Introduction
Stadium forecourts and arena concourse “villages” have become an innovative way to extend a festival’s footprint beyond the main stage. These are the spaces just outside or around major venues that event organizers transform into lively hubs with food stalls, sponsor activations, and entertainment. Organizing a festival in such precincts poses unique challenges and opportunities. Successful festival producers from London to Singapore have learned that careful planning of security, crowd flow, and sponsor areas can make these venue-adjacent builds the highlight of an event. This case study examines several real-world examples – from a massive EDM festival in Romania to a sports extravaganza in Hong Kong – to compare how different events approached security layers, re-entry policies, concourse flows, sponsor footprints, and queue management. The goal is to distill practical lessons for festival organizers looking to create safe and vibrant event villages in stadium and arena precincts.
Stadium & Arena Precinct Festivals: An Overview
Building a festival environment in a stadium precinct means leveraging existing infrastructure while adding temporary festival elements. Unlike open-field festivals, these events must work around fixed entrances, concourses, and venue policies. The upside is access to facilities like seating, restrooms, and built-in crowd control features. The challenge is maintaining festival vibes in often concrete-dominated spaces and ensuring smooth movement as attendees transition between indoor arenas and outdoor plazas.
Key considerations in these scenarios include how to secure the area (often with multiple security checkpoints), whether attendees can exit and re-enter, how to prevent bottlenecks in concourses, where to position sponsors so they engage fans without clogging walkways, and how to manage queues at entry gates and popular booths. We will study a range of events – large and small, successes and learning experiences – to shed light on best practices.
Case Study 1: Untold Festival – A Citywide Stadium Precinct (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
One of Europe’s most ambitious festival precinct builds is the annual UNTOLD Festival in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Centered at the 30,000-seat Cluj Arena, UNTOLD extends far beyond the stadium itself (www.romanianfriend.com). The event covers the arena’s interior, the surrounding Central Park, a nearby riverbank, and even an adjacent indoor sports hall. Over four days, 85,000+ attendees per day roam a vast site that blends a stadium concert with a multi-venue outdoor festival.
Security Layers: The organizers establish a single large perimeter around the entire precinct, effectively turning the stadium and park into one giant secured zone. Entry is only possible through designated gates after ticket scan and security screening (festivawl.com). Attendees first pass through metal detectors and bag checks at the outer fence line, where a wristband system is used for multi-day access. Once inside, festival-goers can move freely between the outdoor stages and the stadium bowl. Because all areas are within the secure perimeter, additional checkpoints (for example, when entering the stadium’s seating area) are minimal – security staff at stadium doors mainly ensure no glass or restricted items are brought from the outside festival area into the stands. This dual approach (one outer security ring plus light internal checks) keeps the flow efficient while maintaining safety.
Re-Entry Policy: UNTOLD’s model treats the whole precinct as one venue. Typically, re-entry during the same day is not encouraged – if attendees exit the outer perimeter, they might not be allowed back until the next day. However, because the festival runs multiple days with a single wristband, participants often have the freedom to leave and return on subsequent days. Within the festival, movement between the stadium interior and the open-air stages is seamless; effectively, being inside the stadium or outside in the park is just moving between areas of one continuous event. This enhances the customer experience – one moment you can be dancing in the stadium to a headliner DJ, and the next you can walk out to the forecourt to grab food or catch another act, without ever formally “exiting” the event.
Concourse Flow: Inside Cluj Arena, the concourses (the hallways under the stands) are utilized as additional festival space. Food and beverage stalls line the concourse edges, just like a typical sports event, but with an EDM festival twist (neon decor, sponsor pop-ups, etc.). To prevent congestion, UNTOLD’s organizers apply one-way routing in certain narrow corridors and open as many access doors as possible so people can flow in and out of the bowl from multiple points. During peak moments (like when a superstar DJ is on the main stage), staff temporarily direct foot traffic to prevent gridlock – for example, creating separate “in” and “out” lanes using barriers when crowds surge into the stadium. There are also giant LED screens and speakers on the concourse, keeping those grabbing a drink connected to the performance and discouraging crowding at portal entrances.
Sponsor Footprint: With such a large precinct, UNTOLD offers sponsors significant opportunities. Major sponsors each get their own footprint – from a branded lounge in the stadium forecourt to interactive booths along the park’s pathways. For instance, a telecom sponsor might host a charging station tent with photo ops, while a beverage sponsor sets up a mini dance floor activation. The key is placement: organizers learned to space out major activations so that each draws a crowd in a different zone rather than all in one place. This not only gives sponsors distinct exposure but also balances foot traffic. For example, a popular energy drink sponsor’s booth placed near the secondary stage can pull some crowd away from the main stage at peak times, helping distribute attendees. In the stadium concourse, smaller local sponsors (like a regional craft beer) occupy kiosk spots that naturally form gathering points without blocking main walkways.
Queue Modeling: Managing queues at a festival this size is critical. UNTOLD’s production team uses data and experience to anticipate where lines will form – at entry gates during opening hours, at the top food vendors during meal times, and of course at toilets and water stations. They model entry throughput by calculating that each security lane can process roughly 500 people per hour. For example, if 20,000 people tend to arrive in the first two hours each evening, at least 20+ lanes of screening are deployed across all entrances to keep wait times around 15-20 minutes. The team also employs a color-coded wristband system for different ticket types (General, VIP) which correspond to separate fast-track lanes, preventing VIP queues from slowing general admission or vice versa. Inside the grounds, queue management staff with signs help redirect people to shorter lines (for instance, pointing out less busy restrooms or bar tents) to avoid unnecessary crowding. This level of detailed planning is one reason UNTOLD is praised for being well-organized despite its massive scale.
Lessons Learned: UNTOLD’s use of a stadium and its precinct shows the importance of treating the entire area as a holistic environment. One big takeaway is that collaboration with city authorities is vital – closing public park areas and streets requires permits and community buy-in, but it allowed UNTOLD to expand its footprint safely. The case also highlights that a single secure perimeter with free movement inside can greatly enhance the fan experience, as long as capacity is monitored. By embracing both the stadium infrastructure and the surrounding open spaces, this festival provides a blueprint for blending an arena concert vibe with a sprawling outdoor festival. It does require complex logistics and high staffing levels, but the payoff is an immersive, citywide celebration (www.romanianfriend.com).
Case Study 2: Hong Kong Sevens – Fan Village on the Forecourt (Hong Kong)
Moving from music to sports, the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament offers a masterclass in creating a forecourt festival village. The event takes place in a stadium but is famous for its carnival-like atmosphere. In 2025, with a move to the new 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium, organizers added an expansive Fan Village just outside the arena (www.scmp.com) (www.scmp.com). This area, spanning roughly 7,800 square feet, was designed as an open-air festival zone for attendees.
Security Layers: Hong Kong Sevens utilizes a two-layer security approach. First, an outer security perimeter encloses both the stadium and the Fan Village. Ticket-holders pass through this perimeter via security checkpoints where bags are screened and tickets verified. By checking tickets at the outer gate, the event ensures that only authorized attendees enter the whole precinct (village and stadium). Once inside the fence, fans can choose to go straight into the stadium stands or linger in the external village area. A second checkpoint exists at the doors of the stadium itself, but here the screening is lighter – mainly to ensure no outside alcohol or prohibited items are brought into the seating bowl. This second layer helps maintain venue rules (like no large flags or certain items in the stands) while keeping the primary security tasks at the outer layer. The result is a buffer zone: the forecourt village becomes a semi-secure area where fans can relax without repeated checks, since the critical screening was completed at the entry gate.
Re-Entry Policy: At Hong Kong Sevens, once your ticket is scanned and you’re inside the outer perimeter, you effectively have in-and-out privileges between the stadium interior and the Fan Village. Fans can leave their seats at any time and step out to the village for a drink, some food, or to catch live music on the side stage, then head back to watch the next match. This fluid re-entry within the event zone greatly enhances the spectator experience – it’s an all-day festival, not just a sports game. However, if a patron fully exits the secured perimeter (to leave the event entirely), re-entry is generally not allowed. In other words, the policy is no re-entry from the outside world, but free movement is allowed inside the contained precinct. Organizers enforce this by using wristbands or scanning on exit; anyone who leaves triggers a mark in the system and would need a new ticket to come back. This prevents ticket pass-back or resale, a vital consideration in a sold-out event.
Concourse Flow: The Fan Village is laid out to complement the flow of people between matches. Rugby sevens games are short and action-packed, with frequent breaks, which means thousands of spectators flood the concourses and forecourt every 15-20 minutes. To handle this, the village design includes multiple broad entry/exit points connecting to the stadium concourse. Temporary barriers and signage create clear pathways: for example, arrows might direct a clockwise flow – spectators exiting to the village use one path, while those returning to seats use another. Inside the stadium concourse, food and drink kiosks are arranged in a circle, and Hong Kong Sevens brought in extra mobile beer carts to the forecourt so that not everyone queues at the same indoor concession stands during halftime. Additionally, big screens in the village and concourse show live matches (www.scmp.com), encouraging some fans to remain in the village during games. This reduces surges of everyone re-entering at once. By smoothing out these peaks and valleys in movement, the event avoids chokepoints at tunnel entrances and keeps the fan flow comfortable.
Sponsor Footprint: The Hong Kong Sevens Fan Village is heavily backed by its co-title sponsors, Cathay Pacific and HSBC, and they each have prominent activation zones (www.scmp.com). A lesson from this event is how to integrate sponsors into the fan experience in a meaningful but unobtrusive way. For example, one sponsor might set up a sports skills game (like a rugby throw challenge) that entertains fans and ties into the event’s theme. These activities are positioned at the edges of the village so that crowds gathering around to participate don’t block the main thoroughfare. The family-friendly “Kids’ Zone” with inflatables (sponsored by community partners) is placed in a corner where families can hang out without being jostled by fans moving between the stadium and bars. Meanwhile, the main sponsors’ booths (Cathay and HSBC) provide useful services – Cathay Pacific offers a lounge tent with seats and shade, and HSBC operates an interactive photo booth – ensuring they add value beyond just branding. Importantly, each sponsor footprint is sized with expected crowd interest in mind: the more popular the activation, the larger the allotted space and queuing area. The organizers here clearly pre-planned for queues at these sponsor activations, marking out roped queue zones so that, say, 50 people waiting for a photo-op don’t end up swarming into walkways.
Queue Modeling: Queue management at the Sevens extends from the entry gates to every beer tap in the concourse. This event has a reputation as one of the world’s biggest rugby parties, so beverage sales are through the roof. Organizers modeled beer queues by analyzing consumption rates – for instance, if each beer tent can serve 30 customers per minute, how many tents are needed to serve tens of thousands of fans during a 10-minute halftime? The solution was to deploy dozens of pour stations both inside and outside. They even introduced pre-paid drink token systems in the village to speed up transactions (fans buy tokens or use RFID wristbands to pay, reducing credit card swipes that slow down lines). Security queues were also carefully considered: given all 50,000 attendees might arrive within a short window on day one, the event set up magnetometers in multiple zones and encouraged early arrival by opening gates with plenty of lead time. One innovative idea was the “fast lane” for spectators without bags – a separate screening lane for those who came hands-free, which significantly cut down wait times. By segmenting queues (bagged vs. no bags, ticket issue resolution vs. regular entry, etc.), the Sevens minimized the frustration of long waits.
Lessons Learned: The Hong Kong Sevens Fan Village demonstrates the power of turning a stadium event into an indoor-outdoor festival hybrid. A big takeaway is the value of an outer security perimeter: it creates a controlled environment where fans can roam, which in turn encourages them to arrive early and stay longer (great for sponsor exposure and concessions revenue). Another lesson is the importance of designing the layout for ebb and flow – understanding the event schedule to know when surges will occur, and using entertainment (live music, screens, attractions) to draw people into the village at strategic times. This case shows that even for sports events, festival-style planning (with staging, entertainment, and thoughtful sponsor integration) can elevate the fan experience and logistical success.
Case Study 3: Untappd Beer Festival – A Cautionary Tale (Charlotte, USA)
Not every attempt at a stadium-based festival goes smoothly. The inaugural Untappd Beer Festival, held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, provides a cautionary case study in operational challenges. What was supposed to be a craft beer celebration on the stadium’s field and concourse turned into a learning experience for its organizers, as attendees encountered a series of issues (www.axios.com).
Security Layers: The Untappd Beer Festival had a more traditional single-layer security setup. Attendees entered through the main stadium gates, where tickets were scanned and IDs checked (since it was a 21+ beer event) and then immediately stepped onto the concourse and field. There was no extended outer festival zone – the event took place within the stadium proper and on a portion of the forecourt. In theory, this should have simplified security, but in practice the capacity planning was misjudged. Long entry lines snaked around the stadium (www.axios.com), partly because the ID check and wristbanding for alcohol consumption at the same choke points as ticket scanning created delays. With only one layer of checks, any slowdown (for example, a group with ticketing issues or someone failing an ID check) halted all entry behind them. A lesson here is to staff separate stations for different checks – for instance, verifying age and issuing drinking wristbands before the main entrance – or to create parallel lanes so one hold-up doesn’t paralyze all lines.
Re-Entry Policy: Untappd opted for a no re-entry policy. Once attendees were in, they were not allowed to exit and re-enter, which is common at single-day festivals to prevent sharing of badges. However, this became problematic when severe weather rolled in. Mid-event, a thunderstorm forced organizers to evacuate attendees off the open field for safety (www.axios.com). Because re-entry wasn’t originally planned, communication was poor – attendees were unsure if leaving the stadium for shelter meant they could come back. Ultimately, people were allowed back in when the storm passed, but the process was chaotic. The festival extended its hours by an extra hour to make up for the interruption (www.axios.com). The key learning is that even if re-entry isn’t intended, emergency situations can demand it. Festival organizers should have contingency plans for re-admitting guests after an evacuation – ideally using a wristband or hand-stamp system prepared in advance. In this case, a lesson for future events was to clearly communicate evacuation and re-entry procedures (e.g., “In case of weather delay, hold on to your ticket/wristband – you will be allowed back in once safe”).
Concourse Flow: The layout of the beer festival within the stadium also contributed to flow problems. Dozens of craft brewery booths were placed around the concourse and on the field, but the organizers hadn’t adequately mapped how people would circulate. When gates opened, a rush of people headed straight to the most popular breweries’ tents. Lines from these booths quickly spilled into the main walking routes, overlapping and creating congestion. Meanwhile, other areas of the concourse were relatively empty. This uneven distribution made the crowd flow inefficient and even dangerous at points (had there been an urgent need to evacuate before the storm, these choke points could have slowed people’s exit). Post-event, the festival’s team acknowledged these mistakes (www.axios.com). The remedy would have been to proactively model concourse flow: for example, identifying which breweries were star attractions and giving them more spaced-out locations with designated queue lanes, and perhaps using the spacious end-zone plazas or an external forecourt for the crowd magnets. Additionally, a one-way foot traffic plan (enter concourse from one side, exit via another) could have alleviated jams but was not implemented.
Sponsor Footprint: In a beer festival, the “sponsors” are essentially the breweries and beer brands themselves. Untappd did have traditional sponsors (like a presenting sponsor and maybe a snack brand), but the focus was on the 150+ breweries each serving samples. The lesson in sponsor (or vendor) footprint here is quality control and preparedness. Several top breweries ran out of beer early or weren’t ready to serve during the initial rush (www.axios.com), frustrating attendees who waited in long lines only to find nothing available. This indicates a lack of coordination and communication with vendors about expected crowd numbers and pacing. A seasoned festival producer would ensure each brewery understood the pour limits and perhaps implement a token system to moderate how many samples attendees can grab quickly. Also, spacing out popular breweries (instead of clustering fan-favorites all in one area) could have balanced the crowd. In short, managing vendor footprint at a festival extends to making sure each vendor can handle the demand and that their placement evenly distributes excitement.
Queue Modeling: Untappd’s organizers underestimated queues. The entry line issue showed a failure in entry throughput planning – with thousands arriving at start time, more gates or staggered arrival incentives (like early entry perks) were needed. Inside, queue modeling was either not done or insufficient. For example, if each brewery sample takes ~30 seconds to pour and serve, one staffer can handle at most 2 customers per minute. If 300 people line up for a hyped brewery, that’s a 150-minute (2.5 hour) wait for those at the back unless more staff or pour stations are added. By not modeling this basic math, the festival experienced very long waits at some booths. On the positive side, once the problems were evident, the organizers did respond: they brought out additional plastic cups when the souvenir glasses proved too fragile (www.axios.com), and after the event, they openly acknowledged the operational mistakes and promised improvements (www.axios.com). This transparency is a good practice for maintaining trust, but of course, the goal is to avoid such issues in the first place through better queue and capacity modeling.
Lessons Learned: The Untappd Beer Festival highlights the importance of over-preparation for first-time events, especially in a new environment like a stadium. Key takeaways include: perform realistic crowd flow simulations, don’t bottleneck multiple critical processes (ID check, ticket scan, wristbanding) in one spot, and always have a Plan B for unexpected events like weather. It also underscores that a stadium’s conveniences (seating, fences, etc.) won’t automatically make things easy – you still need meticulous festival-style planning. In summary, this case reminds us that experience matters: consulting with veteran festival organizers or venue managers could have flagged many of these issues in advance. Future iterations of the festival, armed with these lessons, can turn a rocky start into a much smoother operation.
Comparing Approaches and Key Insights
Each of the above case studies offers unique insights into managing festival precincts at stadiums and arenas. By comparing them side by side, we can extract broader principles applicable to any event of this kind:
- Security Layers: A multi-layer security approach (as seen in Hong Kong Sevens with an outer and inner checkpoint) can enhance safety and crowd flow, but it requires more staff coordination. A single-layer approach is simpler but risks creating choke points (Untappd’s experience). The right choice depends on event scale and site layout. For large multi-zone festivals, an outer perimeter securing the whole site is highly effective at controlling access and contraband. For smaller events, a well-staffed single entry might suffice – but always avoid mixing too many tasks at one gate. In any case, collaborate with local police and venue security early to map out the perimeter and screening process.
- Re-Entry Policies: Festival producers must balance security with attendee freedom. No re-entry (common for concerts and one-day events) reduces risk of ticket sharing, but it can limit attendees’ flexibility and even pose issues during emergencies. Allowing re-entry within a contained precinct (like the Sevens village or inside UNTOLD’s grounds) greatly improves the attendee experience – people don’t feel “trapped” and can enjoy all aspects of the event. If choosing a strict no re-entry policy, communicate it clearly and consider exceptions or emergency protocols. If allowing re-entry, use measures like tamper-proof wristbands, ticket scanning upon exit and return, or unique hand stamps to prevent misuse. Modern ticketing systems (such as Ticket Fairy’s scanning app) can track ins-and-outs in real time, offering a secure way to manage re-entry dynamically.
- Concourse and Flow Design: It’s crucial to visualize how people will move around your site. Wide concourses and forecourts can still become gridlocked if not designed with flow in mind. Learn from stadium architects: use clearly marked routes, “one-way” walking loops where possible, and open up closed sections of concourse or additional gates during peak movement times. Temporary signage and barriers are inexpensive tools to guide crowd behavior – don’t hesitate to use them. Also consider scheduling: at multi-activity festivals, intentionally stagger program elements to distribute the crowd (e.g., start a DJ set on the outdoor stage 5 minutes after the main stage act ends to draw some people out before everyone rushes the concourse). Regularly walk the site in simulation or during small events to spot pinch points before the big crowd arrives.
- Sponsor Footprints & Activations: Sponsors add immense value – and revenue – to festivals, but their installations must be planned just as carefully as stages or vendors. Every sponsor booth is a potential crowd magnet (or sometimes a blocker if poorly placed). Map out each activation’s space and expected audience. Give major activations prime spots with ample space for queues that won’t spill into walkways. For example, situating a popular beer sponsor’s tent in a recessed plaza or corner can allow a long line to form without obstructing flow. Diversify the locations of sponsor activities: cluster too many exciting elements in one zone and it will be mobbed while other areas stay underutilized. Instead, spread them so that attendees naturally explore the whole precinct. And work closely with sponsors on planning – if they’re handing out freebies or running a game, ensure they have enough staff and stock to serve the crowd, to avoid disappointment that reflects poorly on both the sponsor and the festival. A well-executed sponsor village should feel like an integral part of the event, not an ad-hoc add-on.
- Queue Modeling & Management: Perhaps the most universal lesson is to never underestimate queues. Long lines can sour an otherwise amazing festival experience, so proactive queue modeling and management is essential. Use data from past events or industry benchmarks to calculate: How many people arrive per hour? How many can each gate/turnstile process? If the math doesn’t offer at least a little slack capacity, increase lanes or adjust timing. The same goes for popular attractions inside – if a merch booth or exclusive experience will draw a rush, assign extra staff or ticketed time slots to control wait times. Visible queue management tools like barriers, signage (“15 minutes from this point”), and assigning staff as “queue hosts” to engage and inform waiting guests can all turn a boring queue into a more orderly, even entertaining, experience. Technology can help too – some festivals use text alerts or app notifications to tell attendees when lines at certain food vendors are short, for instance. But even without tech, the principle is clear: plan for lines before they form. It’s much easier to adjust a queue that’s under control than to deal with a frustrated crowd of thousands in an unstructured blob.
Key Takeaways
- Plan a Secure Perimeter: Use appropriate security layers for your event size. A well-defined perimeter (even if it’s larger than the venue itself) can create a safe, controlled festival environment in and around a stadium.
- Define Re-Entry Early: Decide on your re-entry policy and communicate it clearly. If you allow movement between an outside village and inside arena, implement wristbands or scanning to monitor it. If you forbid re-entry, make sure attendees know before they arrive – and have a backup plan for emergencies.
- Design for Crowd Flow: Treat concourses and plazas as part of your festival design. Walk the routes your attendees will take. Use signage, barriers, and staff to guide traffic and prevent dead-ends or head-on collisions in tight spaces.
- Strategic Sponsor Placement: Integrate sponsor activations thoughtfully. Give each major sponsor booth enough space and place it where it benefits both the crowd distribution and the sponsor. Ensure exciting activations are spread out to avoid clustering of crowds in one spot.
- Queue Management is Critical: Model your entry and internal queues in advance. Calculate capacities for security lines, food stalls, restrooms, and popular attractions. Then implement measures (more lanes, separate lines, or timing tricks) to keep wait times reasonable. A festival that starts with a smooth entry line and maintains manageable queues will keep attendees happy from beginning to end.
- Learn from Every Event: Whether a massive success or a challenging debut, every festival provides lessons. Conduct debriefs with your team and with venue management after using a stadium or arena precinct. Note what worked (and repeat it) and what didn’t (and improve it). Over time, you’ll build a playbook of best practices for stadium forecourts and concourse villages that can be adapted to any city or culture.
By examining these case studies and lessons, festival producers around the world – from a boutique arena show in Singapore to a mega stadium tour in Mexico – can approach venue-precinct builds with greater confidence. With meticulous planning, creative design, and a focus on attendee experience, a stadium’s forecourt or an arena’s concourse can be transformed into a vibrant festival playground that fans will remember long after the event is over.
25th August 2025