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Transport Logistics for Music Festivals.

Andy Robertson

Given that the bulk of music festivals take place in remote locations with limited infrastructure a key element of the festival planning process is to have robust policies and procedures for transport to and from the festival site. What are the key aspects for consideration when planning transport logistics for a music festival? 


A good transport logistics plan should cover every aspect of transport and access to the festival site including contractors, artists, vendors, volunteers and of course event goers. Contractors and vendors will need to stick to pre-determined delivery and pick up schedules to avoid congestion on-site and on routes to and from the festival site. Such plans should be discussed and agreed with local authorities and the police who will be responsible for traffic management in the surrounding area. Plans should also include contingencies to allow for inclement weather and missed time slots allocated to delivery transport. If there is heavy rain what is the plan for preventing HGV delivery vehicles getting stuck on-site?

The music festival should have a public policy regarding transport along with its environmental sustainability stance. The public that intends to travel to a music festival should have access to transport logistics information and this is normally posted on their website in a ‘Festival Info’ section for example. All visitors are encouraged to minimise their carbon footprint and use public transport where possible. The conundrum faced by many is the remote location of many festival sites and visitors will need to be advised of the closest train and bus stations. For larger festivals consider laying on shuttle buses from local stations to the festival site. If these shuttle buses are arranged by the festival organisers, they can opt for EV, Hydrogen or Hybrid powered buses. 

Where a festival uses hundreds of volunteers perhaps muster them at a local town and shuttle them to the site using the organiser's arranged environmentally friendly buses. For event goers that insist on using private cars, sharing is encouraged and consider refusing parking to cars carrying less than four people. Notwithstanding that parking can be very limited at many music festival sites. For visitors using their own EV’s it may be possible to supply on-site charging using hydrogen generators.

For artists travelling form local accommodation it makes sense to insist they use the festival's own fleet of EV’s for example, however, organisers should perhaps encourage artists to stay on-site in pre-arranged accommodation. In some cases an artist’s rider may insist that they provide their own transport. On a final note, organisers should always make a provision for accessibility requirements for disabled people and wheelchair users on-site with reserved parking and removal of passenger restrictions for example.

For any event organiser planning their music festival in 2021 using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their transport and festival logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors guestlists and ticketing. 

Image by alicianess from Pixabay

Andy Robertson
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