A festival planning checklist is a shared list of every task a committee must finish before and during a celebration, permissions, budget, idol booking, decoration, collections, cultural events, prasad and visarjan, with an owner and a deadline for each. In Om Kosh you keep the checklist alongside the money, so the committee sees what’s done, what’s pending and who’s responsible without a dozen WhatsApp reminders.
Six to eight weeks before
This is when the foundations get laid, skip these and you’re firefighting later.
- Form the committee and assign roles, treasurer, collectors, cultural, logistics
- Set the budget and the per-flat contribution
- Apply for society and municipal permissions (mandap, loudspeaker, visarjan slot)
- Book the idol, mandap decorator and sound system early, good vendors fill up
- Import the member list and open the collection drive
The final fortnight
Now it’s execution, confirm everything you booked and chase the last collections.
- Confirm idol delivery, decoration and sound timings
- Send payment links to members still unpaid
- Line up sponsors and print their banners
- Plan cultural programmes, competitions and prize money
- Arrange prasad, volunteers and a cleaning plan
During and after
Through the festival, record collections and expenses as they happen and tick tasks off live. After visarjan, settle every committee advance, log final vendor payments, and publish the report. A checklist that lives next to the books means the wrap-up is a formality, not a scramble.
Frequently asked questions
When should a committee start planning a festival?
For a large festival like Ganpati or Navratri, six to eight weeks out. Permissions, idol booking and good vendors all need lead time, and starting early spreads the collection drive over more days.
Can the whole committee see the checklist?
Yes. The checklist lives in the same account as your collections and expenses, with roles and permissions, so every committee member sees what’s pending and who owns it.
What are the most-missed festival tasks?
Municipal permissions (loudspeaker and visarjan slots), settling committee cash advances, and publishing a final report. All three are easy to forget in the rush and cause the most trouble afterward.