What is Event Insurance?

Planning an event, whether it’s a business dinner, trade show or a weeklong music festival, comes with some risk. There are a million and one details to iron out and inevitably something unexpected comes up because, no matter how much planning goes into an event, some things are beyond an event planner’s control.

Floods, missed flights, equipment theft, vehicle breakdowns, and venue closures can all impact whether an event goes off without a hitch, requires a last minute scramble to replace a key element, or doesn’t go off at all.

Event insurance, also known as festival insurance or trade show insurance, provides a financial buffer against many of the possible things that can go wrong in planning and executing a private or public event. This is very specialized insurance, but there are several reputable insurance companies offering plans to cover events, or rather, the people and businesses hosting events.

How long is coverage in effect?

Because festival insurance is short term by its nature, it is only in effect for the time specified by your business needs. Some policies, such as those covering business dinners hosted at reputable venues last only one day, some, such as insurance policies written to cover music festivals held in an open farm field, are written to cover a week before and after the event, providing the sponsors coverage not only for the event but also for set up and tear down.

About the Author: Brenda Kohlmyer is a freelance writer living and working in the Seattle metropolitan area.