Why many festival pages underperform

How SwiftSchema helps

How it works

What is Festival structured data?

Festival marks up multi-event cultural gatherings using the Event model, including dates, venues, performers, and ticketing.

Essential properties

1. name
   — festival title.
2. startDate
   /
   endDate
   — ISO 8601 with timezone.
3. location
   —
   Place
   (venue) or multiple venues via
   subEvent
   .
4. eventAttendanceMode
   —
   Online
   ,
   Offline
   , or
   Mixed
   (for hybrid festivals).
5. description
   — overview of programming and highlights.
6. image
   — key art or promo images.
7. organizer
   /
   performer
   — festival host(s) and lineup.
8. offers
   — ticket options with price, currency, availability, and purchase URL.
9. eventSchedule
   — optional
   Schedule
   for daily programming.
10. subEvent
    — use for major headliner shows under the festival banner.
11. inLanguage
    — include when localizing festival pages.

Content prep checklist

• Provide a detailed description with dates, venue locations, and headliners.
• Include daily schedule or lineup summaries.
• Highlight amenities (camping, food vendors, accessibility services).
• Offer travel info (parking, public transit, shuttles).
• Provide ticket tiers (GA, VIP, camping) with prices and availability windows.
• Showcase photos/videos from previous editions to build credibility.
• Note accessibility features (ADA seating, ramps), camping rules, and health/safety policies. Keep them visible and mirrored in any linked resources.

Implementation workflow

1. Update the festival landing page with the above content.
2. Generate Festival JSON‑LD covering name, dates, location, attendance mode, organizer, performers, and offers.
3. List subEvents (major performances) or link to Event pages per day/stage.
4. Embed the schema once per festival page; for each performer event, include separate Event schema referencing the festival via
   superEvent
   .
5. Validate using Rich Results Test; resolve warnings (missing endDate, location address).
6. Keep schema updated when adding artists, changing venues, or adjusting ticket tiers.
7. Use eventSchedule for recurring daily times (e.g., gates open 10:00–23:00); ensure scheduleTimezone is set.
8. Localize: add
   inLanguage
   and localized URLs for multilingual pages; align hreflang/canonicals.

Linking to EventSeries and individual Events

• Use EventSeries to describe annual festivals; link current year’s Festival as
  subEvent
  or
  superEvent
  .
• Each major stage/day can be an Event linked to the Festival via
  superEvent
  .
• Maintain consistent naming conventions to avoid confusing crawlers.
• If you host both in-person and livestream components, include both Place and VirtualLocation; note which acts/sets are streamed.

Common Errors & Fixes

• Missing endDate: add it for multi-day festivals.
• Omitted lineup: include key performers via
  performer
  .
• Incomplete address: add full PostalAddress for venues.
• Missing ticket info: provide Offer data even for free festivals (price 0).

Ticketing and offers

• Include one Offer per ticket tier (GA, VIP, camping, parking). Add
  price
  ,
  priceCurrency
  ,
  availability
  , and
  url
  .
• Use
  availabilityStarts
  /
  availabilityEnds
  or
  validFrom
  /
  validThrough
  for early bird sales.
• For sold-out tiers, update
  availability
  to
  SoldOut
  and adjust on-page copy.
• Keep offer URLs stable; use UTMs if needed for tracking, but ensure the base URL is clean and functional.

Lineup and stages

• Add prominent performers as
  performer
  entries; ensure names match on-page lineup text.
• If you have multiple stages/days, create subEvent/Event entries with
  superEvent
  pointing to the Festival.
• Include
  eventSchedule
  for recurring daily hours (gates open/close) and stage start times; add
  scheduleTimezone
  .

Location and logistics

• For multi-venue festivals, set the primary venue in
  location
  and list additional venues in content or subEvent entries.
• Provide parking/public transit details on-page; ensure venue addresses in schema match the tickets and on-site signage.
• For camping festivals, include amenities (showers, lockers) via
  amenityFeature
  in content and mention in the description.

Troubleshooting checklist

• Missing timezone: ensure
  startDate
  /
  endDate
  include offsets; use local time with zone.
• Hybrid ambiguity: set
  eventAttendanceMode
  and include VirtualLocation when streaming; clarify in content.
• Stale lineup/offers: update performers and ticket availability as changes happen; adjust schema accordingly.
• Duplicate schema: avoid multiple Festival blocks on the same page; separate Festival vs subEvent/Event markup.
• Broken ticket links: verify
  offers.url
  resolves and matches visible CTAs.

On-page parity checklist

• Dates/times on-page match
  startDate
  /
  endDate
  (with timezone).
• Venue details and address match
  location
  ; virtual/join links match
  VirtualLocation
  /offers.
• Performers listed on-page match
  performer
  entries (headliners at minimum).
• Ticket tiers, prices, and availability on-page align with
  offers
  .
• Attendance mode (online/offline/mixed) is clear on-page and in schema.
• One Festival JSON-LD per festival page; sub-events use Event with
  superEvent
  pointing to the festival.

Validation and maintenance

• Run Rich Results Test after schedule, lineup, or ticketing changes.
• Update
  eventStatus
  and
  offers
  if dates shift or tickets sell out.
• Revalidate after adding/removing stages/venues or switching to hybrid/online.
• Keep
  lastReviewed
  current; assign owners to update schema during lineup or ticket drops.