Your festival website has more than one opening day
Start with early-bird tickets and sign-ups, then use Plot to introduce alternate homepages, lineups, schedules and visitor tools as your festival takes shape.
A festival website has a different job at every stage of the year. At first, you might just need to announce the dates, sell early-bird tickets and collect sign-ups. By event weekend, people need a full programme, stage times, maps and practical information they can find quickly on their phone.
Plot is built to support that progression. You can start with what’s ready, then bring in more content and features as the festival takes shape.
Start with early birds and sign-ups
You don’t need a finished lineup to give people a reason to visit. An early homepage can introduce the festival, set the mood and put the next edition’s dates front and centre.
Give returning fans a clear route to early-bird tickets, with a prominent link and the key details of the release. For visitors who aren’t ready to book, Plot’s forms and mailing list sign-ups give them a way to hear about the next announcement.
Holding pages and countdown clocks can help you prepare for a reveal, while announcement banners draw attention to a ticket release or an upcoming on-sale. At this stage, keep the page focused on the next thing you want people to do.
Change the homepage as the story develops
The page you need for an early-bird launch is unlikely to be the one you want for a lineup announcement or the week before gates open.
Plot’s site phases and alternate homepages let you prepare for those different moments. Give the first announcement a simple introduction, make room for the lineup when it lands, then bring visitor information forward as the event approaches.
The visual editor makes it easier to adjust content and layouts as priorities change. You can build on the site you already have, keeping its character while changing what gets the most attention.
Bring in more features when you need them
There’s no need to have every artist profile, food trader and travel detail ready on day one. Start with the essentials and add depth as decisions are confirmed.
Plot gives you dedicated places for artists, stages, venues, food and drink, stories and visitor information. As the programme grows, you can introduce those sections and make them part of the journey through your site.
That lets your team work in stages too: launch the first ticket release, build out the lineup, then turn to the details that help people plan their visit. You don’t have to solve the whole festival website before making a start.
Make room for the complicated bits
Once you’re programming several stages over several days, a lineup poster can only tell part of the story. People need to know who’s playing where, which sets overlap and how to fit their favourites into the day.
Plot’s schedule calendars organise the programme by day, stage, room and performance time. Artist profiles connect the names to more information, while personal favourites let visitors save artists and events, then share or export their plan. Offline schedule support helps keep timings useful when signal is limited.
Interactive maps add another layer, with custom artwork, location categories and editable pins. Alongside travel, accessibility and opening information, these tools help turn an announcement site into something people can use throughout the weekend.
Put event-day information within reach
As the festival gets closer, change the homepage to match the questions people are asking. Give schedules, maps, arrival details and FAQs clear routes from the front page.
Use alerts and announcements to highlight important updates. Keep the essential information easy to find, even for someone opening the site for the first time while travelling to the event.
Keep the connection after the last set
Afterwards, the site has another role to play. Share photographs and stories, collect feedback through forms and invite people to sign up for news of the next edition.
When you’re ready for the next early-bird release, you already have a home for it. Plot gives you a platform that can grow with the festival, from a first announcement to a detailed event guide and back again.