Most festivals don’t sell steadily. A rush when tickets go on sale, a long quiet middle, then a scramble in the last weeks. Tiered pricing, starting with early bird tickets, evens that out: fans get a reason to buy now, and you get money in early, when deposits and artist fees fall due. Here is how to set your tiers up.
Why tiers work
- Early money. Sales months before the gates open help pay for the stage, the artists and the site long before the weekend.
- A reason to buy today. Every tier that ends is a price rise fans can see coming. “Tier 1 ends on Friday” sells more tickets than “tickets available”.
- An early read on demand. How fast each tier sells tells you whether to add capacity, spend more on marketing, or hold your nerve.
How many tiers
Three or four works for most festivals:
- Early bird: your lowest price, for your most loyal fans.
- Tier 1 and Tier 2: the bulk of your sales.
- Final release: the highest price, for the last tickets and the late deciders.
More tiers mean smaller steps and more moments to announce, but also more to manage and explain. Fewer tiers make each step bigger.
How big each tier should be
Keep the early bird small enough to sell out quickly. A sold-out tier is news: it is your first announcement, and it tells everyone who waited that prices only go up from here. Put most of your capacity in the middle tiers, and keep a final release for the end.
Here is a worked example for a 5,000-capacity festival:
| Tier | Tickets | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Early bird | 500 | €45 |
| Tier 1 | 1,500 | €55 |
| Tier 2 | 2,000 | €65 |
| Final release | 1,000 | €75 |
Sold out, that is €310,000 in ticket sales, with the average ticket at €62.
How far apart to price
Make each step big enough to matter and small enough not to put people off. In the example above, each tier is €10 more than the last: enough to make “buy before Friday” worth listening to, without making a later ticket feel like a penalty. Look at your own audience and your final price, and work back from there.
When to move on: a sell-out or a date
A tier can end in two ways:
- When it sells out. Simple and honest: once the allocation is gone, the next tier is the price.
- On a date. Useful to create a deadline, for example the day you announce your headliner.
Many festivals use both: a tier ends on its date, or earlier if it sells out first.
With Eventworks, you set up each tier as its own ticket type with its own number of tickets, and schedule each on-sale to the minute. Fans who miss a tier can join the waiting list, so you have everyone ready for the next release.
Avoid the flat middle
The weeks between the early bird and the final release are where festivals stall. Plan something for every tier change:
- Line-up news: time each announcement with a tier ending, so the news and the deadline land together.
- Email your attendees: past and current ticket holders are the fans most likely to buy again. Email them straight from the dashboard when a tier is about to end.
- Promoters: give each promoter their own link, with commission per event or ticket type, and see who is selling.
- Codes: coupons for partners, sponsors and early fans.
- Ads that measure: add your Meta pixel and Google Tag Manager to your shop, so you can see which campaigns sell tickets.
Other ticket types worth adding
- Day tickets alongside the full weekend, for fans who can only make one day.
- Group tickets for friends buying together.
- VIP with its own entrance, viewing area or extras.
- Add-ons at checkout: camping, parking, merch or a festival cup.
Who pays the fee on an early bird?
Your early bird price is your headline number, so think about how it reads. With Eventworks there is one fee, 8% of each paid ticket with every card charge, bank fee and VAT included, and you choose who pays it: pass it to fans, absorb it or split it. Absorbing it on the early bird keeps that headline price clean. We explain the three options in Booking fees: who should pay, fans or you?
Watch sales as they happen
The live dashboard shows sales for every ticket type as they happen, and reports break sales down by ticket type and reseller. If a tier sells out in hours, you know you have room to move prices up. If it stalls, you know it is time for your next announcement.
See how festivals and club nights run on Eventworks on our festivals and nightlife page, or book a demo and we’ll set up your tiers with you.
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