GUIDE · 5 MIN READ

How to use
festivalpilot.

Six steps from a blank screen to a finished festival plan. Plus the tricks you usually only learn after your first festival.

§01 Pick a festival

Open, tap a festival, go

On first launch festivalpilot shows you the current season as a festival picker. Tap the one you are going to. You can switch festivals any time — your bookmarks stay separate per festival.

💡 Tip

Going to several? Switching works mid-season too. Pro users can keep multiple festivals open in parallel.

21:15 100
festivalpilot — Pick a festival
§02 Read the timetable

Stages side by side, time runs down

The timetable works like a classic festival poster, just digital. Stages run horizontally, time runs vertically. The red line marks what is live right now — with a "NOW" pin and auto-scroll to the current time.

💡 Tip

The app auto-scrolls to the current time when you open it. To look further ahead, just swipe up.

21:15 100
festivalpilot — Read the timetable
§03 Bookmark bands

Long-press to bookmark instantly

Long-press a slot and it turns yellow immediately — no detour, done. If you want to see band info, stage, duration and genres first, do a quick tap: the slot detail opens with a big bookmark button. Yellow is the only signal for "I want to see this".

💡 Tip

Not sure yet? Long-press all candidates first. A second long-press removes the mark again.

21:15 100
festivalpilot — Bookmark bands
§04 Spot conflicts

Two favourites, one slot

As soon as you bookmark two bands that overlap in time, festivalpilot shows it instantly. Conflict slots get a hatch pattern and a thin connecting line between them. Clear as a warning sign — no popup nagging.

💡 Tip

Tap a conflict slot to see its conflict partner in the detail sheet and jump straight to the other slot.

21:15 100
festivalpilot — Spot conflicts
§05 Filter & sort

Genre, day, bookmarks only

Need more overview? Genre filter chips show only what you care about (e.g. "PUNK/HARDCORE"), non-matching slots dim out. Or switch to "MINE" to reduce the lineup to your bookmarks. The day tabs at the top jump between Fri, Sat and Sun.

💡 Tip

Filters combine. "MINE" + "Metal" shows all your bookmarked metal bands. Useful for crew alignment.

21:15 100
festivalpilot — Filter & sort
§06 My bands

Your plan at a glance

In the "My bands" tab you see all bookmarked slots — chronological, or grouped by day (Pro feature). Conflict banner at the top surfaces open clashes, every slot shows its status (⚠ unresolved, ✓ resolved). Tap an entry to jump back to the timetable at the right spot.

💡 Tip

See step 07 for how to share that plan with your crew.

23:45 100
OFFLINE · AS OF 23:45
8 BOOKMARKS · FRI

My
bands

Chronological By day 🔒
FRI 14:05
The Pretty Reckless ■ UTOPIA
FRI 16:25
Wargasm ■ ORBIT
FRI 16:45
Bury Tomorrow ■ MANDORA
FRI 23:20
Bad Omens ■ MANDORA
§07 Share your plan

Day plan as a card to your crew

From the timetable you generate a plan card with your bookmarked bands — as a story (9:16) or square (1:1). Day plan shows your Friday or Saturday in chronological order with stages and times; overview wraps the whole festival into one. Send via any messenger.

💡 Tip

More than 8 bands in one day? The app paginates automatically with a '1/2' marker — no plan is too long.

12:08 100
SHARE PLAN

My
Friday

Story 9:16 Square 1:1
FESTIVALPILOT · RIP · FRI
14:05Pretty Reckless
16:25Wargasm
18:50Bury Tomorrow
21:15Ice Nine Kills
23:20Bad Omens
1 / 1
§08 Arrival

From sofa to stage

In the Festival Hub you'll find the Arrival Planner: open the festival address directly in Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze. Plus curated parking, public transport and shuttle tips. Enter your postcode and the app estimates drive time and a 'leave by' time — fully offline from a bundled DACH postcode table.

💡 Tip

The 'leave by' time adds an hour of buffer for the drive, parking and the entrance. If you want to be early, plan accordingly.

09:45 100
ARRIVAL · RIP 2026

From sofa
to stage

Nürburgring 53520 Nürburg
🍎 Apple Maps
G Google Maps
W Waze
PC 80331 · ~478 km
~ 5 h 12 min Leave by 08:30
§09 Location Markers

Find your car and tent again

Drop pins for car, tent, meetup point or stage. Show your crew where your stuff is even on Sunday morning, without signal or with a dead battery. Pins are stored locally — no cloud, no one else's eyes, no tracking.

💡 Tip

Pin right after you set up — not when you're stumbling between 20,000 tents at 3 am on Sunday.

03:14 100
OFFLINE · AS OF 03:14
LOCATION MARKERS · 3 PINS

My
spots

CAR · P3
TENT · J17
MEETUP
CAR · set 2 h ago
TENT · set 1 h ago
MEETUP · 18 min ago
§07

Tricks & details

Small things that turn a guide into an actual plan.

Walking times between stages

Pro feature: under Settings → "Stage walking times" you enter your walking time per stage pair. Conflict resolution factors it in — if Band A ends and Band B starts five minutes later but the walk takes ten, the app warns you.

Offline mode

Once you have opened a festival, all data is stored locally (Hive storage). On festival day just keep airplane mode on to save battery. Online is only used to pull lineup updates and live hints.

Push reminders before set

Push reminders are sent per bookmarked slot. Default lead time is 15 minutes before set start. Fixed in the free tier; Pro lets you change it or disable per slot.

Custom header gradient

Pro feature: from the timetable header or the "lineup coming"-empty state you open the gradient editor and pick a 3-colour gradient for your festival. Recognition cue when you run multiple festivals in parallel.

Quick festival switch

Long-press the timetable icon in the bottom navigation to open a list of all actively bookmarked festivals — one tap and you are over there. Handy when you plan two festivals in parallel.

Activate Live Mode

When a festival is currently happening, a "LIVE MODE" button appears in the timetable header. Tapping it focuses the app on right-now plus the next hours, with a prominent NOW marker. Outside the festival it stays in normal weekend-overview mode.

Send hints

In the timetable empty state (when a festival has no schedule yet) and in the slot detail during a running festival you find the "Send hint" button. You correct data for everyone else with the app — no account, no trackers.

Share a pin as a meetup

Drop a marker on your crew's meetup point and export it as a maps link via the share sheet. Anyone not there yet taps straight into their favourite maps app. Works even if the recipient does not have festivalpilot.

Sync arrival with your plan

The "leave by" time in the Arrival Planner is anchored to the festival start. Want to catch a specific band? Count back from its start time — plus buffer for the entrance and the walk to the stage.

§08

Still curious?

Quick answers to common how-to questions.

Can I un-bookmark?
Yes — a second long-press removes the bookmark.
Can I share my plan?
Yes. Generate a plan card as a story or square image and send it via any messenger — see step 07.
Do I need internet to bookmark?
No, bookmarks work offline. Sync across devices is on the roadmap.
Do Arrival Planner and Location Markers work offline?
Yes. The postcode estimate lives in a bundled local DACH table; the maps apps only open briefly for navigation. Location pins never leave your device — everything stays local.
What does "Pro locked" mean?
Some extras (by-day view, walking times, custom gradient, custom reminder lead time) require optional yearly Pro access.

More about the product, our stance and privacy on the homepage FAQ section.

All clear?
Get the app.

Native app for iOS and Android. Free on the App Store and Google Play.