What is a Blog Carnival?

You can look at a blog carnival as a means for established blogs to collect information on a particular topic through quality articles from multiple contributors and to make it available in an accessible way to the readers.

Basic Concept

Even though bloggers tend to add their own things to a blog carnival, in essence this event is always a compilation of permanent links to various other blogs, associated or not associated with the initial blog on which it first features.

A blog carnival typically starts with a blogger – who will be considered the author – asking other people for contributions on a specific topic he or she has chosen. These people can be readers of the blog in question, other bloggers, or both. Once the contributions are submitted, the author gathers them, does some editing where necessary, and ads his/her own comments before publishing them in a blog article either on a personal blog or on a personal website created especially for it. Frequently, a carnival travels to multiple blogs, each time featuring a unique edition that remains faithful to the chosen theme and format.

Depending on the number of contributors and the reputation of the blogger who acts as the organizer, hype can build up in expectancy of every new edition, leading to the formation of a following made up of both bloggers and readers. A blog carnival rewards all those involved: contributors usually get their link featured on a popular blog while the bloggers who act as organizers offer new content to their audience, keeping it satisfied.

Often featuring interesting articles on hot topics, a blog carnival brings together communities of bloggers and readers. It's one of the cool things that take place on the Web, so engaging and fun that you can create a website if only to host one and you won't regret it.

The Structure

Large carnivals tend to have an organizer and an editor. Smaller ones typically see the author handling both the organization and the editing. At the end it all depends on the amount of content that will be assembled.

The editor usually looks after the central website that holds the carnival, schedules future editions assigning the hosts in time so that they will be able to make the required preparations, handles the submissions made by contributors, and quells any heated debates that might arise between overenthusiastic bloggers before or during the event. The editor can also take care of the promotional part, e.g. contacting other bloggers and offering them links or other things in return for their mentioning the upcoming event in their entries.

Each event of the carnival needs a host. As most carnivals tend to travel from blog to blog every few weeks, the host has less work to handle than the general editor. Hosts usually solicit contributions, from either their own blog readers or other bloggers they happen to know, assess and compile the submissions, and present the event. Hosts usually collaborate closely with the author, who ensures that the theme and guidelines of the carnival are respected.

Contributors also play an important part in any blog carnival, and they can be considered just as important as the author or the hosts. In fact, the success of a carnival depends more on the contributors than on the organizers, for they are after all the ones who provide the content. When contributors are enthusiastic and create a buzz, then the carnival will almost certainly be great.

Aims

The topic on which a blog carnival is based is what gives it its worth. When well chosen and interesting, many people get involved, with the end result being that a whole new community of blogging enthusiasts is created.

Today blog carnivals tend to be specific about the subject they feature and to cover it in depth, all in an attempt to compile highly relevant, quality content in an accessible format. Even if the Web keeps growing, the quality of the content that it features doesn't necessarily improve. On the contrary, quite often for many websites the emphasis is on quantity and not on quality. A blog carnival tries, above all, to provide a nice read.

When you create a website make sure you add a blog to it and, once you've established yourself, start a carnival. It's great fun.