Custom Festival Tickets

Security Features That Deter Copying

A ticket that can be scanned and reprinted at home is an invitation to fraud. Security features make copying harder and give gate staff something quick to check. Foil stamping, especially holographic foil, cannot be reproduced on a home printer. A small foil hologram patch in a corner is one of the most effective deterrents.

Other options include UV ink that is invisible in daylight but glows under a UV torch, microtext that blurs when photocopied, and background patterns that break up when scanned. Combining two features, such as a hologram and UV ink, gives a quick visual check plus a hidden one.

Tell staff which feature to check and give them a sample ticket. A security feature only works if someone looks at it. Our guide comparing foil and other finishes shows what a hologram patch looks like on card.

Card Weight and Ticket Size

Festival tickets are usually printed on card between around 300 and 400 gsm. That weight feels substantial, survives being carried in a pocket and tears cleanly along a perforation. Thinner card feels cheap and can tear in the wrong place; much thicker card can be hard to tear by hand.

Standard ticket sizes fall between roughly 150 x 55 mm and 210 x 75 mm including the stub. Larger tickets show off artwork and are often kept as souvenirs; smaller tickets fit wallets and lanyards. VIP and backstage passes can be printed on PVC-style card or laminated and punched for a lanyard.

A matt laminate protects the print from rain, and a gloss laminate makes artwork vivid. Leave the stub unlaminated if staff need to write on it. The card weights explained guide helps when choosing between 300 and 400 gsm.

Designing a Ticket Worth Keeping

Use your line-up artwork or festival branding on the front. Include the event name, date, venue, ticket type and any age restrictions. On the back, list the essential terms: no re-entry, lost tickets not replaced, bag searches. Keep the text readable; tiny type full of legal wording is often ignored.

Different ticket types can share one design with a colour change: blue for day tickets, gold for weekend, black for VIP. That helps gate staff spot the type at a glance and keeps production simple.

Think about readability in poor light. Gates often open early in the morning or stay busy late into the evening, and staff check tickets by torchlight or under temporary floodlights. Large, high-contrast text for the ticket type and date, placed in the same position on every ticket, speeds up the queue.

If you work with sponsors, the back of the ticket is valuable space. A sponsor logo, a discount code for a local business or a map of the site can all fit without cluttering the front. Upload the line-up artwork through the free proof request and we will place the stubs and numbers around it.

Planning Quantities and Timing

Print slightly more tickets than your capacity, to cover complimentary passes, replacements for damaged tickets and late additions. Order early so tickets are ready when sales open, not just before the gates.

Store printed tickets securely. Unsold blocks of numbered tickets have value, so keep them locked away and record which numbers are in circulation.

Keep a log of ticket numbers issued to each sales outlet, with a signature when the blocks are collected. At the end of sales, outlets return unsold tickets and their numbers are cancelled. It is a simple system, and it closes the door on most attempts to sneak extra tickets into circulation. Weekly club nights run a lighter version of the same system with nightclub tickets and drinks stubs.

Give Each Outlet Its Own Block of Numbers

Festival tickets are reconciled by number, so plan the numbering before the artwork: decide how many go to each shop, pub and committee member, and give each outlet a block, so unsold returns are counted in minutes. Decide the stub count next, one per day for a weekend pass and an extra for a drink or parking if you offer them, and choose one security feature your gate staff can check by torchlight, a hologram patch being the easiest.

Send the ticket size, the stub layout, the numbering plan, the security features and the quantity with a surplus for complimentary passes, and a custom quote comes back by email within one working day, with low minimums quoted per job. The free proof shows the ticket, the stubs, the perforation lines and the numbering positions. Printing, numbering and perforating take 4–7 working days after approval and tracked delivery to UK mainland addresses is free, taking 2–3 working days. Misprinted or damaged tickets reported within 10 days are reprinted or refunded. Organisers who run a draw on site usually add raffle tickets numbered to match to the same run.