The Art of Mass Gatherings
Catalyzing a cultural shift for how communities can build disaster readiness through music, food & festivals
If you’ve got a festival you’ve got a classroom.
Vulnerability & Opportunity Assessment
We identify both risks and opportunities related to the disaster preparedness & resilience of arts venues, cultural institutions, parks, and civic spaces, delivering reports & actionable recommendations.
Emergency Response Planning
We develop tailored emergency action, disaster response, and business continuity plans specifically for arts organizations, venues, and performance spaces, integrating comprehensive preparedness strategies.
Resilience Program Design Consulting
We work with both government agencies and private sector partners to design, implement, and measure initiatives that leverage latent workforces to improve local disaster preparedness or response.
Resilience Asset Mapping
Our unique cross-sectional approach identifies vulnerabilities, assets, and resilience opportunities stewarded by a community’s gathering spaces and event professionals, integrating them into the tools & workflows used by local emergency management.
The foundation of the Art of Mass Gatherings is our unique four pillar framework for resilient gatherings: safety, sustainability, accessibility, and community engagement. These factors are critical for the safety and success of public gatherings of all kinds, from festivals to political rallies to disaster response sites.
The Model
Local events exist at the crossroads of community, tradition, and social transformation. Structurally, they also share a surprising amount in common with disaster response sites, from temporary structures to emergency planning and crowd management, accessibility needs, and the design of food, waste, and water systems.
Since 2017, the Art of Mass Gatherings has helped communities nationwide leverage their existing beloved festivals as high-engagement training environments. Professionals and community leaders from across sectors can meet one another while keeping their skills fresh and practicing adaptive decision-making. The recurring nature of festivals offers iterative opportunities to try out and gain familiarity with useful protocols and infrastructure during blue sky days, before putting them to the test in times of disaster.
The Impact
Hundreds of people in ten cities across the country have already participated in this innovative program, developed by Majestic Collaborations and featured by FEMA in its Arts & Experiential Learning Inspiration Book.
We’ve seen the impact this approach can make on both the people who participate and their communities. With more responsibility for disaster preparedness shifting to states and local government, we’ve been working to help disseminate this model. Hundreds of thousands of professionals in communities across the country already possess transferable disaster response skills that require only “last mile” training and coordination.
Majestic Collaborations also offers site design consulting and asset mapping services based on the principles and tools of the Art of Mass Gatherings. Contact us for a free initial consultation.