By James Fletcher
Organising a music festival without the right insurance in place is one of the most expensive risks in the events industry. Use this checklist to make sure you're covered.
Why a Festival Insurance Checklist Matters
Music festivals involve enormous financial commitments — often months before the first ticket is sold. Artist fees are paid in advance. Infrastructure is booked and deposited. Marketing spend is committed. At the point of most financial exposure, a single unforeseen event — a headline artist withdrawal, severe weather, or venue access issue — can trigger a catastrophic financial loss. A systematic insurance checklist ensures you've addressed each risk area before the exposure accumulates.
Core Festival Insurance Covers
Every music festival insurance programme should include these core covers:
- →Event cancellation and abandonment — irrecoverable costs and lost revenue
- →Public liability — injury to attendees and third-party property damage
- →Employers liability — festival staff and paid contractors
- →Non-appearance — headline or featured artist unable to perform
- →Weather / pluvious cover — rainfall above threshold forcing cancellation
- →Production equipment — stages, PA, lighting, and infrastructure
Timing Your Festival Insurance Correctly
When you arrange festival insurance matters as much as what you arrange. Event cancellation insurance should be in place before you start committing significant expenditure — artist deposits, venue hire, production bookings. Non-appearance cover for headline artists should be arranged immediately after contracts are signed, not weeks later. Weather insurance should be in place well in advance of the event window — policies arranged within 30 days of the event may attract restrictive terms or be unavailable. The earlier you engage with your insurance broker, the better the terms you'll achieve.
💡 Tip: Treat insurance as part of your initial event planning, not an afterthought to sort out after other logistics are confirmed. The cost is the same — but the protection is significantly better.
Documentation Your Insurer Will Need
When applying for festival insurance, prepare the following documentation:
- →Event details — date, location, expected attendance, ticketing structure
- →Total budget and expenditure commitments by category
- →Artist contracts and confirmed artist fees
- →Venue contracts and site plans
- →Production and infrastructure supplier contracts
- →Prior event history and any previous claims
- →Health and safety plans and risk assessments
Working With Councils and Authorities
Music festivals almost always require engagement with local councils — for noise management, traffic management, waste disposal, and temporary structure consent. Councils and resource consent conditions often include specific insurance requirements that must be met before the event licence is issued. Check the insurance requirements in your event permit conditions early and confirm with your broker that your programme meets all specified limits and covers.
After the Festival — Claims and Review
After the festival concludes, keep all financial documentation for a period after the event in case a delayed liability claim emerges — an injured attendee may not make a formal claim for months. Review your insurance programme against the event outcomes: what risks materialised, what was close to a claim, and what changes should be made for the next event. A good broker will debrief with you after each event and use the learning to improve the programme for the following year.
Ready to Get Covered?
Get a personalised music insurance quote from a specialist adviser.
Get a Quote →