Solving event ticketing problems
How do you manage tickets for a multi-day event?
Festival and conference teams selling several days from one event page settle one thing first: whether those days are one event or several. One event with a category for each day keeps the full run, the single days and the upgrades side by side, so a buyer compares them and pays once.
Run the days as one event with a ticket category for each day, so a buyer compares the full run, the single days and the upgrades on one page and pays once.
- For
- Running a festival, conference or other event across several days
- Takes
- 3 minutes
Most multi-day events with a shared venue, line-up and reporting work best as one event with a category per day. The full run, each day and the upgrades sit on one page, so buyers compare them and pay once. Use separate events when each day has its own venue, line-up or reporting.
Use Ticket Categories so day and weekend tickets appear as sections rather than one long list. Release tiers inside each category set the price as the event gets closer. Add-ons keep camping, parking and meals in the same checkout. Attendee names and name checks let the door team confirm who holds each ticket.
How Ticket Fairy helps
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Ticket Categories
Use categories for the choices buyers recognise, such as Saturday, Sunday, VIP or the full weekend. Put the relevant ticket types and release prices inside each category. To make a day ticket valid only on that day, set the door times on the ticket itself.
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Release tiers that open automatically
Create a separate ticket type for early bird, first release and final release inside a category, with its own allocation, price and sale window. A hidden release can appear either when the one before it sells out or at a set time, whichever comes first. The next release can open automatically, so buyers still see an available ticket when the previous release sells out.
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Add-ons for everything that is not admission
Camping pitches, campervan permits, parking, meal packages and VIP upgrades are add-ons rather than ticket types, so a weekend with a tent and a car park space is one order and one confirmation email. Where an add-on comes in sizes, its variants keep it to one row.
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Names on tickets, and resale at face value
Require attendee names and name checks when you need the door team to confirm who holds each ticket. Face-value resale gives a buyer who cannot attend a route through your event page, with the old code disabled after resale.
Set it up
Before you start
- You're an owner or an admin on this event. Open Tickets from your event menu. If it isn't there, ask another owner or admin to do this part.
- You know which days you are selling separately, and what a full-run ticket includes.
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List what a buyer gets on each day
List the full run, any single days you sell and any upgrade above them, one line each. This list becomes your categories, so keep it to what a buyer would recognise on your poster.
Note: Start with the day and full-run options you plan to sell. You can add another day ticket later, but removing one after sales begin affects existing buyers.
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Create a category for each of them
Open Ticket Categories on your Tickets page and click Create for each day, full-run option or upgrade you listed, with the name a buyer would recognise in Category Name.
Note: A category has to exist before a release can join it. This is what turns a long list of ticket types into the sections your buyers see.
Event, Tickets, Ticket Categories, Create. -
Look at your event page as a buyer
Open your event page in a private browser window. Each day, the full run and each upgrade should appear as its own section.
Note: A later release stays off the page until its turn, so it is correct to see nothing where the next tier will appear.
Try these steps on your own event
Create a free account, build your event and follow the steps above in your own dashboard. It takes a few minutes and you do not need to book a sales call.
No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required.
Questions you might have
- Should a multi-day event be one event or one event per day?
- One event usually works best when the days share a venue, line-up and reporting. Use separate events when each day needs its own venue, line-up, marketing or accounts.
- How do I sell single-day tickets alongside a weekend ticket?
- Give each day its own ticket category and the full run its own, then put the releases for each inside the matching category. A buyer sees Saturday, Sunday and the full weekend as separate sections with their own prices. Give each day's tickets their own door times as well, or a Saturday ticket will scan in on Sunday.
- How do I sell camping with a multi-day ticket?
- As an add-on, not as a ticket type. Camping, campervan permits, parking and meal packages all sell alongside the ticket, so the buyer picks a pitch in the same checkout rather than coming back for a second order.
- What happens if an early release sells out before its end date?
- You can set the next release to appear when the previous ticket type sells out or at a specific time, whichever comes first. Choose that and the next release opens that day instead of leaving nothing on sale.
- Can an attendee pass on a weekend ticket if they can only attend one day?
- Yes, while resale is on and the ticket is unused; scanning it stops the listing. An attendee who used it on Friday cannot pass the weekend ticket on for Saturday unless you reverse that check-in. It then sells through your event page at the Resale Type price, with a new code and the new holder's name.
Still have a question?
Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself.
No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required.
Related guides
Do this on your own event
Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call.