Stop guessing your infrastructure numbers and start arriving on site with a plan that holds.
The Event Operations Calculator sizes your entire site from a single patron count. Field tested ratios across 17 event types. Sanitation, entries, security, medical, power, waste, bars, food service, crowd flow and accessibility.
One number in. Everything out.
You know how this goes. Somebody asks how many toilets you need. You check last year's file, adjust the number, and hope it holds. Then you do the same for entry lanes. Then generators. Then medical. Then waste.
By show day, you're working from a patchwork of guesses, borrowed spreadsheets and numbers nobody can trace back to a source.
That's not planning. That's setting up the firefight before you arrive on site.
The Event Operations Calculator gives you one place to size your entire event infrastructure. Select your event type, enter your patron count and duration, and everything else calculates automatically. The ratios adjust based on whether you're running a festival, a concert, a civic event, a sporting fixture or any of 17 event categories, because a 5,000 person community market and a 5,000 person nightlife event are not the same planning problem.
Run three scenarios side by side. See every number update at once. Use it for contingency planning, council submissions, or briefing your crew on what changes between a 1,000 day and a 5,000 day.
The power planning tool lets you enter amp loads per zone across 13 load categories. Single phase and three phase, with regional voltage settings for Australia, UK, North America, Middle East and beyond. Contingency is applied automatically and generator sizes are recommended per zone.
These ratios come from field experience, not regulation. They are a planning baseline. Always verify against local requirements, your venue access plan and any site specific conditions. All power designs must be reviewed by a licensed electrician.
How it works
Step 1
Choose your event type
Select from 17 event categories.
Festival, concert, civic event, sporting fixture, community market, nightlife, conference and more. The calculator adjusts every ratio to match your event type, because the infrastructure for a 5,000 person food festival is not the same as a 5,000 person motorsport event.
Step 2
Enter your patron count
Type in one number.
The calculator sizes everything: sanitation, entry lanes, emergency exits, bar frontage, food service, security, police, medical, first aid, ambulance bays, waste crew, bins, crowd infrastructure, accessible toilets, viewing positions, parking and companion spaces. All updated instantly.
Step 3
Compare scenarios and plan with confidence
Run three crowd sizes side by side.
See what changes between a 1,000 day and a 5,000 day. Use the output for council submissions, crew briefings, contingency planning or your next risk assessment. The numbers are defensible because they come from field experience, not guesswork.
Zone by zone power planning, built in
Enter amp loads per zone and compound across 13 load categories. Single phase and three phase. Regional voltage settings for Australia, UK, North America, Middle East and beyond. The calculator applies 25% contingency automatically and recommends generator sizes per zone. Your total site load feeds back to the main tab so the full picture is always visible.
All power designs must be reviewed by a licensed electrician. This tool is for planning, not certification.
Size your site in minutes, not days
Stop spending hours piecing together infrastructure numbers from different spreadsheets, old files and half remembered conversations. Enter your patron count once and get every number you need across every category.
Defend your numbers when it matters
When a council asks how you arrived at your toilet count, or an insurer questions your medical staffing, you need numbers that come from somewhere real. These ratios are built from decades of field delivery across major outdoor events.
Plan for what actually changes
A 3,000 person day and an 8,000 person day are not the same event. The calculator lets you compare three scenarios at once so your crew briefings, risk plans and council submissions account for real variation, not best case assumptions.
Created by Iain
Iain Morrison
Founder, Behind the Stage
Co Founder, The Imagination Collaborative
35+ years delivering outdoor events
Australian Event Awards Event Manager of the Year (2010)
Iain has spent three decades in the part of events most people never see. The gates, the bump in, the 3am decisions, the moments where the plan either holds, or it doesn’t. Behind the Stage exists because Iain got sick of watching good people burn out under bad systems.
This calculator is built from the same operational thinking Iain has used across decades of real site delivery. The ratios are not from a textbook. They are from the field.
Brands Iain has worked with include
Career highlights
• 35+ years across festivals, stadium tours, public celebrations, and complex outdoor builds
• Built and ran Humm (2001–2020), then sold and exited after delivering major events nationwide
• Led high risk, high visibility delivery including crowd heavy concerts and major civic moments
• Known for calm control: intent clear, ownership clear, triggers clear, no hero culture
• Advocate for proper show stop protocols and rehearsed decision making, not vibes and hope
• Co founded The Imagination Collaborative to help teams see the event before they build it
Frequently Asked Questions
What event types does it cover?
17 categories including festivals, concerts, civic events, sporting fixtures, community markets, nightlife events, conferences, exhibitions, motorsport, food and drink festivals, cultural events, parades, outdoor cinema, fun runs, school fetes, private functions and multi-day camping events. Each type adjusts the infrastructure ratios to match the specific planning requirements.
Are these ratios from regulation or legislation?
No. These ratios come from field experience delivering major outdoor events. They are a planning baseline, not a compliance document. Always verify against local requirements, your venue access plan and any site-specific conditions.
What format is the calculator?
It is a web-based tool hosted inside your Behind the Stage account. Log in, open it, use it. Available on any device with a browser. No download required.
Can I use it for council submissions?
Yes. The scenario comparison feature lets you present three crowd sizes side by side, which is exactly what most councils want to see for DA approvals and event applications. The numbers are defensible because they come from documented field ratios, not estimates.
What does the power planning tool cover?
You can enter amp loads per zone across 13 load categories, set single or three phase, choose your regional voltage, and the tool applies 25% contingency and recommends generator sizes per zone. The total site load rolls up to the main calculator tab. All power designs must be reviewed by a licensed electrician.
Is there a refund?
Once purchased, the calculator is yours to access any time through your Behind the Stage account. Due to the nature of digital tools with immediate access, refunds are not available. If you have questions before purchasing, email [email protected].
Do I need a Behind the Stage account?
Yes. When you purchase, an account is created for you (or linked to your existing one). The calculator lives inside your account so you can access it whenever you need it.
Stop Guessing. Start Planning
Every outdoor event starts with the same infrastructure questions.
The Event Operations Calculator gives you defensible answers from a single patron count.
$99 USD. Yours to use on every event.
© Behind The Stage 2026