--- title: "Run ticketing for a music festival | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Build the event from the festival template, group day and weekend tickets, offer installments, sell camping with the ticket, keep resale at face value, open each release on time, and accredit your crew, artists, press and partners for the gate." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-music-festival" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Run ticketing for a music festival Playbooks by event type # Run ticketing for a music festival When you run a music festival, you sell day and weekend tickets across several releases, with camping to sell alongside them and a crew to accredit. If you follow these steps in order, each release opens on time, buyers add camping to the same order, and resale stays at face value. Your crew, artists, press and partners have their passes before the gates open. Takes: 20 minutes - [Build the event from the festival template](#step-1) - [Group tickets into a category for each class](#step-2) - [Let buyers pay for a weekend ticket in installments](#step-3) - [Sell camping, parking and travel with the ticket](#step-4) - [Put a name on every ticket and keep resale at face value](#step-5) - [Open the on-sale at the minute you announced](#step-6) - [Reward buyers who bring their friends](#step-7) - [Connect the networks you advertise on](#step-8) - [Issue passes to crew, artists and press](#step-9) - [Follow the arrival rush during the festival](#step-10) ## Before you start - You're a brand owner or admin. You can create events, change tickets, add-ons and passes, and publish. - You have agreed your ticket classes, the price releases inside each, the camping and travel you sell, and whether buyers may pay in installments. - You know which advertising networks you buy from and who on your crew, artist and press lists needs a pass. 1. ## Build the event from the festival template Create a new event and start from the multi-day festival template, which asks for your dates and stages and lays out day and weekend tickets for you to price. You can change the page, tickets and settings it builds. **Note:** A festival you ran last year is quicker to duplicate than to rebuild: the copy keeps the tickets, add-ons and settings and you change the dates. ![Multi-day festival template questions before the event is built](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-templates--festival-multi-day.png) *Events, Create Event, Multi-day festival.* 2. ## Group tickets into a category for each class Create a ticket category for each class of ticket, such as Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and put every price release for it inside. The guide to setting up ticketing for a multi-day festival covers every field on the Create Category dialog. [Group your tickets into categories](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/group-your-tickets-into-categories) ![The Create Category dialog, with the category name and resale type fields](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-ticket-categories--create-category.png) *Event, Tickets, Ticket Categories, Create.* 3. ## Let buyers pay for a weekend ticket in installments Turn on a payment plan for the event, with the deposit that reserves the ticket, the number of payments and the date the last one is due. A buyer who cannot pay the whole price at once can buy now and pay the rest by that date. **Note:** Payment plans run on card payments in the currencies that support them. When a buyer stops paying, the order is canceled after the grace period you set and its tickets go back on sale. [Let buyers pay for tickets in installments](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-pay-for-tickets-in-instalments) ![Payment plan settings with the deposit, installments and cancellation grace period](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-payment-plans--settings.png) *Event, Payments, Payment plan.* 4. ## Sell camping, parking and travel with the ticket Open **Add-Ons** and create one add-on for each thing sold beside admission, such as weekend camping, a parking pass and the shuttle, each with its own price and stock. Buyers add them in the same checkout, so a camper books the pitch with their ticket. **Note:** Limit an add-on to the ticket types it belongs with, so a Sunday-only buyer is not offered weekend camping. A campervan permit can be withheld from resale. [Sell parking, camping and merchandise with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets) ![Add-on form for weekend camping, with its price, stock and limit per order](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-add-ons--camping.png) *Event, Add-Ons, Weekend Camping.* 5. ## Put a name on every ticket and keep resale at face value Turn on names and ID on every ticket and switch resale on, so a ticket that changes hands does so through your page at the price the seller paid. The guide to setting up ticketing for a multi-day festival covers those settings, the resale fee your event page states and the add-ons you can hold back from resale. [Let buyers resell their tickets at face value](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-resell-their-tickets-at-face-value) ![The Anti-Scalping/Fraud Settings dialog, with names required, name checks, ID required, ticket resale and add-on resale switches and a Save button](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-settings--anti-scalping.png) *Tickets, Settings, Anti-Scalping/Fraud Settings.* 6. ## Open the on-sale at the minute you announced Select **Publish**, choose the date and time, and select **Schedule Publish** so the page goes public on the minute your announcement promised. Each release inside a category then opens on its own date, so demand is spread instead of hitting one moment. **Note:** Split a hot on-sale: an invitation-only presale for last year's buyers, then the public releases, with a waiting list for the buyers who miss out. [Open your ticket on-sale](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/open-your-ticket-on-sale) ![The Schedule Publish dialog with the date and time the festival page goes public](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-publish--schedule-publish-dialog.png) *Publish, Schedule Publish.* 7. ## Reward buyers who bring their friends Keep the **Disable Rewards System** switch off and choose the reward each sales tier earns, so a buyer who brings a carload of friends gets part of their ticket back. Every confirmation email then includes the buyer's own referral link. **Note:** Rewards are paid as a refund on the buyer's ticket once their friends have bought. The Influencers report shows who brought in the most. [Reward buyers who bring friends to your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/reward-buyers-for-referrals) ![The Rewards System settings with the sales tiers and the reward for each](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-tickets--referral-rewards-settings.png) *Tickets, Settings, Rewards System.* 8. ## Connect the networks you advertise on Open **Integrations** and connect each network you buy ads from, starting with **Connect Meta**, so each network records the ticket sales its ads brought in. You can then see which campaign sold the weekend tickets in the network's own reporting. **Note:** Each network has its own short guide, and the pixel is set once per brand rather than per festival. [Connect advertising pixels to your ticket sales](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/connect-meta-and-network-pixels) ![The Integrations with the Connect Meta button for conversion tracking](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-integrations--meta-connect.png) *Brand, Integrations, Meta conversion tracking.* 9. ## Issue passes to crew, artists and press Open **Multi-Entry Passes**, create a pass type for each group with the number of entries it carries, then add each person by name and select **Enter Recipient**. Every pass scans at the same gate as a ticket, so your door team works from the scanner rather than a paper list. **Note:** That number covers the whole event rather than one day, so set it high enough for all three days of a three-day festival. Send the passes once the list is final, and each holder receives theirs as a PDF. [Issue reusable event passes to crew and artists](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-entry-passes-to-your-crew) ![The Issue a pass form with the pass type and the recipient to add](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-passes--issue-a-pass.png) *Brand, Multi-Entry Passes, Issue a pass.* 10. ## Follow the arrival rush during the festival Open **Check-In** and view **Hourly** on each day while the gate team scans. Arrivals by hour show you when the rushes come and when the last one has passed. **Note:** The figures cover the whole event rather than one entrance, so read them for when to put more staff on the gates rather than which gate to move them to. You can read the same report per day for a multi-day ticket, so Saturday's picture never hides Sunday's. [Track your event check-ins by hour](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/watch-check-ins-live) ![Hourly check-in report with arrivals by hour on a festival day](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-check-in--hourly-report.png) *Event, Check-In, Hourly.* ## Or have it done for you Fai, your AI teammate, can check sales, update your event or change a ticket when you ask. Fai can build the festival from the template, create the ticket categories and releases, turn on a payment plan, add the camping and travel add-ons, switch on names, ID and resale, publish on a schedule, issue crew passes and report arrivals. She shows you the setup before she creates anything and asks you to approve each change. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Help me set up ticketing for our festival; ask about our days, ticket classes and price releases, installments, camping and travel, resale, crew and press passes and our on-sale date, then show me the proposed setup before changing anything ``` ## From your terminal Install the CLI from [our CLI page](https://www.ticketfairy.com/cli), sign in with `ticketfairy auth login`, and choose the brand you are working on with `ticketfairy brand use `. `ticketfairy brand list` and `ticketfairy event list` show the IDs the other commands use. Use the CLI to create each price release and add-on, publish the event and read arrivals. You set up categories, the payment plan, names and ID, resale, passes and pixels in the dashboard. ### Create the first weekend release. ``` ticketfairy ticket create --name "Weekend - First Release" --price 149 --max-inventory 2000 ``` ### Create the camping add-on. ``` ticketfairy addon create --name "Weekend Camping" --price 45 --quantity 800 ``` ### Publish the event. ``` ticketfairy event publish ``` ### Read arrivals during the festival. ``` ticketfairy checkin status --output json ``` ## Questions you might have **Should a weekend ticket be a separate ticket type or a category?** A category. Weekend, Saturday and Sunday are each a category, and the price releases inside each are the ticket types. Buyers see one clear choice per day and your reports still show every release. **Can buyers pay for a festival ticket in installments?** Yes, where the event takes card payments in a supported currency. You set the deposit, the number of payments and the last date, and when a buyer stops paying the order is canceled after the grace period you choose. **Is camping a ticket type or an add-on?** An add-on, sold beside the admission ticket in the same checkout with its own stock. Limit it to the ticket types it belongs with so a day-ticket buyer is not offered a weekend pitch. **How do I stop touts reselling festival tickets?** Require a name and ID on every ticket and switch resale on. A ticket that changes hands does so through your page at face value, it's offered to the waiting list first, and the old barcode stops working. **Do crew and artists need tickets?** No. Give them a multi-entry pass, which scans at the gate like a ticket and lets them in and out as many times a day as its pass type allows. **How do I spread out the demand for a big on-sale?** Schedule the publish time, split each class into releases that open on their own dates, sell to last year's buyers by invitation first and collect a waiting list for the people who miss out. ## 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. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly fee. No credit card required. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/festivals) - [Can you run a festival's marketing and production from one dashboard?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-festival-from-one-dashboard) - [Set up ticketing for a multi-day festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-a-multi-day-festival) - [How do you manage tickets for a multi-day event?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/manage-tickets-for-a-multi-day-event) - [Let buyers pay for tickets in installments](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-pay-for-tickets-in-instalments) - [Sell parking, camping and merchandise with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets) - [Issue reusable event passes to crew and artists](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-entry-passes-to-your-crew) - [How do you keep a high-demand on-sale running smoothly?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/keep-a-high-demand-on-sale-running-smoothly) - [Reward buyers who bring friends to your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/reward-buyers-for-referrals) - [Connect advertising pixels to your ticket sales](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/connect-meta-and-network-pixels) - [Run ticketing for a food or drink festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-food-or-drink-festival) - [Every Ticket Fairy guide](https://www.ticketfairy.com/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. [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) ## Sell tickets with Ticket Fairy Start free with unlimited events and no monthly fee, and choose a paid plan when you need more. - Set up your event in minutes - Free events are free - Fai, your AI teammate, is built in [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly fee. No credit card required. ## See it on a call Book a demo and we will show you how Ticket Fairy handles your kind of event. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/festivals) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working event organizers, and every new guide as it is published. We respect your privacy. 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