At our spring carnival in April we didn't have enough volunteers to run the games so I asked some RESPONSIBLE 6th graders(we're a k-6) to help. In return they received a coupon for a free hotdog, chips, soda. We had about 10 students help out.

We had this problem too where it wasn't just the students from the school coming, but they were bringing cousins and friends from other schools. We also noticed that the older kids sort of took over the party and the younger kids weren't getting to enjoy themselves or participate in all of the activities. Last year we had to cut it back from being for the whole school (Pre-K through 8th grade) to just being for Pre-K through the 4th grade and noted on the flyers that the party was for school students only.

I forgot about the high school groups! We have the JROTC from our local high school come and help the night of the festival. They HAVE to have so many community service hours and this is perfect. They give the parents breaks at the booths and games, or they run one if a volunteer doesn't show up. Some go around making sure prizes are ok at all booths, etc. they help us clean at the end and they get free hotdogs and chips and drinks. usually, the candy apple lady will give them left overs and they get popcorn that is left. These are growing boys and love getting all that stuff free. They are a HUGE help every year! But you could also check girl scout groups or boy scout groups that hav eto do community service stuff.

WOuld it be unfair to require one parent/guardian to donate an hour of time prepping for , or helping during the event, and for that, they get a golden ticket, which allows thier kid/s a pass to the event?

and if the turnout or respons is poor, maybe you have to just skip it one year, and teach the parents a lesson, that being, with no helpers, one cannot run the evening.

as with kids, so with adults. sometimes they only learn by experiencing (or being denied the experience!)

if work responsiblities prevent parents from helping out before hand, maybe they could do clean up crew.

its frustrating when the help is not voluntary and spontaneous. but on the other hand, if you run the events understaffed, yu will burn out.

My past experience has been that volunteers will come out of the wood work the night of the event. No matter how much you beg before hand they will not offer until the last minute. Last year when we set up for our fall festival, we decided not to include about 6 games/events because of the response we received when we asked for volunteers.
Try another option: get some of the high school clubs that require volunteer hours for participation. That was as the best idea we ever had. The kids were such a great help and even offered to help at other events that we held later in the year.

is there a way you could move the party outdoors? that would be a whole lot easier to clean up than having to clean the classrooms back up and arranging desks, etc.
or like D says--you eat an elephant one bite at a time--soooo can you break things down into a few smaller groups--a cleaning committee, a food committee, etc. Can the teachers help with decorations? they could incorporate it into the day--kinder's making pumpkins, that kind of thing.
our festival in october is the big thing for us also--it really sets the tone for the remainder of the year. i totally understand your feelings!
good luck!
brandi