Timings, Curfew, Noise Limits and Show Order.

A festival does not run late all at once: delays accumulate. Ten minutes of slow unloading, a soundcheck that overruns because nobody fixed its finish time, doors opening with the stage half-ready and, at the end of the night, the temptation to give away another set when curfew is approaching. Without a timetable that is protected, each area optimises its own time and the whole event falls out of alignment.

This guide organises event time into six pieces: Curfew, Noise limits, the Load-in / soundcheck / doors / show / load-out sequence, the Show schedule, the Running order and Cue sheets. They form the document everyone consults during the day and the tool for resolving deviations without arguments.

The timetable takes precedence: curfew, noise and order

The timetable is the event’s operational contract, rather than a decorative sheet. It defines when equipment arrives, when it is tested, when doors open, when each artist starts and finishes and when the system is switched off. Every time has a responsible person and a consequence if it moves.

Timetable discipline starts with realism. A load-in lasting forty minutes on paper but needing seventy in practice shifts everything else. Timings must include allowances for predictable issues—truck delays, artist changes and minor incidents—rather than only the optimistic version.

The second principle is notification: no timing change is implemented without informing those affected. An artist told twenty minutes beforehand accepts almost any change; told with two minutes to go, they experience it as a slight.

Curfew: the time that cannot be negotiated

Curfew, the cutoff time, marks the end of permitted sound. It may come from the operating licence, a municipal ordinance or an agreement with the promoter; breaching it is paid for through penalties, contract cuts or venue closure, rather than music.

Ask about it during the advance and write the exact time and application criteria in the show schedule: if the lineup runs late, who decides the cuts? Are all sets shortened equally, or is the closing set protected? Answering beforehand avoids an argument at two in the morning.

Working against curfew requires a closing plan: a final block with a margin, a prepared transition and an exit track that resolves the night even if time runs tight. How to agree and settle a night against the clock is covered in advancing, line check and settlement.

Noise limits: measure, rather than argue

Noise limits are the maximum level authorised by the venue or municipality, measured at a particular point using a particular method. Ignoring the measurement point is as serious as ignoring the value: two decibels of difference depending on sensor placement change the reading.

The professional approach is to keep your own record. If the system measures continuously, save the night’s history; if the venue has an acoustic-control system, know its threshold before playing. Discussing a level with a reading in hand differs from arguing from an impression.

If the venue has acoustic limiters, inspect their installation, sensor and log before the show, rather than discovering them when they interrupt the mix mid-block. That subject is detailed in acoustic limiters: installation, microphone, sensor and recorder.

The day: Load-in / soundcheck / doors / show / load-out

The complete day follows Load-in / soundcheck / doors / show / load-out: equipment arrival, soundcheck, doors opening, performances and dismantling. Each phase has a start, finish and responsible person, and one phase’s delay eats into the next.

Plan load-in around access, rather than hours: which truck enters, when and with which personnel. Limit soundcheck with a clear rule: once the artist confirms readiness, stop; note anything outstanding for changeover. Doors never moves without a production decision.

Set timed checkpoints between phases: end of unloading, end of patching, end of line check and doors opening. Four marks suffice to show whether the day is on track or already lost, and let you correct it before the problem reaches the audience. Without them, deviation is detected only when no margin remains.

Once doors open, the approach changes: you operate with an audience inside instead of testing calmly. Load-out starts when the last artist finishes, rather than when the party ends: removing equipment from a full venue multiplies damage and theft risks.

Show schedule and running order

The show schedule places the entire day on a timeline: phases, times, responsible people and checkpoints. It lives in one document shared by all areas, with a version and date. If every department head keeps their own copy, show day has seven different truths.

The running order is the column within that day: artist order, each set’s duration and how blocks fit together. Finalise it with tour managers before the event and reconfirm it on show morning, because lineup changes are the exception that always occurs.

A robust running order includes changeover allowances and who decides whether to use them. Without a written allowance, any deviation forces improvisation in front of artists who need not take responsibility for the problem.

Two printed versions also help: the official version, modified only by production, and the distribution version reaching tour managers, booths and security. Working from the same paper is half the coordination job; the other half is updating and redistributing it on show day.

Cue sheets: the written show

Cue sheets detail what happens at each show moment: a lighting entrance, content change, effect, blackout or artist entrance, with its time, triggering person and involved equipment. They bridge design and execution.

Prepare them with lighting, video and effects, and distribute them to the operators. In productions with special effects, each cue also carries its safety condition: what is needed to activate it and who can veto it. That coordination is supported by stage-effect control with DMX, timecode and permissions.

A good cue sheet can be read without explanations: if a newcomer can execute the block using that paper, the document works.

What happens when the timetable slips

Everything slips. What distinguishes professional production is managing deviation through prior rules: who detects it, who notifies, what is cut first and how artists and crew are informed. Recording the change in the show schedule—with actual and new times—prevents the rest of the night being planned from a dead document.

Keep a timing-incident log too: what ran late, why and how much it cost. Four or five documented events reveal the real pattern—the same unloading, the changeover that always overruns—and the next show schedule is written from data rather than intuition.

Next step

Once the schedule is approved, execute it: live operation: load-in, line check and changeover follows how each phase becomes reality, from the first case to the artist changeover.