Publish Festival Lineup and Sell Passes with No Fees

Organizing multi-stage lineups with sub-schedules

When an attendee views a weekend schedule with dozens of artists playing across multiple areas, a single long list quickly becomes difficult to parse. You can organize these sets cleanly by creating sub-schedules for each physical location, such as Main Stage, Barn Stage, or Acoustic Tent.

Sub-schedules group the events inside one schedule, allowing visitors to filter by them with a single click. When festivalgoers load your festival schedule, they can view all stages running concurrently or isolate one stage to see its full afternoon and evening running order.

To build your stage lineup effectively:

1. Create your main schedule page for the festival.
2. Set up a sub-schedule for each physical stage or performance area under Edit Schedule.
3. Add each artist set as an individual event, assigning the start time, end time, artist description, and the matching stage sub-schedule.
4. Set the event visibility to Public so it shows immediately on your public calendar.

If you already run a festival website, you can embed the calendar on your own website using a snippet from the Embed dialog. The embedded schedule updates automatically whenever you change set times or stage assignments in your dashboard.

Creating a weekend pass that covers all stages

Festivalgoers rarely buy single tickets to individual afternoon sets; they buy single-day tickets or weekend festival passes. In Event Schedule, you sell weekend passes by setting up a pass ticket type that grants admission to every performance across the weekend.

Passes are available on the Pro plan, which costs $5 a month or $50 a year. The tidiest way to sell a weekend pass is to create an event specifically for pass sales, such as Weekend Passes, and set its coverage to include your festival events.

To configure your festival pass:

1. Open the pass event for editing and choose the Tickets tab.
2. Press Sell tickets.
3. Fill in the Price, enter the pass name in the Type field (for example, Weekend Pass), and leave Quantity blank for unlimited sales or enter a number to set a capacity limit.
4. Turn on "This is a pass or subscription (multi-use)" under the ticket type.
5. Under Subscription type, select Festival pass (each event once). This gives the holder one visit to each covered event and marks each event spent once scanned.
6. Under Covered events, choose All events in this schedule so the pass works across all stages and performances.
7. Save the event.

Unlike normal tickets where quantity resets per date, a pass has one shared stock pool across the whole run. Event Schedule fixes Max Per Order at 1 on any pass ticket, so each purchase generates a single redeemable unit with its own QR code. Attendees buying passes for others place a separate order for each person.

Processing payments with zero platform fees

Event Schedule charges zero platform fees or per-ticket fees on any plan. When you sell a weekend pass, no percentage cut is deducted by the platform. You connect your own payment processor directly to your account, so ticket funds settle straight to you.

To connect a gateway, go to Admin Panel → Settings → Payment Methods and open the row for your processor. You can connect Stripe, PayPal, Payfast (for South African rand), or Razorpay (for Indian rupees). The table below outlines how these payment methods work:

To evaluate how broker commissions compare to flat software fees, you can calculate your ticketing costs before setting your ticket prices.

How festivalgoers use the schedule on mobile

Festivalgoers frequently check stage times on their phones throughout the day. They need quick access to stage lineups without downloading native apps or registering for accounts.

Any schedule page functions directly in mobile web browsers. Visitors can open your lineup, switch between stages by grouping stages with sub-schedules, and check running orders immediately. For guests who want individual sets on their own devices, each performance page features an Add to Calendar button for Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Microsoft Outlook.

Attendees can also subscribe to your festival's live iCal feed. A subscribed calendar re-reads the feed on its own, so when set times change, the updates sync directly to attendees' calendar apps without requiring manual adjustments. To copy this link for your audience, choose Edit Schedule, open the Integrations tab, and find the Calendar text and feeds row.

Managing entry at the festival gates

When gates open, staff can handle check-in using any phone with a camera. Every ticket and pass confirmation email includes a unique QR code.

At the gate, staff open Scan Ticket on the Sales page from a phone browser. Each ticket admits once, and a second scan on an already-scanned code warns that the ticket has already entered. On the Pro plan, you can also view the live check-in dashboard to monitor arrivals across each ticket and pass tier.

To see how other multi-act events set up their schedules, check the guide for music festival organizers.

Questions people ask

Can I set early-bird pricing for festival passes?

Yes. You can create separate ticket types for your pass, such as Early Bird Pass and General Pass. Each ticket type lets you set a date sales open and a date sales close, so the early-bird option stops selling automatically on your cutoff date.

Can a festival pass cover specific stages only?

Yes. Under Covered events, you can select "All events in a sub-schedule" or hand-pick "Specific events" rather than covering the whole schedule. This lets you offer stage-specific tickets or VIP area access.

What equipment do gate staff need to scan passes?

Staff only need a smartphone with a camera and web browser. They open Scan Ticket on the Sales page and scan QR codes directly off attendees' mobile screens or printed passes.

Do attendees need an account to view stage times or add sets to their calendar?

No. Guests can browse stage schedules, filter by sub-schedule, and subscribe to calendar feeds without creating an account or logging in.