Festival Accommodation, Per Diems and Hidden Touring Costs

Festival touring is rarely priced by the ticket alone. For a theatre company, the real question is what an engagement pays for and what it leaves the company to cover. Accommodation, per diems and a cluster of less visible costs can turn an apparently workable fee into a loss. The practical answer is to separate the company fee from expenses, confirm what the presenter or festival provides in kind, and budget every recurring and one-off cost before signing. International touring guides stress that this work is a long process of research and relationship-building, not simply a booking Guide to international touring.

Start with the fee–expense boundary

ArtsProfessional’s guidance on financing tours is blunt on the point: be clear about what comes within the company fee and what is classed as expenses Foreign Affairs – Financing Tours. That sounds administrative, but it determines whether accommodation and per diems are extra income or costs already assumed in the fee. The same guidance suggests a fee may include one-off costs such as a proportion of mounting or re-rehearsal costs, set adaptations, costumes, wigs, props and furniture, lighting and sound preparation and maintenance, replacement stock, marketing costs and a management fee. It may also need to cover weekly running costs: wages and National Insurance contributions, overtime, holiday pay, hire of costume, props and equipment, wardrobe laundry, and administrative costs such as photocopying and telephone ArtsProfessional. A fee that ignores these items is not a market rate; it is a subsidy from the company.

Per diems: a daily allowance, not a fee

A per diem is a daily allowance intended to cover subsistence—meals and small daily costs—rather than a production fee or wage. The term is useful because it separates living costs from the artistic and technical budget. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s touring guidance includes subsistence in the list of things to consider when calculating a basic fee, alongside cast and crew salaries, running costs, royalties, marketing, freight, visas, travel and accommodation Edinburgh Festival Fringe, ‘Preparing to tour’. That does not mean every festival contract treats per diems the same way. The company should check whether the allowance is included in the fee, paid on top, reimbursed against receipts, or provided as meals and accommodation. If it is paid in cash, the contract should say when and in what currency; if it is reimbursement, it should state the evidence required and the deadline for claims.

Two questions are often missed. First, which days attract the allowance: travel days, rehearsal days, dark days and get-out days as well as performance days? Second, how is the allowance treated for tax and employment purposes? The cited sources do not provide a universal rule, because treatment depends on the jurisdiction and the company’s status. Companies should verify the position with a local adviser or official tax source rather than assuming that a per diem is tax-free.

Accommodation: in-kind, capped, or additional

Accommodation is one of the largest variables in festival touring, and it is also one of the most contract-specific. CircuitWest’s finance guidance for touring performing arts shows advises companies to establish whether accommodation is included or additional to the presenter’s purchase price, and what level of accommodation is expected—its example is four-star CircuitWest, ‘Finance 101 for Touring Performing Arts Shows’. The Edinburgh Fringe guidance likewise lists accommodation among the basic costs to calculate when preparing to tour Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In practice, a festival may provide accommodation in kind, arrange and pay for a block booking, cap a nightly rate, or leave the company to find and pay for rooms. Each arrangement shifts risk.

If accommodation is ‘included’, the company still needs the details: how many rooms, for which dates, at what standard, in what location, and whether breakfast, local travel, deposits, cancellation charges or extra nights are covered. A room that is provided only for performance nights may leave the company paying for the get-in, technical rehearsal or rest day. A room that is far from the venue may create daily transport costs that were never budgeted. These are not reasons to reject an offer; they are reasons to put the arrangement in writing.

The hidden-cost map

Production and repertoire costs

Tour budgets often focus on obvious travel and hotel bills while overlooking the cost of preparing the work for the road. ArtsProfessional notes that one-off costs can include a proportion of mounting or re-rehearsal costs, set adaptations, costumes, wigs, props and furniture, lighting and sound preparation and maintenance, purchase of replacement stock, marketing costs such as photographs and posters, and a management fee Foreign Affairs – Financing Tours. Weekly running costs may include wages and National Insurance contributions, overtime, holiday pay, hire of costume, props and equipment, wardrobe laundry, and administrative costs such as photocopying and telephone ArtsProfessional. These are not abstract overheads. They are the costs that determine whether a fee leaves the company solvent.

Box-office royalties are a separate hidden cost if the contract does not make them explicit. CircuitWest asks whether there is a royalty on the box office and gives an illustrative calculation: 200 tickets at $30 produce $6,000; a 15% royalty adds $900, and this is often on top of the performance fee CircuitWest. The lesson is not that 15% is standard—it is that a royalty can change the value of an engagement, especially at a festival where ticket prices, comps and sales splits vary.

Travel, visas, freight and subsistence

The Fringe guidance includes visa, travel and accommodation costs, freight and subsistence in the basic fee calculation Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Freight is easy to underestimate because it covers not only the obvious set but also costumes, props, musical instruments, technical equipment and spare stock. Visa costs can include application fees, biometric appointments, courier charges and travel to interviews; documentary evidence and processing times should be checked with the destination country’s official immigration authorities. None of these should be treated as a fixed international norm. They are jurisdiction-specific.

Administration and home overheads

Tour administration is costly even when it is invisible on stage. The Fringe guidance warns that a proportion of original production costs and ongoing overheads should be included, because office rent and bills continue while the company is away Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ArtsProfessional lists administrative costs such as photocopying and telephone among weekly running costs Foreign Affairs – Financing Tours. Add marketing costs and a management fee, which the same guidance places within the fee ArtsProfessional. A small company may absorb these costs through unpaid labour, but that does not make them disappear; it transfers them to the individuals.

Presenter-side costs that become company costs

Some costs begin as the presenter’s responsibility and become the company’s by default. If the venue does not supply a technician, the company may need to hire one; if the festival does not provide a piano or a specific lighting rig, the company may need to adapt or transport equipment. The cited sources do not list every possible item, but the principle is consistent: establish what is provided, what is hired, and who pays before the contract is signed.

Building a festival budget

1. Define the engagement. Establish the number of performances, get-in and get-out dates, technical support and any workshops or press activity. CircuitWest advises checking how many performances a purchase price gives and whether accommodation is included or additional CircuitWest.
2. Cost the fee from the inside out. Start with wages, running costs, royalties, marketing, subsistence, freight, visas, travel and accommodation, then add a proportion of original production costs and ongoing overheads Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Use ArtsProfessional’s distinction between one-off and weekly costs to avoid leaving items out Foreign Affairs – Financing Tours.
3. List in-kind support and additional costs separately. Record what the festival provides—rooms, meals, local transport, crew, equipment—and what the company must buy. Do not assume that accommodation is included; check the level, dates and extras CircuitWest.
4. Model the box office. If there is a royalty or sales split, calculate it at low, medium and high sales, not only at a sold-out house. Use the CircuitWest example as a prompt for the arithmetic, not as a universal rate CircuitWest.
5. Add contingency and check cash flow. The sources do not prescribe a contingency percentage; record your assumptions and ensure the company can pay deposits, freight and per diems before box-office income arrives.
6. Verify changing details. Visa requirements, tax treatment and contractual terms can change. Check them with official immigration and tax sources, and if an overseas presenter’s reliability is unknown, ArtsProfessional advises checking first with the local British Council arts officer in the destination country Foreign Affairs – Financing Tours.

A contract checklist

Common misconceptions

Why the detail matters

Transparent budgeting is part of fair international exchange. It allows a company to compare offers, explain its costs and negotiate without inflating the artistic ask or silently absorbing the shortfall. It also protects the people doing the work: performers, technicians and administrators are less likely to subsidise a tour through unpaid time or unreimbursed meals. For The Internationalists, festival accommodation, per diems and hidden costs are not accounting trivia. They are the material conditions that make cross-border performance possible, and they deserve to be written into the contract before the show travels.