What is a Festival Programme?

A festival programme (US: program, also called the schedule or stage times) is the schedule showing which acts, talks or activities take place on each stage or space, on which day and at what time, used by the audience, artists and staff. It is built from the line-up once every act is confirmed.

How a festival programme is built

The programme comes together in stages:

  1. Line-up confirmed: the programming team books every act and announces the line-up.
  2. Stages and days: acts are placed on stages and days, balancing genres and audience flow.
  3. Set times: each act gets a start and finish time, with changeovers in between, finishing before curfew.
  4. Clash checks: organisers check that popular acts with the same audience don't play at the same time.
  5. Publish: stage times go out on the app, website, printed guide and signs on site.

Moving acts between stages and slots is much easier with a visual planner, which is why many festivals build their programme in the Crescat Scheduler.

Festival programme vs line-up

The line-up is the list of acts playing, usually announced months before the festival. The programme adds where and when each act plays. Many festivals release the line-up first and the stage times only a few weeks before. Both are usually shared on the festival app as well as the website.

Example programme for one stage

  • 13:00–13:40 Opening act
  • 14:10–14:55 Second act
  • 15:30–16:20 Third act
  • 17:00–18:00 Main support
  • 18:45–20:00 Special guest
  • 21:00–22:30 Headliner

Frequently asked questions

When are festival stage times released?

Most festivals publish stage times one to four weeks before the event, once every act has confirmed its slot. Some hold them back until the week of the festival to keep ticket sales focused on the line-up.

What is a clash at a festival?

A clash is when two acts a person wants to see play at the same time on different stages. Organisers try to limit clashes between acts with a similar audience, but some are unavoidable with several stages running.

Does the festival programme include production times?

The public programme shows only performances and activities. The production team works from an internal version that adds load-ins, line checks, changeovers and crew calls.

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