<< Back to articles


Scheduling Tools for Festivals.

Andy Robertson

Before the advent of smart phones and relatively cheap desktop computing most festivals were run by organisers using a mixture of diaries, pen and paper or if they were lucky a Filofax. Armed with these and a landline phone festival organisers spent most of their time scribbling down dates, numbers and associated information. Times have changed and now festival organisers can get access to numerous time saving online tools. 


The most basic form of scheduling relies on an easy to use, edit and share calendar and many organisers still prefer to use a simple mobile device calendar to log and schedule every aspect of their festival logistics. However, with so many facets to even a moderately sized festival there is no way information can be accurately logged and shared without using something a little more sophisticated. 

Online Calendars.
 
There are a number of easy-to-use free tools available and organisers can look no further than Google calendar that lets users schedule meetings and events and get reminders about upcoming activities. Scheduled events on multiple devices can be shared with others and the application links well to other Google tools for conferencing and document sharing with Google docs for example. However, if any organiser is looking to add significant users and data storage Google start charging. It's quite basic and does have limitations and so may only suit smaller festivals or those migrating to online tools for the first time. 

Specific Project Planning and Scheduling Apps. 
There has been a growth in recent years of software applications that have excellent scheduling and logistics planning capabilities. One of the most popular is Trello which is primarily for project management but can easily be adapted to festival logistics planning. It’s free to start but may have limitations for some organisers who need more functionality.  Similar to Trello is the offering from Asana who offer a scheduling and planning app that is more focussed on project management but can be used by festival organisers to manage their logistics, as with Trello, Asana offer a basic limited functionality version free. For the festival organiser with more demanding logistics planning and scheduling requirements most organisers use online software that caters specifically for event management. At the forefront of those available is Festival Pro that has been built with festival planning and management logistics in mind. Festival Pro allows for easy secure access and sharing of key documents along with dynamic scheduling and timings that are perfect for managing shows, artist sets and stages for example.

However a festival organiser is scheduling and planning there is plenty of choice of online tools available that can fit their budgetary requirements and enable additional functionality as their festival grows in size over time. 

For organisers planning their festivals using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

Andy Robertson
Share To:



<< Back to articles

Contact us


Get in touch to discuss your requirements.

US: +1 424 485 0220 (USA)

UK: +44 207 060 2666 (United Kingdom)

AU: +61 (2) 8357 0793 (Australia)

NZ: +64 (0)9887 8005 (New Zealand)


Or use our contact form here.