Mule Days

Every year in Bishop, California, a celebration known as Mule Days is conducted in honor of the mule. This festival lasts for six days and occurs just before Memorial Day (Roeser, 2017). The greatest motorized procession in the United States, featuring over 700 mules competing in nearly 181 events, takes place during this wonderful event. Only a few hundred people showed up for the first Mule Days in 1969, according to history. Currently, around 30,000 people attend this festival (Roeser, 2017).

Several people came out to Bishop, California’s 2017 Mule Days, which were held from May 23 to May 28. This time frame was filled with activities, including an Opening Supper costing $35. The affordability of this event and the numerous fun activities that were to be conducted between the six-day period were the key attracting features to the large numbers of spectators. All the intended functions were conducted making this event memorable to the persons who attended the festival.

The planning of this event was top notch. Several activities were to take place within a relatively short duration. Therefore, the stakeholders had to engage excellent planners who would ensure that the event ran smoothly and that the attendees were satisfied. The perfect organization witnessed in this event was a key evidence of proper planning. The stakeholder who was interviewed indicated that the event planning process involved several entities and begun immediately after last year’s celebration. The planning team had to use the experiences of their previous events whereby some small percentage of attendees complained of not getting the opportunities to get involved in all functions in the event.

The core business practice that played a crucial role was a market survey. The planning of the Mule Days in Bishop California would involve a survey to determine the typical types of persons who would attend the event. The tastes and preferences of the different spectators would also be present so that specific activities could be planned. Mule Days in Bishop California was advertised for several months using social media platforms such as Facebook (Roeser, 2017). From the responses obtained from these social media, the planning team would gauge what to expect during this festival. The organizers of the Mule Days worked closely with the promotion team and planned the event basing on the responses obtained from the public. The execution team comprised of experienced personnel that had attended several Mule Days. Therefore, this team knew what a typical attendee would look like and how they would expect to be treated.

The primary objectives of the event organizers were to attract a large number of attendees and promote the mule culture (Roeser, 2017). There were to be entertainment from the opening ceremony on May 23rd to the close of the event that was to be the 28th day of that month. Lastly, the event organizers also aimed at raising money through ticket sales. These objectives were met through the high attendance and the excitement of the event spectators. There were intense celebrations with singing, gambling, dressage, and riding being the main forms of entertainment. Bobby Tanner drove Bishop’s 20 Mule team which was the main artefact in this festival. More than 30000 spectators were present during this final activity of the Mule Days.

The success of the Mule Days in Bishop California indicated that the planning process was effective. The execution team ensured that the schedule of the event was followed to the latter. The intense joy that was witnessed among the attendees also depicted excellent planning and organization of the event. Therefore, the event planner of this festival conducted a proper forecast thereby being efficient.

The primary strength of this event was its ability to cover all the activities listed in the schedule within the indicated timeframes. Another key strength of the event was that it attracted a large multitude of persons and embraced traditional cultures such as mule racing. However, not all the attendees were satisfied with the event as tickets to specific events were sold out earlier than usual. Therefore, the main recommendation or suggestion to the event planning, organizing, and execution team would be not to underestimate the masses that are expected to turn up at the event. The organizers should ensure the availability of enough tickets and their accessibility from any region in the country.

The most important lesson learned from the observation of the planning and execution process of this event is that the success of any festival depends on the duration in which it is planned. The organization of such an event cost a myriad of resources, but the financial returns were also huge. Another important lesson is that the process of planning and executing a given event must be aimed at attaining customer satisfaction.

In a nutshell, the Mule Days in Bishop California was a memorable event that incorporated culture and business. The success of the event indicated excellent planning, organization, and execution process with an effective stakeholder team. Event organizers must also leave some space for uncertainties such as a higher audience turn-out.

Reference

Roeser, J. (2017). Mule Days Celebration. Muledays.org. Retrieved 8 July 2017, from https://muledays.org/the-mule-blog/