How does the plan know what we are doing?

From the event profile on the toolbox index: date, type of event and characteristics. You can enter everything here directly too — the profile is just the convenient version, because then the other tools calculate with it as well.

The deadlines do not fit us. Does that matter?

No. A tavern night does not need twelve months of lead time; a festival for 2,000 needs more. Take the order and the dependencies, not the days: what has to happen before the permit happens before the permit, however much time you have.

What about tasks we are missing?

Tell us. This plan lives on practice, and you know yours better than we do. Anything named more than once goes into the catalogue.

In your browser and nowhere else. Ticked-off tasks survive closing the window. To share it with the team, use the calendar file or the PDF.

Countdown task plan

A checklist for planning an event that sorts itself. Most of what goes wrong at an event does not go wrong on the day; it goes wrong eight months earlier, when nobody thought about the permit. This plan counts backwards: from the first idea to four weeks after teardown, with a deadline, an owner and the tool that does the job.

Filtered to your event: what you are not doing is not in it. No fire, no fire notification; no grant, no final report. Everything can be ticked off, and the deadlines export as a calendar file for the team.

Two of the tasks in it are tools of their own: the risk assessment in the Safety concept assistant and the grant application in the Cost and funding plan.

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Without a date the plan shows the order but no deadlines.

Concept — about a year out

Settle the concept and the audienceWho is it for, what is it, and how big? Everything else follows from this.
Event lead
Set the budget envelopeA rough envelope is enough: what may it cost, and where is the money coming from?
Finance · Open tool: Cost and funding plan
Pin down a date and a siteCheck the date against holidays and other events in the scene; enquire about the site.
Event lead
Name the core team and who is responsible for whatWho decides in an emergency whether to stop or evacuate? In writing, before anything else.
Event lead · Open tool: Safety concept assistant

Preparation — nine to three months out

Reserve the site and check the contractCheck the contract for extra costs, cancellation terms, noise conditions and liability.
Crew
Establish the permitted capacity and escape routesFloor area, escape routes and the permit condition — the smallest number applies.
Crew · Open tool: Capacity and escape route calculator
Obtain permits (licensing authority, royalties, alcohol)Work through the authority checklist. Allow for the deadlines; some offices take months.
Crew
Start the risk assessmentReview hazards before the programme is fixed — cutting something later is harder.
Safety · Open tool: Safety concept assistant
Size and book the medical coverWork out the cover and agree it with the aid organisation and the authority.
Safety · Open tool: Medical services calculator
Plan and order sanitary provisionToilets, handwashing, and for camps also showers, water and a servicing rhythm.
Crew · Open tool: Toilet and camp supply calculator
Approach sponsors and partnersEarly enough that sponsors can still fit it into their annual budget.
Finance
Book the programme and performersContracts and fees in writing, with a cancellation clause.
Programme

Implementation — three months to two weeks out

Set up ticketing and open registrationFix prices, batches and cancellation terms before registration opens.
Crew · Open tool: Cost and funding plan
Start announcing (website, social media, press)Have the press text, images and dates ready, then publish.
Communications
Check insurance coverOrganiser's liability with suitable cover, accident cover for volunteers.
Event lead
Submit the safety concept to the authorityEarly enough that any conditions imposed can still be met.
Safety · Open tool: Safety concept assistant
Draw up the helper and shift planWith rest periods. Someone awake for 48 hours makes the bad call during teardown.
Crew
Agree weather thresholds and abort criteriaSet thresholds and measures while nobody is under time pressure.
Safety
Compile the participant list, allergies and emergency contactsVoluntary disclosure, for the medics only, deleted after the event.
Crew

Delivery — the last week and the day itself

Build-up and teardown plan, access and emergency routeOrder, people, vehicles. The emergency access stays clear throughout.
Crew
Build up, inspect the site, keep escape routes clearWalk and sign off the site before the first participants arrive.
Crew
Deliver the safety briefingSite, combat rules, fire, emergencies, safety tools. Brief latecomers separately.
Safety
Event day: run the scheduleThe schedule, radio discipline, medics on station, someone watching the clock.
Everyone

Follow-up — up to four weeks afterwards

Teardown and handing the site backNot in the night after play ends. Fatigue is the commonest cause of teardown accidents.
Crew
Thank the helpers, collect feedbackWhile it is fresh. Feedback that arrives a week later is paler.
Event lead
Check and pay the invoicesBefore the deadlines run and before anyone forgets what the item was for.
Finance
Debrief and check whether the measures workedWhat worked and what did not? Write it back into the risk assessment.
Safety · Open tool: Safety concept assistant

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How this is calculated

The frame is the phases — concept, preparation, implementation, delivery, follow-up — from our own cost plan. Added to it is what applies only to some events (fire notification, grant application, consent forms for minors) and what LARP specifically needs: registration batches, character submission, NPC briefing, weapon check, camp allocation, the debrief.

Deadlines are days relative to the first day of the event, and deliberately round. This is a plan to argue with, not a schedule to obey — "about six months out" is more honest than a date to the day.

The calendar file contains all-day entries. A task due six months ahead has no time of day, and inventing 09:00 would put a precision in your diary that does not exist.

Phases and core tasks from the task sheet of our cost and funding plan
Additions from our own event practice

Every figure with its source and review date is in the metrics register — including when it was last checked against the regulation.

Common questions

Organiser briefing

Roughly monthly: funding deadlines, new tools, practical knowledge for organisers. Nothing for sale, unsubscribe any time.

Related tools

Orientation value. This calculator is no substitute for talking to the licensing authority, the building inspectorate, the fire service or a qualified planner. The German states each adapt the model regulation, so what binds your event is your state's version plus the conditions in your own permit.

Figures as of: 1.0 · last reviewed: 2026-09-18

This tool calculates in the browser and needs JavaScript for it. The figures behind it — with source and review date — are readable without: metrics register.