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What are general terms and conditions for events? These are the standard rules that an organizer declares applicable in advance to every visitor, ticket buyer, or participant — regarding ticket sales and cancellation, force majeure and call-off, liability, house rules, payment, and weather conditions. They determine what happens if a festival is cancelled, a visitor causes damage, or a thunderstorm breaks out. Without these conditions, you fall back solely on the law, which often works out unfavorably for an organizer.
The short answer
- What: standard provisions that the organizer unilaterally declares applicable to the legal relationship with the visitor or participant.
- Function: distribute risks (cancellation, force majeure, liability, weather) and make house rules enforceable.
- Legal status: valid provided it is handed over before or at the time of concluding the agreement (Art. 6:233-234 BW).
- Limit: for consumers (visitors), unreasonably burdensome clauses are voidable (black/grey list).
- Core: ticket and cancellation policy, force majeure/cancellation, limitation of liability, house rules, payment, weather clause.
Why an organizer needs them
Legally, an event is a collection of separate agreements: with every ticket buyer, every participant, and sometimes with suppliers and artists. Without your own terms and conditions, only the law applies. This means that, in principle, you must refund the full ticket amount in the event of cancellation, that you may be liable for damage during the event, and that your house rules (no glassware, no crowdsurfing, no professional cameras) are not contractually enforceable.
General terms and conditions turn that around. They stipulate exactly what a ticket entails, when refunds are and are not issued, up to what amount you are liable, and which rules of conduct apply on the premises. They turn a chaotic situation—a cancelled festival, an injured visitor—into a pre-arranged situation.
Ticket sales and cancellation
The heart of the event terms and conditions is the ticket and cancellation policy. Key points:
- A ticket equals the right of access, not a commodity. Resale (secondary market) can be restricted or prohibited.
- Cancellation by the visitor: for event tickets, there is no statutory right of withdrawal (exception for leisure activities, Art. 6:230p BW). Therefore, you do not have to issue a refund in the case of “I can’t make it after all”.
- Personalization and name change: whether and at what cost a ticket may be transferred to a specific name.
- Rescheduling to a new date: valid ticket remains valid, or entitlement to a refund.
Please note: the rule “no right of withdrawal for leisure activities” only applies if you specify a concrete date or period in your terms and conditions. If you do not, a consumer can still withdraw within 14 days.
Force majeure and cancellation
Force majeure (Art. 6:75 BW) is a situation that you could not foresee or prevent: a pandemic ban, an emergency decree by the mayor, or a storm that makes the site unsafe. Your terms and conditions determine what happens to paid tickets in such cases.
A tiered arrangement is common: in the event of cancellation, a rescheduling to a new date is offered first, and only if that fails or the visitor refuses is a (partial) refund issued. An organizational fee or service charge is often withheld. Important: a clause excluding all refunds in the event of force majeure is easily considered unreasonably burdensome towards consumers and is therefore voidable. A reasonable apportionment (for example, ticket value minus costs already incurred) holds up better.
Visitor liability and limitation
Two sides:
- Liability of the organizer: you limit this to, for example, the ticket price or the insured amount, and exclude consequential damages. You can never exclude intent and willful recklessness.
- Visitor liability: anyone who causes damage to the grounds, equipment, or other visitors is liable for it. You must explicitly record this.
For consumers, the boundary of the black and grey lists applies (Articles 6:236-237 of the Dutch Civil Code): a complete exclusion of liability for injury or death does not hold up. A proportional limitation does.
House rules, payment and weather
Three practical blocks that recur in every area:
- House rules: right of search, prohibited items, rules of conduct, right of refusal and removal without refund. By including them in the terms and conditions, they become contractually binding.
- Payment: payment dates for participants/exhibitors, service fees, consequences of non-payment (no entry).
- Weather conditions: an outdoor event will, in principle, proceed in the event of “bad weather”. You may only interrupt or cancel in the event of a safety hazard (code orange/red, thunderstorms) — without entitlement to a refund for ordinary rain. You must explicitly establish this distinction.
Practical example
An organizer of a one-day food festival sold 4,000 tickets. Two days beforehand, the KNMI issued an orange alert due to severe wind gusts. Thanks to the weather clause in his terms and conditions, he was able to postpone the event by one day without having to refund all tickets; the tickets remained valid for the new date. The handful of attendees who could not attend received a refund for the ticket value minus service fees. Without that clause, he might have had to refund the full amount to everyone.
Honest recommendation
For a small, one-off event with only free admission and no participants, you usually do not need extensive terms and conditions — a few clear house rules at the entrance suffice, and you do not need a lawyer for that. As soon as you start selling tickets, face weather and force majeure risks, or want to be able to hold visitors/exhibitors liable, a good set of terms and conditions becomes important. The biggest mistake is a set plucked from the internet that is not tailored to consumers: clauses that are unreasonably burdensome are voidable and actually do not protect you if things go wrong.
Want to know more or have it arranged? View general terms and conditions for events, read how to draft general terms and conditions for events, or discover the costs of having general terms and conditions for events drafted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Standard terms and conditions that an organizer declares applicable in advance to every visitor, ticket buyer, or participant. They govern ticket sales and cancellation, force majeure and cancellation, liability, house rules, payment, and weather conditions. Without its own terms and conditions, only the law applies, which often works out unfavorably for an organizer.
Yes, provided they were provided before or at the time of concluding the agreement (Articles 6:233-234 of the Dutch Civil Code), for example when purchasing a ticket online. In the case of consumers, unreasonably onerous clauses are voidable pursuant to the black and grey lists (Articles 6:236-237 of the Dutch Civil Code).
Not necessarily. With a good force majeure and cancellation clause, you can first offer to reschedule to a new date and only then issue a (partial) refund, often minus costs already incurred or service fees. A clause that excludes all refunds will not hold up against consumers.
No, if a specific date or period is stipulated in the terms and conditions. For leisure activities, the exception to the statutory right of withdrawal applies (Art. 6:230p BW). If you do not specify a date, a consumer can still withdraw within 14 days.
Limiting is possible, but completely excluding is not. You can limit liability to, for example, the ticket price or the insured amount, and exclude consequential damages. You can never contract away liability for intent, conscious recklessness, or, in the case of consumers, for injury or death.
In principle, yes: ordinary rain is not a reason for a refund. You may only interrupt or cancel in the event of a safety hazard, such as an orange/red alert or thunderstorms. Explicitly stipulate this distinction in a weather clause; otherwise, visitors may demand a refund.
Only if you include them in the general terms and conditions and these have been declared validly applicable. In that case, the right to search, prohibited items, rules of conduct, and the right to refuse or remove without refund become binding on the visitor.
