How far in advance should I start a festival?

For a small festival, count on six to twelve months of preparation, mainly because of the permit and the programming. For larger or higher-risk events you start even earlier. The permit application is usually the bottleneck, so you plan around it.

What is the first step in organising a festival?

First make your concept, date, venue and capacity concrete. Those four determine almost everything after them: the permit, the safety plan, the budget and how much crew you need. Only once that foundation is in place do you start applying and booking.

Which permits do I need for a festival?

Almost always an event permit from the municipality, and, depending on your festival, additional items such as a noise exemption and a bar licence or exemption for alcohol. Exactly what is required varies by municipality, so check that early with your own municipality.

Can you organise a festival on your own?

You can start on your own, but running a festival is not a one-person job. You need a team and volunteers for the build-up, the day itself and the breakdown. A system that keeps the tasks, the roster and the running order in one place for everyone makes a huge difference.

How much does it cost to organise a festival?

That varies widely and depends on venue, programme and scale. More important than an average is a balanced budget in which your income and costs are set realistically against each other, with a contingency line. The guide on the festival budget helps you get started.

Organising a festival: the step-by-step plan (2026)

Step 1: idea, date and feasibility

Before you commit to anything, make the idea concrete. What kind of festival do you want to be, for whom, and how big? A one-day festival for 500 visitors calls for a completely different approach than a multi-day event.

At this stage, set the main parameters:

A concept and a rough programme that fit your audience.
A date and a venue, with a backup date in reserve.
A first estimate of your capacity, because that determines almost everything after it: permit, safety, budget and crew.

Record the big decisions with the date and the reason behind them. In October you don't want to be reopening the discussion you already had in March.

Step 2: permit and safety, start this early

This is the step that takes the most lead time, so start it early. Most festivals need an event permit from the municipality, and that application often calls for a complete dossier.

The two core documents:

An event permit: check well in advance what your municipality requires and how long processing takes. Read the guide on applying for the event permit.
A safety plan: in practice mandatory for many events, with a risk assessment, an evacuation plan and emergency routes. Read the guide on the safety plan.

Count on a permit application for a somewhat larger event having to be submitted months before the date. Too late really is too late.

Step 3: the budget, know what it costs

A festival stands or falls with its budget. Set the income side (ticket sales, subsidy, sponsorship, food and drink) against the cost side (venue, technology, programme, security, medical care, permit fees, marketing) early on, and keep a contingency line.

Two things beginning organisers often forget: the payment for music rights and the difference between what is already committed and what you have already spent.

Build your budget with the guide on the festival budget.
Set money aside in good time for Buma/Stemra and Sena, the music rights you pay on your festival.

In festival.productions the budget updates in real time: a signed quote becomes committed budget, and the Buma reservation calculates itself along the way.

Step 4: programme, line-up and timetable

Now for the fun part: the line-up. Approach artists, lock in bookings and fees, and build the block schedule per stage. Keep riders, soundchecks and changeovers in mind, because they help shape how your day runs.

The public schedule (the timetable) and the internal running order are two different things: the timetable is what your audience sees, the running order is what the organisation does.

Step 5: medical care, first aid and emergency response

On your site, medical care needs to be in order. How much first aid and what medical level you need depends on a risk profile: visitor numbers, type of audience, alcohol and drugs, and the weather.

Determine your provision with the guide on first aid and event medical care, based on the VNEZ field standard.

Medical care and safety belong together and come back together in your safety plan and your permit application.

Step 6: crew and volunteers

A festival runs on people. Recruit your crew and volunteers, assign them to teams, build rosters and make sure everyone knows where and when they need to be. Don't forget catering and briefings for your own people.

A good roster gives away its own gaps: at a glance you can see where a bar or first-aid slot is still open before it becomes a problem on the day itself.

Step 7: the day itself, the running order

Everything comes together in the running order: the whole day minute by minute, with a time, an action and a responsible person on every line. From load-in and soundcheck to doors open, headliner and breakdown.

Build it with the guide on creating a running order.

The best running order moves with you: if the headliner shifts back half an hour, the rest shifts along, and everyone is looking at the same current version on their phone.

Step 8: afterwards, evaluate and archive

When the site is empty, you're not done yet. Settle up with suppliers, evaluate what worked and what didn't, and record the figures and the lessons. Edition two then starts not from zero, but from everything you already knew last year.

That is exactly why festival.productions is one system instead of scattered spreadsheets: everything you enter is your starting point next year.