The Music Festival Green Room.

Every music festival will have a green room or at least a variation of one located backstage. What is the purpose of the green room and how can festival organisers and venue mangers organise their green room to provide a stress-free transition to the stage for performance artists. 

There are numerous stories about the origins of the green room but Wikipedia suggests that it originated as early as 1599 when London's Blackfriars Theatre included a room behind the scenes, where the actors waited to go on stage, it was painted green, and was called "the green room". The green room was therefore considered the transition room on the way to the stage.

Purpose. 
In the modern era any festival or venue will have a green room and is usually separated from dressing rooms. The dressing room is used by artists about to appear on stage and is a private area where they can prepare immediately before performing. The green room will usually be larger space with open access to most artists irrespective of where they are in the running order. It's a chill out space that is usually quiet where artists can relax and socialise with each other. It's also a place to grab something to eat or drink whilst they make preparations for their performance.

Set up.
The size and set up of any green room should reflect the size of the event and number of artists performing. A large music festival with hundreds of artists booked will probably have to create a sizable green room space. A green room should contain tables and chairs and plenty of relaxing sofas plus a ready supply of food and drink. The catering for a green room is not the same as the provision of meals which are usually served elsewhere. Green room food and beverage is more likely to be light snacks and a limited range of drinks.

Management. 
For a busy festival with hundreds of artists it would be prudent to specify when the green room is open for access. It is not unusual to limit access to artists performing that day or opening access up to 4 hours prior to stage time for example. Management of access can be done by using an access accreditation system organised well in advance. The artist management team responsible for organising artist’s advances should coordinate with the green room manager to ensure the room is stocked with frequently requested items. However, as the green room may be accessed by numerous artists at the same time it will be easier to limit advance requests to dressing rooms only.

A well organised green room can help to make artists feel welcome and relaxed which will lead to good live performances. The team responsible for managing the green room should ensure that a good friendly service is provided and that they fully understand the artist's running order and anticipate or cater for any special requests. 

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event 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, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by cottonbro via pexels

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