Grand Openings & Corporate Events: What To Consider When Booking Your Entertainment

For grand openings, employee picnics, community events, or any other large-scale event, volunteers or hobby-entertainers may not be enough. Kaleidoscope Art & Entertainment specializes in community fundraisers and corporate event entertainment–here are a few things we suggest everyone consider before booking your event entertainment:

Why are we getting entertainment?

Are you trying to impress new clients, or just have a party with your employees? Are you building your brand, or just letting people in the neighborhood know you’re there? For a lot of events, the go-to entertainment is face painting. While this is often a great choice, for some events caricatures might be more suitable: our caricature artists can include the name of your business on the drawing a family may keep framed for a life time.  Trying to move a lot of people in and out quickly? Check out our princess meet & greets and airbrush tattoos. Or, if you just need freebees, balloon twisting and glitter tattoos can accomdiate a lot of people very quickly! Talk to our office about your party and let us offer some suggestions.

How many people do we need entertained?

If you’re expecting 50 kids, we often get requests similar to “but I think only 30 or so will want face paint.” Usually, 49 out of 50 want face paint–or, even more likely, 49 plus a dozen teenagers, plus everyone’s parents! Give your entertainers the total amount of gueusts as expected, not how many you think will want entertainment. If you truly have no idea, discuss different options based around your budget instead.

How many people per hour can the face painter / balloon twister / caricature artist entertain?

For small parties, Kaleidoscope quotes about 10-12 kids per hour per activity. Most professionals will quote around the same, but most volunteers will be lucky if they get 10 per hour. For larger parties, our face painters and balloon twisters can modify their designs to get up to 20 children an hour–lightyears ahead of anyone else. So while someone who charges less per hour might seem like a better option, always ask your artists how quickly they can work. You may end up paying $12 per face with the “cheaper” option, instead of only $7 a face with a better company. You can also read more about how Kaleidoscope helps fundraisers make money here.

What other activities are going on?

If you have other activities such as sports, crafts tables, or speakers, the lines for face painting, airbrush tattoos, caricatures, or balloon twisting will be a lot shorter than if we’re the only entertainment. If you only plan on using entertainment as an add-on treat, instead of having one artist for 4hrs, consider having 2 artists for 2hrs–the price will likely be the same, and guests will be waiting in line for less tie.