelines & Resources for Safe Grounds
- Secure all cords (power, speakers, microphones, etc.).
- Keep cords away from walkways.
- Cover cords them with cord protectors or
- Have cords them held down and marked with visibly colored tape.
- For large outdoor tents, ensure the stakes and ropes are visibly marked and protected.
- Tents should be erected by a professional company.
- Tents should be inspected by a qualified individual before use
- Fill or visibly mark depressions and holes in grassy areas. Try to plan activities away from any such hazards.
- Check that any temporary (folding) tables and chairs set up are sturdy and free from defects.
- Maintain sufficiently wide aisles to accommodate pedestrian traffic.
- Identify and warn of the trip and fall hazards from the tent stakes, using orange safety cones.
- Enlist volunteers direct traffic to guide traffic flow.
- Set up walking areas away from the traffic for children moving around the parking lot.
Church Fall Festival: Safety Guidelines & Resources to Protect your Attendees
- Building security for your building – decide if you’ll open the building or keep it locked during the event.
- Establish if participants will have access to the restrooms, the entire building or nothing at all.
- If you open your building to attendees, have volunteers monitor traffic to and from and inside the building.
- Food safety – Before the event, consider one in thirteen children has a food allergy.
- Will you allow homemade items to be passed out?
- Will you only allow store-bought, pre-packaged items that don’t contain nuts or other allergens?
- Will you sell food and/or beverages during your event?
- Weather — Have a back-up plan in case the weather appears threatening.
- First aid – Have a volunteer on-site who is trained to administer care should an accident occur. Keep a first-aid kit handy, too.
Church Fall Festival: Safety Guidelines & Resources for Inflatables / Bouncy Houses
- Rent an inflatable from a reputable, insured business.
- Require a certificate of general liability insurance. Have your church named as an additional insured on the rental company’s insurance.
- Installation and tear down should be completed by the rental company.
- Require 2 adults for supervision at all times.
- Training for supervisors (if not using trained rental company supervisors) should be provided by the rental company.
- Training should cover all operating and safety procedures, both verbally and in writing.
- All equipment should labeled stating the occupancy limit, proper age and weight of users.
- Only participants of compatible ages and sizes should play in the unit at the same time.
- Do not exceed the maximum number of participants according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
- Do not operate if wet conditions (rain) are present or if threatening weather is approaching.
- Click for More Tips on Bouncy Houses