How to set up a wristband entry gate

Three jobs per lane

• Checker. Scans or reads the ticket, checks ID if age matters, and says the tier out loud.
• Bander. Fastens the band in that tier’s colour, snug, with the tab pressed flat. See how to put on a paper wristband.
• Marshal. Keeps the line moving, sends problems to the supervisor and refills band stock.

One person doing all three makes the slowest lane at the gate, and the easiest one to cheat.

Layout

• A holding area in front of the lanes, so the queue does not press against the gate. India’s crowd management guide lists a limited holding area before the entrance among the causes of crowd disasters.
• Snake lines between barricades, lit after dark, as the same guide recommends, so nobody trips over a chain in a rush.
• Entry and exit apart, and every emergency exit clear.
• A supervisor’s desk to one side for lost tickets, torn bands and arguments, off the lanes.
• Signs over each lane saying which tickets it takes.

How many lanes

Time it rather than guess. In rehearsal, put twenty people through one lane from ticket to band, and work out how many an hour that lane handles. Then:

Lanes = guests arriving in the peak hour ÷ guests one lane handles in an hour

If 3,000 guests arrive in the hour before the main act and your rehearsal says a lane handles 300 an hour, you need 10 lanes, and one more for problems.

Band stock at the gate

• Count bands out to each lane by the box. Ours come in sheets of 10, boxes of 100 and cartons of 1,000.
• Keep spare stock with the supervisor, not under the lane table.
• Log torn bands as spoiled and keep them.
• Count back at closing. Numbered bands make this exact; see numbered wristbands.
• Blunt-ended scissors at every lane, to cut off a wrong band at once.

Counting who is inside

The NDMA guide asks for an effective way of counting visitors at the points they pass through, and lists letting people in beyond a venue’s holding capacity among the causes of crowd disasters. Bands issued per lane per hour give the control room that number as the evening goes.

The guide also recommends bar-coded bands over paper slips at places of mass gathering, so scanners can count and time visitors. A QR code on each band does this; see QR code wristbands.