Event contingency plan: a template for when plans change

An event contingency plan sets out what you'll do when a part of your event can no longer happen as booked. For each disruption, name the person who decides, the latest useful decision time, a confirmed alternative, the money needed and what you'll tell ticket buyers.

So your headline artist has cancelled. You've sold tickets, the venue wants its balance and someone on your team says they know another act. What happens next?

You need to know whether that act can actually deliver the show, whether buyers are entitled to a refund and whether you can afford the change. Those answers belong in the plan before you need them.

This guide gives you a copyable event contingency plan and walks through artist cancellation, supplier failure, venue unavailability and weather disruption. We'll use one fictional paid event throughout, then work through the money, buyer messages and rehearsal. The examples are planning exercises, not reports of real events or universal deadlines.

What should an event contingency plan cover?

Start with the things your event depends on. The artist people bought tickets to see. The room you hired. The production supplier. The route everyone uses to get there. Ask what happens if each one becomes unavailable.

Your event risk assessment identifies hazards and the measures needed to control them. Your contingency plan records the alternative arrangements when the original plan fails. They should refer to each other, because a replacement venue or changed programme can introduce new risks.

Keep emergency response instructions in the agreed emergency plan. If people face immediate danger, the responsible team follows that plan without waiting for someone to calculate the cost of cancellation. Your event security plan should make the relevant duties and decision authority clear.

Britain's Health and Safety Executive includes act cancellations, severe weather and absent key staff in its guidance on event incidents and emergencies. Its useful planning principle is to agree responsibilities before something happens. Apply the requirements of your own location with your venue and competent advisers.

The first thing you want to do is choose the disruptions that would stop you delivering what you sold. A broken decorative sign needs fixing. An unavailable headline act needs a decision about the event itself. Give those problems different amounts of attention.

Copy this event contingency plan template

Keep an overview at the front, then use the scenario sheet below for each disruption. Someone covering for you should be able to find the next action without reading your entire event file.

Event overview

• Event name, date, venue and current plan version: [Complete these fields.]

• What buyers have purchased: [Main attraction, programme, location, timings, access arrangements and any paid extras.]

• Event lead and deputy: [Names, numbers and the hours each person covers.]

• Safety and venue contacts: [Named decision makers and where the agreed emergency procedures live.]

• Financial authority: [Who can approve additional spending, their limit and who approves amounts above it.]

• Ticket and communications owner: [Who updates buyers, the event page, customer support and sales activity.]

• Documents and access: [Current contracts, contact list, plan location and approved backup access.]

• Last review and next review: [Date, owner and unresolved questions.]

Write names in the live plan. "Production" won't answer the phone, and the person who normally manages production might be the person who is unavailable.

Scenario sheet

• Disruption: [What has failed or may fail?]

• Evidence: [Who confirmed it, when and where that confirmation is recorded.]

• Trigger to act: [The observable condition that starts this response.]

• Immediate action: [What the owner does first, including any required safety escalation.]

• Decision owner and deputy: [Who chooses the operational response.]

• People who must advise or approve: [Venue, technical lead, artist representative or other relevant people.]

• Decision deadline: [Date and time, with the reason waiting longer removes an option.]

• Preferred alternative: [Exactly what changes and what remains deliverable.]

• Confirmation: [Supplier or venue contact, written availability, specification, price and expiry of any hold.]

• Cost and cash needed: [New payments, existing commitments, likely recoveries and buyer remedies, recorded separately.]

• Conditions for proceeding: [The checks that must be satisfied before you approve the change.]

• If those conditions fail: [Postpone, cancel or another fully checked option.]

• Buyer message: [What is confirmed, what they should do, their ticket options and the next update time.]

• Completion record: [Decision, time, approver, spending authorised and who received the update.]

A trigger should be something you can observe. "Supplier may be unreliable" is background information. "Supplier confirms the equipment cannot arrive before the latest agreed setup time" tells someone to act.

The deadline needs a reason, too. Work backwards from the task that cannot move: equipment installation, artist travel, buyer journeys or a venue's release time. Ask the person doing that task how long it needs. Add time for the decision and communication, rather than assuming everything begins the moment you say yes.

If you cannot confirm an alternative, leave it marked "unconfirmed". That gap is useful. It tells you where to spend your preparation time.

Confirm what your backup agreement actually buys

A second supplier's phone number is a useful contact. A backup arrangement needs more detail. Ask what they are willing to reserve, for how long and on what terms. They may offer a paid hold, an availability check closer to the event or no commitment at all. Record the answer you have, not the one you hoped for.

If you pay for a hold, make sure the agreement says how you activate it and when it expires. Check whether the hold payment comes off the final invoice, whether cancellation creates further charges and who can confirm the booking. Put reminders against the release times in your event schedule.

Check shared dependencies, too. Your alternative venue may use the same access road as the original site. Your backup production company may subcontract the same equipment. In either case, the problem that stopped the original arrangement could stop the replacement. Ask directly rather than assuming a different business name means an independent option.

Keep the specification with the agreement. That might include the artist's required performance length, the venue's usable rooms or the equipment and crew in the production package. Without it, people can agree to the word "replacement" while picturing different jobs.

Finally, confirm who carries the extra work. Moving a show creates tasks for transport, signage, customer support and suppliers as well as venue hire. Assign those tasks before approving the move. Otherwise the event lead becomes the default owner of everything at exactly the moment they need to make decisions.

A worked example: Harbour Yard Sessions

Imagine you're organising Harbour Yard Sessions, a fictional Australian evening music event. The outdoor site has an agreed capacity of 600. You've sold 480 tickets at A$50 each, giving A$24,000 in ticket face value. Doors open on Saturday at 18:00, the headline act starts at 20:00 and the show finishes at 22:00.

For this exercise, Maya is the event lead, Daniel handles production, Leah handles ticket buyers and Omar handles finance. Each has a named deputy in the contact sheet. The venue's responsible person and the event's safety adviser retain their agreed roles for safety decisions.

The audience bought a named headline performance, supported by two local acts. That matters. Replacing the headliner changes a central part of what you've sold, even if the replacement costs more.

Treat the following scenarios as separate drills for the same event. We're not assuming every problem happens on the same night. All times, prices and arrangements below are invented to show how to complete your own plan.

Scenario 1: your headline artist cancels

At 09:00 on Friday, the artist's authorised representative confirms in writing that the headliner cannot perform. Maya starts the cancellation scenario and records that message. Leah pauses scheduled promotion that still promises the original act while the team checks the public event information.

The plan gives Maya until 12:00 on Friday to decide whether to offer a replacement show. That's the agreed deadline for the alternative artist's travel booking and enough time to notify buyers before Saturday. It isn't permission to leave misleading sales information online until noon.

Daniel contacts the replacement artist whose availability and requirements were checked earlier that week. The earlier conversation matters, but he still needs fresh confirmation. Someone else may have booked them since then.

He checks the performance length, arrival time, equipment requirements, travel and fee. He also confirms that the other acts accept the revised running order. A verbal "we can probably do it" doesn't satisfy the scenario sheet.

In our example, the replacement can perform for A$3,000. The cancelled artist has a A$2,000 deposit, and the team hasn't yet established whether or when it will be returned. Omar records the new A$3,000 payment separately from that unresolved recovery. The deposit cannot pay the replacement today.

Maya then checks the buyer offer with the person responsible for legal and ticketing terms. A confirmed replacement doesn't automatically remove refund rights. The Australian rules relevant to this example are explained below.

If the performance and buyer offer are approved by noon, Leah sends a specific update naming the change and the available options. If they aren't, Maya follows the cancellation branch and Leah sends the cancellation message. "We're still trying" needs its own short update if the promised decision time arrives first.

A replacement announcement should say something like: "The original headline act can no longer perform on Saturday. We've confirmed the replacement named below. Please read the revised programme and the refund options before deciding whether to attend."

Then give the actual name, programme, refund route and dates. Don't describe the change as an upgrade on the buyer's behalf. They get to decide whether they still want the night you've offered.

Scenario 2: your production supplier cannot deliver

At 10:00 on Saturday, the contracted audio supplier reports a vehicle breakdown and confirms it cannot meet the agreed delivery time. Daniel owns the response. The plan already records the latest arrival time the technical team can accept while completing installation and checks before doors.

Daniel calls the backup supplier with the actual specification. He needs suitable equipment, the people to install and operate it, and a confirmed arrival time. "We've got speakers" answers only a small part of that request.

For Harbour Yard Sessions, the backup supplier can deliver at 13:00 if the booking is approved by 11:00. Daniel confirms with the competent technical team that this schedule leaves enough time for their work. Maya and Omar must approve the commercial change before that booking deadline.

The replacement package costs A$2,600, payable immediately. The original supplier says it expects to credit A$800, but the credit has not been agreed or received. Omar records A$2,600 as cash needed now and A$800 as a possible later recovery. He doesn't present the rescue as costing only A$1,800 to fund.

A smaller package may be an option only if the people responsible confirm it can deliver the agreed performance and required systems. Don't ask the crew to improvise around missing essential equipment because the cheaper quote looks attractive.

If the backup cannot complete the required work in time, Daniel reports that fact immediately. Maya then checks whether a later start is permitted and workable, including staffing, transport, artist agreements and the venue's finish time. If it isn't, the response moves to postponement or cancellation.

Buyers need an update when their experience changes. For a confirmed delay, tell them the new doors time, what happens to the programme and any applicable ticket options. If the supplier changes but the promised event remains intact, the internal decision record may be enough. You don't need to turn every backstage repair into a public announcement.

Scenario 3: your venue becomes unavailable

The venue manager calls on Thursday. The booked site cannot host Saturday's show, and there is no confirmed time when that will change.

Maya has one alternative on the scenario sheet: a nearby indoor venue, tentatively held until Thursday at 15:00. The hold gives the team an opportunity to check it. It doesn't prove the move is possible.

First, confirm the space is available for the full operating period, including setup and removal. Then check the proposed event with the venue and relevant advisers. Capacity, permitted activity, accessibility, production, staffing and audience arrival all need a fresh look.

The alternative must accommodate the tickets already sold in the configuration you will actually use. Don't rely on the largest capacity number in its brochure. A seated layout, production equipment or closed areas may change what is possible.

Ask about the things buyers will experience. Can people who booked accessible arrangements still attend? Are the age conditions the same? Does the new location create a transport problem? Can you deliver the paid extras? Get those answers before describing the move as straightforward.

In this drill, the checked venue can accommodate the sold tickets and deliver the revised event. Its additional hire and staffing cost is A$4,500. The original venue deposit remains a separate contract question, so Omar excludes it from money available to pay for the move.

Maya's decision deadline is 14:00 on Thursday, leaving an hour before the hold expires. Approval requires the operational checks, the funding and the buyer remedy plan. If a necessary approval is missing, she cannot announce the new venue as confirmed.

Leah's message leads with the new address and date, then explains any timing, access or ticket changes. The team also arranges a notice at the original site where possible and safe. Someone may arrive with an old screenshot even after you've updated the event page.

Scenario 4: weather changes the plan

Weather planning starts before the forecast becomes a group-chat argument. Name the person monitoring official information, the people who interpret its implications for your site and the person authorised to approve an operational change.

Use your local official weather service and the arrangements agreed with your venue, safety advisers and suppliers. In the UK, the Met Office's weather warnings guide explains that warning colours combine expected impact and likelihood. Read the warning details; a colour alone doesn't settle an event decision. For our Australian example, the team uses the relevant local official forecasts and warnings.

Record site-specific triggers and actions with competent people. Those triggers depend on the structures, equipment, ground, access routes and audience at your event. A generic blog cannot supply a safe wind speed, rainfall limit or reopening rule for all of them.

Harbour Yard Sessions has a separate weather option: an indoor venue arrangement that must be confirmed by Friday at 10:00. At Thursday's scheduled review, the responsible team considers the forecast, site conditions and whether this alternative remains appropriate. Maya must make the commercial booking decision before the hold expires.

That deadline protects an option. It never overrides a later safety decision. Conditions can change after you commit to a venue, and the team continues to follow the agreed monitoring and emergency procedures.

If the indoor move is approved, Omar checks its full added cost, including the supplier changes and communication work. If it isn't workable, Maya chooses the next viable response. Waiting for a better forecast is only an option while the plan still gives you a safe, deliverable way to act.

Think about journeys as well as the show. A usable venue doesn't solve an impassable access route or a transport disruption. Assign someone to check those dependencies with the relevant operators.

For buyers, explain the confirmed change and what it means for attendance. If you haven't made the final decision, say when the next update will arrive and what buyers should do meanwhile. Don't promise that the show will go ahead while the responsible team is still assessing whether it can.

Add a payment outage response for door sales

If you sell tickets at the door, write a separate response for failed payments. Name the ticketing lead, the supported backup connection or payment method and who confirms service recovery. Test those arrangements before opening; a spare device won't solve a provider outage.

Keep prepaid admission separate from new purchases wherever your agreed entry procedure allows it. The gate supervisor still controls the queue and capacity. If no approved payment method works, pause new sales and tell waiting buyers what happens next.

Record uncertain transactions so staff don't repeatedly charge someone whose first payment may have succeeded. Give that buyer a reference and an owner for the follow-up. Never photograph a card or collect security codes to charge later. The PCI Security Standards Council's merchant payment guidance explains the need to protect payment data.

Before restoring sales, confirm the payment service is working and reconcile fallback sales against remaining ticket inventory. Put the spending approver and buyer update time on this scenario sheet too.

Check the cash before you approve a rescue

Here's where an apparently affordable backup can catch you out. You can have money in the bank and still be unable to spend it on a replacement act. Some of that money may be needed for buyer refunds or bills you've already committed to pay.

Open your event cash flow forecast and give the changed plan its own version. Keep the original so you can see what the disruption adds.

For each response, separate these amounts:

• Cash available by the payment deadline, including any restrictions on its use.

• Existing payments that remain due under the original arrangements.

• New payments required to deliver the alternative.

• Buyer refunds and any other remedies you must fund.

• Recoveries you may receive from suppliers or insurance, with their status and expected timing.

Don't count a possible insurance payment as cleared money. Check the policy and claim requirements with your broker or insurer, record their advice and keep the supporting evidence. The amount and timing remain uncertain until confirmed.

For a simplified Harbour Yard Sessions exercise, assume A$31,000 is cleared and available. Existing payments still due total A$15,000. Omar initially tests A$10,000 of refunds, equivalent to 200 tickets at A$50 face value. That leaves A$6,000 before any new contingency spending.

Omar also records the payment method and approver for each new booking. A replacement supplier requiring a bank transfer today creates a different deadline from an invoice due after the show. If Maya is travelling or unavailable, the deputy needs an agreed way to authorise the payment within their limit. Test that access during preparation, with proper account permissions, rather than sharing credentials during a disruption.

The A$10,000 is a planning assumption, not a cap on buyer rights or a prediction. This illustration excludes fees, tax and other potential liabilities; the real forecast must include the applicable amounts. If more buyers seek refunds, the room for additional spending falls.

A complete cancellation changes the test. All 480 tickets represent A$24,000 of face value. Against A$31,000 cash, that leaves A$7,000 before paying the A$15,000 of assumed remaining commitments. Under those assumptions, you're A$8,000 short before other liabilities. Review which commitments remain payable and confirm funding rather than assuming a later recovery fills the gap.

Run the alternative and cancellation cases side by side. You may find that an affordable replacement fee still leaves the business unable to fund the buyer response. Better to see that on Thursday than after you've promised a refund date you cannot meet.

Decide buyer options separately from supplier recoveries

Your artist contract and your ticket buyer's rights answer different questions. A supplier refusing to return a deposit doesn't, by itself, determine what you owe the audience.

For the Australian example, the ACCC's guidance on selling event tickets says consumers are entitled to a refund when the organiser chooses to cancel or makes a major change. It gives a changed festival headline act as one example. It also explains that the reason for a change matters, and that situations caused solely by another party can depend on ticket terms and other applicable law.

Use that distinction when preparing your own event refund policy. Have the applicable terms and local obligations checked before tickets go on sale, then revisit them when the actual facts are known. A weather event, a government restriction and an organiser's decision to change the programme aren't automatically the same situation.

Your scenario sheet should identify who confirms the buyer options and who can carry them out. Include the refund amount and any applicable fees, request route, deadlines where lawful, processing expectations and a contact for problems.

If you offer a replacement date or credit, make clear whether accepting it is optional. Don't turn the contingency plan into a way of postponing a remedy the buyer is entitled to receive.

Prepare the buyer message before the rush

A buyer reading your update wants to know whether to travel, whether their ticket works and what happens to their money. Lead with the answer you have confirmed.

US government preparedness guidance on emergency plans recommends planning communications in advance because customers, staff and others need information quickly. For an event, that means drafting the basic messages and assigning the sender before the problem arrives.

Keep a short message for each likely outcome. Use this structure:

1. State the event name, affected date and confirmed change.

2. Explain what the buyer should do now, including whether to travel.

3. Give the confirmed ticket options and how to use them.

4. Say what remains unknown and when you'll update it.

5. Provide one contact route for questions about their booking.

For a holding update, you might write: "We're checking a change that could affect Saturday's Harbour Yard Sessions. We haven't confirmed a replacement arrangement. We'll update this page and email ticket holders by 12:00 Friday. Please check that update before making new travel arrangements."

Replace that wording if the facts require a stronger instruction. Once you know the original show cannot proceed, say so. Don't keep selling uncertainty as if nothing has changed.

Leah keeps one approved version of the facts and adapts it for email, the event page, social accounts and the customer support reply. She also tells partners and promoters what has changed, and checks scheduled messages for promises that are now wrong.

In Loopyah, event email updates can reach the people holding tickets to the affected event. The product distinguishes event updates from promotions, so the buyer communication doesn't have to depend on rebuilding a marketing list. You still supply the accurate decision, ticket options and instructions.

Keep the message about their booking. The UK's ICO distinguishes purely administrative service messages from promotions in its electronic mail guidance. Adding an advert can change that classification. Check the rules that apply to your audience rather than slipping a presale offer into a cancellation email.

Read the message as someone holding an old ticket. Does the date match? Does "tomorrow" still make sense when the email is forwarded? Is the new address complete? Can a person understand the ticket options without opening an image? Put essential instructions in text and use a specific date and time for the next update.

Email alone won't reach everyone in time. Some buyers have already left home, and one person may have booked for a group. Keep the public event information current, ask buyers to share the update with their party and agree how staff will handle arrivals at the old location or time.

Our event cancellation email guide covers the full message. Here, the crucial step is connecting the approved decision to every place a buyer might still see the original promise.

Rehearse the plan with the people who will use it

Put the plan on screen and give the team a problem. "It's Friday morning. The headliner has cancelled, and Maya isn't answering her phone." Ask the deputy to take the next step using only the information in the plan.

Can they find the artist representative? Does the replacement hold still exist? Can Omar authorise the payment? Can Leah access the correct audience and publish the approved update? Write down every point where someone has to guess.

Then change one fact. The alternative venue can host the show but can't provide the accessible arrangements you've sold. Or the backup audio supplier can arrive on time but needs payment before your funds are available. The exercise should test whether the alternative really works.

Afterwards, assign each missing answer to a person and set a deadline. Review the plan again when contracts, ticket volumes, venue arrangements or key staff change. A plan written before the final artist agreement may contain the wrong cancellation assumption.

Keep a decision log during a real disruption. Record what the team knew, who decided, when the decision happened and what was communicated. Save confirmations, invoices and buyer notices with the event records, with access limited to the people who need them.

Once the event or cancellation is complete, compare the plan with what happened. Which contact answered? Which quote changed? Which buyer question did you miss? Update those details before you copy the plan for the next event.

Start with the failure that would be hardest to recover from. Name the owner, confirm the alternative and find the last moment when it is still useful. Then check the cash and write the buyer message. That's how an event contingency plan becomes something your team can actually use when the phone rings.