What is a Festival Rider?

A festival rider is a version of an artist's rider adapted to festival conditions, scaling back technical, backline and hospitality requests to fit shared stages, short changeovers and festival facilities. Many acts send a separate festival rider alongside their main tour rider.

How a festival rider works

A festival rider is agreed in a few steps:

  1. Sent with the contract: the act's agent attaches the festival rider when the booking is confirmed.
  2. Reviewed: the festival's production and artist teams check it against the stage specification and site facilities.
  3. Negotiated: items the festival can't supply are agreed or swapped during the advance.
  4. Delivered: on the day, crews and the artist liaison provide what was agreed.

With dozens of acts each sending riders, keeping track of what was agreed is easier when every request sits with the act's advance in Crescat.

Festival rider vs tour rider

A tour rider assumes the act has the venue to itself, with a full sound check and its own production. A festival rider accepts shared stages, a line check instead of a sound check, shared backline and portable dressing rooms, and usually asks for less hospitality.

What a festival rider usually includes

  • A reduced technical rider using the festival's PA and lighting
  • Backline the act needs supplied, and what they bring themselves
  • A stage plot and input list for the changeover
  • A simpler hospitality rider: drinks, food and towels
  • Dressing room or cabin, parking and guest list numbers

Frequently asked questions

Do festivals have to meet an artist's full rider?

No. Riders are usually part of the contract, but festivals negotiate what they can provide before signing. Most acts accept that festival conditions differ and send a reduced festival rider for this reason.

Do artists get a sound check at festivals?

Usually not a full one. Most acts get a line check during the changeover. Headliners sometimes sound check early in the morning before the gates open.

Who reviews a festival rider?

The stage production manager reviews the technical parts, and the artist liaison or hospitality team reviews the hospitality parts. Anything unclear goes back to the act's tour manager or agent.

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