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Volunteer, VIP and queue wristbands for pandals and puja committees
Published 3 min read Paper Bands by Adalwin
Give volunteers one colour for the whole festival, issued daily and counted back, so police and visitors can tell them from the crowd. Give VIP and donor passes their own colour and their own route, and band elderly and disabled visitors in the general queue so marshals can move them forward. Change pass colours daily.
Who wears what
| Who | Band | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteers | One bright colour all festival, printed VOLUNTEER and the committee’s name | Police and visitors recognise them at once |
| Committee members | A second colour | Access to the stage, the office and the donation counter |
| VIP and donor passes | A third colour, the day printed or the colour changed daily | A separate entry and route |
| Elderly, disabled and pregnant visitors | A fourth colour, given in the queue | Marshals move them to a priority line |
| Children | Any colour, with a parent’s number written on it | Matched at the missing-child desk |
An example. Use the colours your committee already uses for its volunteers’ shirts or caps, if it has them.
VIP passes without a crush
India’s crowd management guide, from the National Disaster Management Authority, asks that VIPs move on a separate route where one exists, and tells organisers not to hesitate to refuse a VIP entry when it would add to safety concerns. A VIP band makes the separate route enforceable: that gate admits the VIP colour and nothing else.
Print the day on VIP bands, or change their colour every day, so a pass is not lent out for the rest of the festival. Fasten it at the gate rather than handing it to the guest with the pass.
Volunteer bands
Issue volunteer bands each morning against a register, and count the unused ones back each night. A volunteer band opens every barricade; a spare one in the crowd is the quickest way past the queue.
The same guide wants crowd-control staff uniformly dressed and highly visible. A band is no substitute for a shirt or a vest, but it is what a visitor sees when a volunteer raises a hand to direct the line. Neon stock colours read from across a crowd.
Timed darshan and queue passes
Where visitors book a time slot, a band in that slot’s colour lets queue marshals see who has come early. The NDMA guide suggests influencing arrivals with priority queues and booking, and asks temple boards and event managers to consider bar-coded bands instead of paper slips, which soil quickly, so scanners along the route can count visitors and time their movement.
Our printed bands carry a number or a QR code: sequential numbering and QR codes on printed orders from 5,000. See QR code wristbands.
When to order
Order before the festival weeks, when couriers and printers are busiest. Printed orders take 1 to 2 working days for one colour and 3 to 4 for full colour to print, and couriers to a metro take 2 to 3 days, varying by city. Ganeshotsav, Navratri and Durga Puja dates are in the event calendar.
For festival crowds the count matters: we print 1 to 5 lakh printed bands a month, and our largest single order was over 5 lakh bands.
Questions
What colour should volunteer wristbands be?
One that is never sold or given to visitors, and bright enough to see across a crowd. Our stock colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, neon green, neon pink, neon orange and neon yellow.
How do we stop VIP passes being shared?
Fasten the band at the gate, print the day on it or change its colour daily, and admit only that colour at the VIP gate.
Can wristbands help count visitors at a pandal?
Yes, if they are numbered or carry a QR code. The bands issued at each gate, by hour, give you a count to check against the space you have.
Sources
- National Disaster Management Authority, copy hosted by Goa State Disaster Management Authority, Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering (2014), sections 3.2.4, 3.5 and 6.3.4
Outside sources checked on 14 October 2026.