After the last encore fades and the festival grounds empty, one of the most important tasks begins behind the scenes – the postmortem and root-cause analysis. Every successful festival, whether a boutique community event or a massive international spectacle, relies on continuous learning. By systematically reviewing what happened (good and bad), festival organizers can make the next edition better. This process isn’t about pointing fingers or dwelling on failures; it’s about gathering actionable facts and ensuring that each lesson learned leads to improvement. For large-scale festivals in particular, where the stakes are high and thousands of attendees are counting on a great experience, a thorough postmortem is absolutely vital.
Gather Facts, Not Feelings (Within 72 Hours)
Begin your postmortem as soon as possible – ideally within 72 hours after the festival ends – while details are still fresh in everyone’s mind. At large festivals, so much happens so fast; waiting too long can mean losing key information. Start by gathering facts and data, not opinions or blame. This means collecting hard evidence of what occurred: timeline of events, incident reports, attendance and ticket scan data, sales figures, social media feedback, survey responses from attendees, and notes from team debriefs.
By focusing on facts, festival organisers avoid the trap of emotional reactions (“the sound was terrible!”) and instead zero in on specifics (“Speaker Tower B lost power for 5 minutes during the headline set”). Encourage team members to describe issues concretely: when, where, how often, and what impact they had. For example, instead of saying “the entry was a disaster,” pin it down: “Gate 2 had 30-minute queues on Friday 3–5 PM due to ticket scanner outages.” Concrete details point to concrete solutions (in this case, perhaps adding backup scanners or better Wi-Fi).
It’s equally important to run a “blameless” postmortem culture – make it clear that the goal is to learn, not to punish. Team members and contractors should feel safe candidly reporting problems they saw or mistakes that happened. Acknowledge that festivals are complex and things will go wrong; what matters is figuring out why. By doing this review promptly (within 2–3 days), you capture honest input before memories fade or people move on to other projects. And don’t forget the positives: document what worked really well, too. Perhaps your new stage arrangement was a hit or the cashless payment system dramatically cut bar lines – these wins should be noted so you can repeat and build on them next time.
Real-world example: After a major festival in California, the production team sat down the Monday after closing to review every incident from the weekend. They brought in data from their ticketing platform (scanning stats, peak entry times) and customer feedback from a post-event survey. By focusing on evidence – like exact entry wait times, power outage logs, and vendor sales numbers – they sidestepped finger-pointing and got a clear picture of what actually happened. This quick, fact-based approach set the foundation for the improvements to come.
Rank Issues by Severity, Frequency, and Cost
Once you’ve gathered a list of all the issues and observations, the next step is to prioritise them. Not all problems are created equal. A smart festival postmortem will rank findings by severity, frequency, and cost/impact:
- Severity: How serious was the issue? Did it impact safety or attendees’ health? Did it significantly disrupt the festival experience or schedule? Severe issues (e.g. a medical emergency response delay, a stage collapse, a major sound failure on the main stage) are ones that could have caused harm or really hurt the festival’s reputation. These demand urgent attention.
- Frequency: How often did the issue occur, or how many people did it affect? An inconvenience that happened repeatedly – say hundreds of attendees experienced long waits at water refill stations all weekend – might deserve more focus than a one-off odd glitch. Frequent, widespread problems can erode overall attendee satisfaction even if they seem minor individually.
- Cost or Impact: This can be financial cost or impact on goodwill. Did the issue cost the festival money (equipment damage, refunds, fines)? Did it generate bad press or social media outrage? A costly issue in terms of money or PR impact needs addressing to protect the festival’s bottom line and brand.
Using these criteria, you can create an issue matrix. For example, list each issue and assign it a high/medium/low rating for severity, frequency, and cost. A problem that checks “high” in all three (for instance, “Insufficient medical staff on Saturday night” might be high severity and high impact if responders were overwhelmed, and if it happened more than once it’s high frequency) should be at the top of your fix list. On the other hand, something that was low severity and happened just to a small group (maybe “One vendor’s card reader failed for an hour”) might rank lower.
This ranking helps the festival team focus on the most critical improvements first. In a large-scale festival, resources are limited and you can’t necessarily fix every tiny hiccup by next year – so it’s important to tackle what matters most. Often, safety and guest experience carry the highest weight. Safety issues are non-negotiable: if there was any security breach, overcrowding scare, structural issue, or health hazard, that’s severe and must be solved before anything else. Operational bottlenecks that affected many attendees frequently (like perennial long toilet lines or shuttle bus problems) come next, because smoothing those out will hugely improve attendee satisfaction. Financial inefficiencies (such as overstaffing some areas or costly last-minute equipment rentals due to poor planning) should also be reviewed – fixing these can save budget and allow investing more in the attendee experience next time.
Examples: At one UK music festival, organizers discovered through their post-event analysis that water refill stations ran dry multiple times a day (a frequent and moderately severe problem, affecting attendee comfort and health). Meanwhile, a power outage on a secondary stage one afternoon was a one-time glitch but had high severity for the artists and fans in that moment. By ranking issues, the team decided to invest first in expanding the water infrastructure (adding more tanks and staff to refill them, since water issues were frequent and could become a serious safety risk in heat). They also addressed the power outage cause by servicing generators – even though it was unlikely to recur, the severity warranted action – but this was simpler to fix once identified. In another case, a festival noted that an ATM vendor’s network failure caused frustration (medium frequency and cost), whereas a major traffic jam on exit day left attendees stuck for hours (high severity and high impact). The next year, they redesigned the traffic flow plan and worked with local authorities on a better egress route, treating it as a top priority, while also switching to a more reliable ATM provider or encouraging cashless payments. The key is that by scoring issues with a clear head, festival teams can systematically address the worst pain points rather than getting distracted by less important complaints.
Assign Owners and Deadlines for Fixes
A list of problems and solutions is useless if it just sits in a file. Every major issue should have a clear owner – a person or a specific team responsible for making sure that issue is resolved before the next festival. As the saying goes, “If everyone is responsible, no one is responsible.” During the postmortem, once you’ve decided what needs fixing, decide who will lead that fix and by when.
This step brings accountability and turns lessons into action. It could be as simple as adding tasks to your project management system or spreadsheet for next year’s festival plan, with each task assigned to someone. For example:
- Issue: Consistently long lines at the main gate during peak hours. Owner: Head of Operations. Deadline: Propose new entry lane layout and additional staffing plan 3 months before next festival.
- Issue: Several campers reported feeling unsafe due to poor lighting in camping areas. Owner: Site Manager. Deadline: Source and map out additional lighting towers for campgrounds by next year’s site inspection.
- Issue: Bar inventory ran out of popular beverages by Saturday night. Owner: Vendor/Bar Manager. Deadline: Revise ordering quantities and backup supplier arrangements by one month before next festival, and get budget approval for increased stock.
- Issue: Attendee mobile app crashed under heavy use. Owner: Tech Team Lead (or external app developer). Deadline: Infrastructure scaling plan and testing to be completed 6 months out.
Setting deadlines for these action items ensures they don’t get left until the last minute. Many festival teams start planning the next edition almost as soon as the last one ends, so incorporate these fixes into that schedule. A helpful approach is to integrate postmortem tasks into your regular planning meetings – treat them with the same importance as booking artists or securing sponsors. Some festivals create an internal “improvements tracker” document that gets reviewed periodically, so everyone can see progress.
For large-scale festivals, consider forming dedicated sub-teams or working groups for critical areas. For instance, if the post-event analysis revealed major safety issues, set up a Safety Improvement Taskforce with key operations and security personnel, led by a senior festival producer, to overhaul protocols by a set date. If ticketing or entry was a fiasco (e.g. website crashes during on-sale or gate fraud issues), assign your ticketing manager to work closely with your ticketing platform provider on a more robust solution (note: using a reliable ticketing partner like Ticket Fairy, which offers scalable on-sale systems and real-time analytics, can prevent many such problems and provide data for your postmortem). The owner of each fix should have the resources and support needed to get the job done – that might mean budget allocation, management backing, or additional team members.
Tip: It’s a great idea to document not just what the fixes will be, but also the underlying root cause that was identified. This is classic root-cause analysis – ask “Why did this happen?” repeatedly until you find the fundamental process or decision that led to the issue. For example, if volunteers weren’t at their posts on time, maybe the root cause was inadequate training or poor schedule communication (not just “volunteers lazy”). Fixing that might mean overhauling the volunteer briefing process or using a new communication tool. Once you know the root cause, the assigned owner can implement a solution that truly addresses it, rather than a superficial patch.
Publish “We Changed” Notes to Staff and Fans
One hallmark of a mature, community-focused festival is transparency. Don’t keep all these improvements a secret. By sharing a “We changed” or “Lessons learned” update, you close the feedback loop with both your team and your audience.
Internal communication: Start with your staff, crew, and volunteers. After all, they were on the front lines and many of them probably gave feedback or noticed issues. Share a summary of the postmortem findings and, importantly, the action plan for improvements. This could be done in an all-hands staff meeting a few weeks after the event, or via a detailed email newsletter or report to all crew. For example, outline something like: “You spoke, we listened: Next year we’re increasing the number of water stations by 50% and adding directional signage based on what we learned.” This not only shows respect for their input but also boosts morale – the team sees that their hard work is recognised and that problems are being addressed (so next year’s job will hopefully be a bit easier!). It turns your crew into advocates; they know management takes issues seriously and strives to improve working conditions and processes continually.
External communication (to attendees and the public): For larger festivals, it’s increasingly common to issue a public recap or acknowledgment, especially if there were high-profile problems. A thoughtful post on the festival’s website or social media can go a long way to maintain goodwill. This might take the form of a post-event letter or blog post from the festival organisers to the fans. The tone should be honest and appreciative: thank attendees for coming, acknowledge any significant issues that occurred, and importantly, explain what will change in the future as a result. Avoid defensive language; if something went wrong, own it, and reassure fans that you’re taking steps to fix it.
Real example: After a particularly challenging year with weather chaos and logistical hiccups, the co-founders of Australia’s Splendour in the Grass festival published an open letter apologising for the problems at the 2022 event. They didn’t stop at “sorry” – they detailed a series of changes and investments (from venue drainage improvements to better crowd communication systems) to make future editions stronger. This public commitment helped mend fan trust and showed regulators that the festival was proactively addressing the issues. Likewise, when Tomorrowland in Belgium faced complaints about long queues during one weekend, organisers later communicated adjustments for the next weekend to attendees (via the festival app and screens on-site) and followed up post-event with a note explaining how they’ll expand entrance points in the future. By saying “We heard you, and here’s what we’re changing,” festivals demonstrate accountability.
Posting “we changed” updates isn’t just about damage control; it’s an opportunity to reinforce your festival’s values. It tells fans that their experience and feedback truly matter, and that you’re not complacent. Some festivals even involve attendees in the improvement process by sending post-event surveys and asking for suggestions, then sharing the best ideas implemented. For instance, a food festival in Singapore might tell its followers “You asked for more vegetarian options – we’ve teamed up with 5 new plant-based vendors for next year!” or a comic convention might announce “After hearing your feedback on autograph line confusion, we’re revamping the queuing system with clearer signs and staff guides.” These communications turn critics into supporters, because fans feel heard and respected.
Remember to loop back to any sponsors, local authorities, or community stakeholders as well. If the local city council or residents were unhappy about, say, noise or traffic, publishing how you plan to mitigate those issues next time (and actually following through) is critical for maintaining your license to operate and community relations. Many large festivals hold community forums or release community impact reports post-event – always highlighting the improvements planned to address concerns. Transparency and responsiveness go a long way toward easing tensions with neighbours and officials.
Learning Becomes Culture
By consistently doing thorough postmortems and following up with real changes, a festival organisation builds a culture of continuous learning. Over time, this becomes part of the festival’s DNA – “the way we do things around here.” New team members will come in and immediately see that no event is perfect, but every event can teach something. Mistakes aren’t brushed under the rug or repeated year after year; they’re logged, analysed, and used to make the festival better. This attitude starts at the top: festival directors and senior producers should champion the idea that every edition is an opportunity to improve.
In practice, making learning part of the culture might include rituals like: a standing post-festival debrief meeting that everyone knows is as important as the event itself; a shared document or knowledge base of “past lessons learned” that is handed over during staff onboarding or when planning each new year; even rewarding team members who spot issues and innovate solutions. When crew see that leadership genuinely cares about improvement (and not just blame), they are more likely to speak up with ideas and take initiative to fix problems on the fly.
This culture yields dividends in the long run. Many of the world’s most respected large-scale festivals have been running for decades, and their longevity is no accident. Events like Glastonbury (UK) or Rothbury’s Electric Forest (USA) evolve and refine every year, often based on post-event learnings. For example, Glastonbury’s organisers famously tweak their operations year by year – whether it’s improving drainage after a notoriously muddy year or upgrading their ticket registration system after seeing scalping issues – and fans often notice how things get smoother. The result is loyal attendees who trust that even if something goes wrong, it will likely be fixed by next time.
A learning culture also means celebrating improvement. When your team successfully resolves a long-standing issue, acknowledge that win. Did the new shuttle bus route implemented after last year’s complaints cut travel times in half? Awesome – let the team know the good news, and even let fans know at the event (e.g. a friendly sign: “New for 2024: 10 more shuttle buses – no more long waits!”). This positive reinforcement makes everyone, from staff to attendees, more invested in the festival’s continuous evolution.
Ultimately, treating postmortems as an integral, non-negotiable part of festival production creates a virtuous cycle. Each festival becomes a building block for the next one’s success. Your crew grows more skilled and proactive, because they’re always learning. Your audience grows more loyal, because they see the event listening and improving. And you, as a festival organiser, can take pride in knowing that year by year, you’re not just putting on a festival – you’re building a better one.
Key Takeaways
- Debrief quickly and objectively: Conduct a post-festival review within ~72 hours while details are fresh. Focus on facts and evidence, not blame or emotions.
- Document issues and successes: List everything that went wrong (and right). Be specific – capture the what, when, where, and impact of each incident or problem.
- Prioritise by impact: Rank issues by severity (safety/seriousness), frequency (how often/many affected), and cost (financial or reputational impact). Tackle high-severity or frequent problems first in your improvement plan.
- Assign accountability: For each key issue, designate an owner (person or team) responsible for implementing a fix. Set clear deadlines for these fixes and integrate them into your planning timeline well before the next festival.
- Implement and communicate changes: Make the necessary improvements – whether it’s new equipment, expanded staffing, better training, or policy changes – and tell your staff and attendees about it. Transparency builds trust; show that you listened and acted on feedback.
- Foster continuous learning: Encourage a culture where every festival is a learning experience. When learning and improving becomes routine, your festival will innovate, avoid repeat mistakes, and deliver a better experience year after year.
27th September 2025