The production office on build day
The festival build starts in a week. The production office has spreadsheets from each department: bars, security, site crew, the stage managers for each stage, traders, medical, artist liaison, press and the hospitality team. Each has its own columns. Artist managers email lists of crew and guests for each act, often the night before. Traders want extra passes for weekend staff. Nobody is sure whether the lighting contractor's crew need backstage access or only the arena.
At the accreditation cabin, a queue forms of people whose names are "definitely on the list". Staff search several printed spreadsheets. Some get wristbands for the wrong zone. The artist liaison team is on the radio asking whether a band's guests have been added yet.
Why accreditation gets messy
Accreditation is a permissions problem disguised as a list. Each pass says who can go where, on which days, and who asked for it.
- Requests come from many departments and external companies in different formats.
- Zones (arena, backstage, production, camping areas, hospitality) and dates vary by role.
- Allocations per department or artist are agreed but not enforced, so numbers creep.
- Late changes arrive by email and phone, and the cabin's printouts do not update.
- Nobody can say, at a given moment, how many people are accredited for a zone.
When passes go wrong
The obvious cost is queues and frustration at the cabin during build and on the first day. The more serious cost is access control: people in zones they should not be in, which is a concern for your safety and security planning, and something the festival's own processes and advisers will want to be able to account for. Pass numbers that creep past allocations also affect catering, camping and welfare planning for crew.
It costs the production office its week, too. The people who should be solving site problems during build are instead retyping lists from bar operators and answering the radio about whether a name has been added.
An accreditation system with allocations and zones
- Pass types are set once: crew, contractor, artist, artist guest, trader, press, hospitality, guest, each with default zones and dates.
- Each department, contractor and artist has an allocation per pass type, and a named manager who can request within it.
- Managers submit names through a web form or by uploading a list, and can edit their own requests until a cut-off.
- Requests beyond an allocation go to the right person in your team for approval.
- Individuals receive a personal confirmation with a QR code, collection point and any documents they need to bring.
- At the cabin, staff scan or search the live record, check identity in line with your process, and issue the wristband or laminate for the right zones.
- Late changes made by managers appear at the cabin immediately, and reports show numbers by zone, day and department.
| Pass type | Default zones | Requested by | Allocation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage crew | Arena, backstage, production | Stage manager | Per stage |
| Bar staff | Arena, bar compounds, crew camping | Bar operator | Per contract |
| Artist guest | Arena, hospitality | Artist liaison | Per act |
| Trader staff | Arena, trader area | Trader | Per pitch |
What access each role should have, and how identity is checked, are decisions for your safety and security planning. The system enforces what you set; it does not set it.
Build week at the accreditation cabin
Departments submit names in the weeks before, within their allocations. The cabin opens with scanners and a laptop linked to the live record. Crew show their QR codes and walk away with the right wristband. When an artist manager adds two guests at the last minute, artist liaison approves them on a phone and they are ready at the cabin before the guests arrive. The production manager can see, at any time, how many people hold backstage access for each day.
Does your accreditation look like this?
- Accreditation lists come from departments in different spreadsheets.
- Queues form at the cabin while staff search printouts.
- Allocations per department or artist are agreed but not enforced.
- You cannot say how many people have access to a zone.
- Late changes reach the cabin by radio or not at all.