Event planning guide and free event planning template
Start with a clear purpose, a realistic scope and a list of responsibilities. This guide highlights the planning topics to work through with your team, venue and service providers. Use it to prepare your brief, then build your timeline and budget with the free event planning template below.
Stage 01
Purpose and budget
Agree why the event is happening before you agree what it looks like. The purpose decides what you spend money on.
What does success look like, and how will you measure it afterwards?
Who approves spending, and up to what amount?
What is fixed, such as the date or venue, and what can still change?
Is there a contingency in the budget, and who can release it?
Free event planning template
Build your event timeline and budget with our free Gantt chart and event budget template. It works online on any device and downloads to Excel.
Stage 02
Venue and site
Visit the site at the same time of day as your event, and take your key suppliers with you if you can.
Does the venue suit your audience size and planned activities?
When can you get access for bump in and bump out?
Where are power, water, toilets and vehicle access on the site?
Is there anything on or near the site, such as water, traffic or trees, that could become a hazard in bad weather?
Stage 03
Approvals and suppliers
Rules and lead times change, and they depend on your location. Check the current requirements with your council, venue and the relevant state agency for your event.
Which permits might apply, such as liquor, food, road closures or temporary structures?
Which suppliers need to be booked first because they book out early?
Who signs supplier contracts and pays deposits?
Which insurances do your venue, council and suppliers require?
Stage 04
Audience access and facilities
Walk the route a patron takes, from the car park or tram stop to the furthest point of the site and back.
How will people arrive, enter and move around the site?
What accessible parking, entry, viewing areas and toilets do you need?
Where will people find drinking water, shade and first aid?
How will waste and recycling be collected during and after the event?
Stage 05
Staffing and communications
Everyone working the event should know their role, their supervisor and how to raise a problem.
How many staff and volunteers do you need, and in which roles?
Who inducts and briefs them, and how are they signed in and out?
How will teams talk to each other on the day: radios, phones or both?
Who has the final say when something needs to change?
Stage 06
Risk and contingencies
Plan for the likely problems as well as the serious ones. Heat, rain and wind cause more changes to South Australian events than anything else.
What could go wrong, and who owns the control for each risk?
What is your plan for wet weather, wind or extreme heat?
Who leads an evacuation, and where do people go?
Have local emergency services been told about the event?
Stage 07
Delivery and review
The last week is about checking, not planning. The debrief is where next year's event starts.
Is there one run sheet that everyone works from?
Who owns each task that is still open?
When is the debrief, and who needs to be there?
What will you keep, and what will you change next time?
Official resources
Check current requirements
This guide is a starting point to adapt to your event. It is not legal or safety advice. Confirm requirements with your venue and council for the actual event location.
SafeWork SA: Event safety
Hazard management, worker communication and planning for events.
Visit SafeWork SA →SA Government: Short term liquor licence
Check whether your event needs a licence and how to apply.
Visit sa.gov.au →Free event planning tool
Free event planning template with Gantt chart and budget
Use this free event planning template to build your project plan and event budget in one place. Add tasks with an owner, start and finish dates and a status to create a Gantt chart, then cost your event with the event budget template, from staffing and security to staging, power, toilets, fencing and licensing. It works online on any device and downloads to Excel. There is no account to create, and your plan is saved only in your own browser.
New to event budgets? Open the worked example to see a community festival for 2,000 guests planned and costed. Example figures are a guide only, based on typical South Australian costs.
Free event site map
Free event site map planner
Lay out your event on a real map: stages, marquees, toilets, first aid, entry gates, fencing and routes, at real-world size. Measure fence lines and areas as you go, then save an image or print it for your event plan.
It’s free with no sign-up, and your map saves in your browser. Have a site plan or aerial photo? Add it and line it up with the map.
Need help with your event plan?
Bring your answers to these questions and we will work through the rest with you.