Most things that go wrong on competition day were decided days earlier — a judge who was never briefed, a call sheet nobody printed, a tie-break rule nobody wrote down before the draw. This is a free, printable arts fest event day checklist: what to lock down before the gates open, what each station on the day itself needs within reach, and what to do once the last item finishes. It works for a school arts fest, a church or club talent test, a sports day or any judged competition with multiple items, age groups and judges — print it, hand sections to the right people, and tick as you go.
Who this checklist is for
Any coordinator running a judged event with more than a handful of items — a school kalolsavam or arts fest, a sports day, a church or club talent test, a college fest. If you’re after a printable score sheet instead of an event-day plan, see the judges score sheet template; for the stage-floor tools themselves (draw, call sheet, live board), see event day token and call sheet management.
The pre-event setup checklist (2–3 weeks before doors open)
Everything in this table should be locked down before the week of the event — none of it can be rushed on the morning without something breaking downstream (a judge who doesn’t know the criteria, a chest number that doesn’t match the registration list).
| Task | Where it happens |
|---|---|
| Age groups and event levels finalised and locked | Age Groups Setup, Event Levels |
| Competition items added, with criteria and max marks set per item | Competition Categories/Items Setup, Assign Competitions to Groups |
| Registration closed and every candidate assigned an age group and unit | Candidate Management, Bulk Participant Management |
| Judges invited, assigned to their items, and briefed on the criteria and deductions | Assign Judges — see the judge assignment guide |
| SubCoordinators, a DrawMaster and Projector-access logins assigned per venue | Users & Roles |
| Chest numbers / ID cards generated and printed | ID Card Configuration |
| Draw run and confirmed for every item (in batches for large group items) | Draw Cards — see event day token and call sheet management |
| Call sheets printed per venue, one copy for the stage manager and one for backstage | Print by Competitions |
| Tie-break rule and appeals window decided and written down — not improvised mid-event | Scoring Setup — see how to break a tie in a competition |
Event-day checklist, station by station
Print each of the following as its own half-page and hand it to the person actually staffing that station — a registration-desk volunteer doesn’t need the judges’ table’s list, and the judges don’t need the projector operator’s.
Registration & reporting desk
| ☐ | Candidate list for the day printed, sorted by reporting time / first item |
| ☐ | Spare chest numbers and safety pins on hand for a lost or damaged card |
| ☐ | A clear process for a candidate who registered but isn’t on today’s printed list (don’t turn them away — check the live system first) |
| ☐ | Contact number for the coordinator who can approve a last-minute correction |
Backstage / green room
| ☐ | Printed call sheet for every item running through this venue today |
| ☐ | A runner assigned to fetch the next few candidates ahead of time, not just the one on stage |
| ☐ | Props, music tracks and accompanists checked in before their item starts, not during the changeover |
| ☐ | A quiet way to tell backstage the draw or call sheet order changed, if it does |
Stage management & the live board
| ☐ | Token System open for the stage’s first item before doors open, not after |
| ☐ | Projector login handed to the person physically at that screen — not shared with the coordinator’s own device |
| ☐ | A backup plan for a network drop: the printed call sheet is what keeps the stage running during those five minutes |
| ☐ | Timing/bell arrangement checked and tested before the first timed item |
Judges’ table
| ☐ | Each judge seated only for the items they were assigned — checked against the day’s judge assignment, not memory |
| ☐ | Criteria and deduction rules for today’s items confirmed with every judge before the first entry |
| ☐ | A declared conflict of interest (own child, own school, own unit) flagged and reseated before scoring starts, not after |
| ☐ | A working device per judge, logged in and tested on a sample entry before doors open |
After the last item finishes
| Task | Where it happens |
|---|---|
| Every item’s results status checked — nothing left “On Progress” or unsubmitted | Results Status |
| Tabulation reviewed and winners confirmed before publishing anything | Review & Assign Winners — see the judging & tabulation hub |
| Appeals window opened and closed on schedule, before results go final | Appeals |
| Awards and championship points calculated | Calculate Awards — see competition awards management |
| Results published and certificates generated | Publish Results, Certificates — see how to publish competition results online |
Five things organizers forget most often
- No tie-break rule decided before the draw. Deciding it after two scores are already equal looks unfair even when it isn’t.
- No printed call sheet as backup. A live screen is great until the venue’s network drops for five minutes mid-event.
- Judges seated without a conflict-of-interest check. Catch it before scoring, not when a parent asks about it afterwards.
- No second person who can run the Token System or projector. One person being unavailable for ten minutes shouldn’t stall a stage.
- Appeals window never communicated. Decide and announce it before results go final, not after someone asks for a re-evaluation.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should I start this checklist?
Start the pre-event section 2–3 weeks out, as soon as registration closes and items are finalised. Judges, SubCoordinators and the DrawMaster should know their role at least a week before the event; the draw and call sheets are usually done in the final 2–3 days once every entry is confirmed.
Do I still need a printed checklist if I’m using event management software?
Yes. Software like eTalenter runs the draw, call sheets, scoring and results live, but the printed checklist is what makes sure a person actually did each setup step — invited the right judges, briefed them, assigned the DrawMaster — before the system is asked to run on the day. It’s also your backup the moment a device or the network misbehaves.
What’s the single most commonly missed step?
Briefing judges on the deduction rules, not just the criteria. A judge who knows “costume is worth 20 marks” but not “over-time loses 2 marks per 10 seconds” will score inconsistently against a judge who does — and inconsistency between judges is the complaint that follows an event home.
Turn this checklist into a live system
A checklist keeps a small event honest; for a festival running dozens of items across age groups and multiple stages, you want the age groups, items, judges, draw, call sheets and results all in one place instead of a dozen spreadsheets. Explore the kalolsavam management software this checklist is built around, read how to manage a large arts festival with 1,000+ participants, open a live demo and log in as a demo coordinator or judge (no sign-up), message us on WhatsApp, or email support@etalenter.com and we’ll help you set up your own event-day checklist in the system itself.
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