Sunday night, unloading the van
The van comes back from the festival late on Sunday. There are empty kegs, some half-full ones, a cask nobody tapped, two jockey boxes, a bar banner, fewer glasses than went out and a box of T-shirts. The float is in an envelope. The card reader has its own report. Monday morning, somebody tries to work out what was sold, what was poured as samples and whether the event made any money.
For festivals where the organiser buys the beer, there is a different muddle: what was delivered, what was returned unused and what they will actually pay for.
Why festival stock goes missing
Events are run by a few people under pressure, away from the brewery. The loading is done from memory. During the event, sales go through a card reader that knows products but not kegs. Samples and staff drinks are not counted. Kit is lent between events and nobody has a list of it. By Monday, details have gone.
- Loading lists are not written down.
- Kegs and casks sent out are not recorded by number.
- Card reader sales do not map to kegs or beers.
- Samples and giveaways are not counted.
- Bar kit and merchandise have no inventory.
What the muddle costs
Beer and containers that do not come back or come back unrecorded. Kit that gets lost between events. Merchandise that seems to disappear. And the big question, whether a festival was worth it once you count beer, staff time, pitch fee and travel, is never answered properly, so you keep attending events that may not pay.
An event record from loading to unloading
- Each event is set up with its type: your own bar, beer supplied to an organiser, or a mix.
- A loading list is prepared: beers and containers by number where tracked, bar kit, glassware, merchandise and float. Items are ticked or scanned as they go on the van.
- During the event, sales come from your card reader, Square or SumUp for example, mapped to beers and pour sizes. Samples get a quick button on the same device.
- For organiser festivals, delivered containers are recorded against the organiser.
- At return, everything is scanned or ticked back in, with remaining volumes noted for part-used containers.
- The event summary shows sales, beer used, samples, containers out and back, kit missing and the costs you enter, giving a view of whether the event paid.
| Item | Out | Back | Difference shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kegs and casks | By number or count | By number or count | Missing containers |
| Beer volume | Full containers | Remaining volume | Beer used |
| Bar kit | Listed | Ticked back | Missing kit |
| Merchandise | Counted | Counted | Sold or missing |
| Cash and card | Float | Takings | Sales |
After the festival
Monday's unpacking is a short check against the list. Containers and kit that did not come back are known, while the organiser still remembers the weekend. Stock and batch records update. And after a season you can compare events side by side and decide which ones to go back to.
Kit stops wandering. The jockey boxes, gazebo, banners and glass racks each have a line on the list, so a missing item is chased while the organiser's lost property is still in a pile, and the next event is not held up by a hunt for the second jockey box.
Does this sound like your festival season?
- Loading for events is done from memory.
- Kegs and kit go missing after festivals.
- Card reader sales do not tie to beer used.
- Samples are poured without being counted.
- You are not sure which festivals are worth attending.