If you’re putting on a festival — even a small one — and you’ve never run an audio brief before, this is the timeline we wish every event organiser worked to. None of it is unique to us; it’s just the order things actually need to happen so that load-in day isn’t a panic.
Whether your festival is 500 people in a field or 10,000 across multiple stages, the steps are roughly the same. Smaller events compress the timeline, larger ones stretch it. Use this as a baseline and adapt to your scale.
12 weeks out: site visit, scope, contract
This is when the audio side of the festival should start getting locked in. By now you should know:
- Festival date and footprint
- Number of stages
- Headline acts (or at least which slots are filled)
- Approximate audience numbers per stage
- Site location and any access constraints
- Your overall event manager / production manager
What we (or any decent audio supplier) need from you at this stage:
- A site visit. We come to the venue, walk the stages, look at access, check power. Free, no obligation, but absolutely essential for any outdoor festival in an unfamiliar venue.
- Stage scope. Even rough numbers — “main stage 2,000-cap, second stage 500, dance tent 800”. We can spec from this.
- Contract / deposit terms agreed. This is the point at which we hold dates, kit and crew exclusively for you.
What you should expect from us:
- Initial spec proposal
- Quote with line-by-line breakdown
- Insurance and PAT documentation
- Method statement template
8 weeks out: stage plan, channel list, rider review
Now things get specific. By 8 weeks out, your headline acts should have submitted technical riders. These are documents from each band’s production manager listing exactly what they need — number of microphones, console preferences, monitor configuration, RF requirements, any specialist kit.
What we need from you:
- Final stage plan for each stage — where the band, drum riser, monitor desk, FOH desk, screens, crowd barrier all sit.
- All band riders — even rough drafts. We’ll review them, flag conflicts, and tell you what’s standard vs what’s an upcharge.
- Lighting / video supplier details — so we can coordinate cabling, power, and shared infrastructure.
What we’ll do:
- Detailed input lists for each act
- Stage patch sheets
- Monitor mix breakdown
- RF coordination plan if there are 8+ wireless channels
- Updated quote reflecting any rider items
Common pitfall: event organisers think the rider is for the band’s benefit only. It’s not — it’s the contract for what the venue/promoter (you) provides. Read every rider in full, and if something’s unrealistic for your budget, push back early. By 8 weeks out, you can still negotiate. By 2 weeks out, you can’t.
4 weeks out: power plan, RAMS, schedule
This is the operational planning phase. Everyone now knows what they’re doing on the day; this is where we make sure they can actually do it.
What we need from you:
- Power plan. What’s coming from mains, what’s coming from generators, where the distribution is, who’s the duty electrician. We’ll feed you our power requirement (in kW per stage) so you can size generators correctly.
- Site schedule. Hour-by-hour load-in, sound check slots, doors open, set times, changeovers, get-out.
- RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statement) — you need to provide your overarching event RAMS, we provide ours for the audio scope.
- Crew list — who’s allowed in production area, when, with which passes.
What we’ll do:
- Submit our crew list with names, roles, and arrival times
- Submit equipment manifest (for venues that require it)
- Confirm transport and overnight accommodation if needed
- Final RF frequency coordination — especially if you’ve got multiple bands with their own RF
Common pitfall: under-spec’d power. The single most common reason a festival stage goes silent is the generator running at 95% capacity and tripping on a transient. We’ll tell you what we need; trust the number, don’t try to economise on the gen.
2 weeks out: final input list, crew, transport
The last sprint. By now everything should be fixed; this is the dotting-i’s, crossing-t’s phase.
What we need from you:
- Confirmed set times — final, signed off by all artists.
- Final input list — any last-minute changes from the bands.
- Stage manager appointed for each stage (yours or theirs).
- Production office location confirmed.
- Crew catering plan — yes, this matters. Tired, hungry crew make mistakes.
What we’ll do:
- Lock in all crew bookings
- Confirm transport schedule (lorries, vans, driver hours)
- Pre-flight all kit in our warehouse — every cable, every mic, every console firmware
- Final brief to our crew
Common pitfall: forgetting that festival crew work very long days. A 12-hour load-in plus 14-hour show day plus 6-hour load-out is not unusual. Your timeline needs to account for driver hours, rest breaks, and contingency for delays — especially if access is tight.
Day-of: load-in, line check, sound check, show
This is the day everything you’ve planned has to actually happen. The hour-by-hour rhythm:
Load-in (typically 5–10 hours before doors)
- Trucks arrive, kit is unloaded in patch order
- PA is built and flown / stacked
- Console and stage cabling run
- Power-up and basic checks
Line check (2–4 hours before doors)
- Every input, every microphone, every channel tested
- Stage monitors confirmed
- RF channels scanned and tested
- Recording / streaming feeds confirmed
Sound checks (1–3 hours before doors)
- Each band gets a slot in their order — usually headliner first, then down the bill
- Each band confirms levels, monitor mix, in-ear feeds
- We balance the FOH mix
Doors and show
- Crew on stand-by at FOH and monitor positions throughout
- Quick changeovers between bands (typically 15–30 minutes)
- Stage tech available for any in-show issues
Get-out (often into the small hours)
- De-rig in reverse order
- Kit packed, manifest checked
- Site cleared, often by sunrise
What we need from you on the day:
- One named contact on radio, in person, throughout
- Decision-making authority for last-minute changes
- Access to all areas of the site
- Hot drinks and crew meal at scheduled break
After the event: post-event audit
Often skipped, but the smart festival organisers do this. Within a week of the event:
- 30-minute call to review what worked and what didn’t
- Note any kit damage and how it happened
- Note any wins — engineers who delivered, kit choices that paid off
- Note any things to change for next year — power, access, monitor positions
Save the notes somewhere you’ll find them again 11 months from now. Year-on-year improvement on festivals comes from honest debriefs, nothing else.
Common pitfalls (the ones that genuinely sink festivals)
- RF planning left too late. Eight wireless mics in the same field need 8 different frequencies. Twenty wireless mics need a coordinator. Plan for it 8 weeks out, not on the day.
- Underestimated power. As above — get our number, trust it, size the gen up not down.
- No weather contingency. A line array is essentially a sail. If it gets too windy, it has to come down. Have a wet-weather plan.
- No comms between disciplines. Audio, lighting, video, staging and power need to talk to each other from week 12 onwards. A weekly production call is the cheapest insurance you’ll buy.
- Ignoring rider items because “we’ll sort it on the day”. You won’t. Sort it 4 weeks out.
Your job vs ours
To save you re-reading: here’s the split.
Your responsibility (event organiser):
- Site, footprint, stages, audience capacity
- Bookings (acts, contracts, rider negotiation)
- Power infrastructure (mains/gen)
- Site safety and licences
- Crew passes, schedule, catering
- Overall production manager / point of contact
Our responsibility (audio supplier):
- All audio kit, including spares
- Specification per stage and per act
- Crew (FOH, monitors, stage techs, RF coordinator)
- RF planning and coordination
- Audio-specific RAMS
- Setup, operation, de-rig
- Recording / streaming feeds if scoped
If you’re new to this, we’ll guide you through the bits on your side too. We’ve been doing it long enough that the patterns are familiar.
Useful next reads
- How much does PA hire cost? 8 things that actually affect the price
- What size PA do I need? A guide by audience size
Ready to talk?
Planning a festival and want to start the conversation? Send us the basics — date, site, stages, headliners — and we’ll come back within one working day to set up a site visit.