How to run a pre-sale quiz for your festival

The best time to sell next year's festival is the week after this year's one ends. Your audience is still buzzing, their photos are still on their phones, and they are already wondering about next year. A short, fun quiz turns that moment into a warm early bird list, sorted by the ticket each person is most likely to buy. This guide walks through it from start to finish, with a live example you can play.

What a festival pre-sale quiz is

It is a short personality quiz, usually six to ten questions, that tells each fan what kind of festival goer they are. Every result points to the ticket that suits them, such as a weekend camping ticket, a glamping upgrade or a family day ticket, and ends with an early bird call to action. Before they see their result, fans can leave their email with clear consent, so every play adds a tagged lead to your pre-sale list.

It works because it is fun first and sales second. People share personality results with friends, which brings in new fans, and the answers tell you exactly which ticket to put in front of each person.

Step 1: Pick your moment

Timing does most of the work. Three windows work especially well:

• The week after your festival ends. Send it with your thank you email and post it alongside your highlights video, while the memories are fresh.
• When you announce dates or the first acts. A quiz gives people something to do with their excitement, and gives you their email before tickets go on sale.
• Four to six weeks before early bird tickets go live. Long enough to build a list, short enough that people still care when the sale opens.

Step 2: Map results to your ticket types

Start from what you sell, not from the questions. List your ticket types and upgrades, then give each one a festival personality that would naturally want it. For example:

• The Front Row Faithful wants the music above all: a weekend ticket.
• The Sunset Socialiser comes for the people: a group booking.
• The Hidden Stage Hunter wants to explore: weekend camping.
• The Glamping Connoisseur loves comfort: a glamping upgrade.
• The Family Day Tripper brings the kids: a family day ticket.

Keep results warm and flattering. Nobody should finish your quiz feeling they picked the wrong festival. Five results is plenty for most festivals, and three or four works for a one day event.

Step 3: Write questions people enjoy

Good festival questions feel like a chat about the weekend, not a form. Ask about perfect festival moments, food, where people sleep, what they do when it rains and what they bring home. Give one answer per result on every question, keep the answers a similar length, and make each one appealing, so there is no obvious "right" choice.

Aim for six to ten questions. That is enough for a confident result and short enough to finish on a phone in a field. See our guide to writing quiz questions that convert for more on wording.

Step 4: Make the result do the selling

The result page is where interest turns into a sale. Give each result a vivid name, a line that sums the person up, a short warm paragraph, and one clear button for the ticket that suits them, such as "Book early bird camping tickets". Link that button straight to your ticket page, so a fan can go from result to basket in one tap.

Step 5: Capture the email with consent

Ask for an email just before you show the result, when curiosity is highest, and say plainly what you will send: early bird access and festival news. Under UK GDPR you need clear, opt in consent for marketing emails, so use a consent line rather than a pre-ticked box. Every lead arrives tagged with their festival personality, so your early bird emails can lead with the right ticket for each person.

InsightSquirrel has lead capture with GDPR consent built in.

Step 6: Share it everywhere your fans already are

• Your thank you email to this year's ticket holders.
• Instagram and TikTok, with a link in your bio and a story sticker.
• Your website homepage, embedded above the fold until early birds sell out. See how to embed a quiz on your website.
• Your line up announcements, with a "which stage are you?" angle.
• Partners, bands and traders, who can share it with their own followers.

Step 7: Turn the list into early bird sales

When early bird tickets go live, email your quiz list first, ideally a day or two before the public. Send each segment the ticket its result recommended, and follow up once with anyone who has not bought. Fans who feel they got early access because they took part are more likely to buy, and to tell their friends. For the full plan, from collecting sign-ups to launch day, see how to grow an early bird list for your festival.

Send your leads to your email tool or CRM through an integration or webhook, tagged by result, so each early bird email speaks to the right person.

What to measure

• Completion rate: how many people who start the quiz finish it. If it drops, shorten the quiz.
• Email capture rate: how many finishers leave their email. If it is low, make the early bird benefit clearer.
• Result split: which festival personalities are most common. That tells you which tickets to push and how much glamping or family space to plan.
• Sales from the list: how many quiz leads buy early bird tickets.

The fastest way to start

You do not need to write it from scratch. In InsightSquirrel, open the What kind of festival fan are you? template and swap in your festival's name, ticket types and links. Or describe your festival in one sentence to Scout, InsightSquirrel's AI quiz helper, and it drafts the questions, results and buttons for you. The free plan lets you run one live quiz with no card. For more event ideas, see quizzes for events and ticketing and how to qualify ticket buyers before your on-sale.

If you are also reviewing how you sell tickets, TicketOtter, our sister product, charges a flat fee per ticket instead of a percentage, and your quiz can link straight to it.

Frequently asked questions