Create a reserved seating event

• Create a reserved seating event.
• Customize your map.
• Add tiers to your event.
• Optional: Add holds to your venue map.
• Add tickets and manage the checkout settings.
• Remove reserved seating

Create a reserved seating event.

1. Turn on reserved seating under “Build event page.”

You can't enable reserved seating if:

• Your event is a recurring event.

• You already created tickets.

• Your event uses a waitlist.

To create a reserved seating event:

1. Log in to your account and go to Events.

2. Select Create event.

3. Under Location, select Venue and enter a physical address.

4. Select Reserved seating.

For Eventbrite Music, select Reserved seating when you create tickets instead.

2. Go to “Add tickets” and choose how you want to create your map.

If this is your first event at this venue, you'll need to create a new venue map.

If you've created an event at the same venue before, you can:

• Create a new venue map and tickets.

• Use a map from a previous event but create new tickets.

• Use the map and ticket settings from a previous event.

No matter what you choose, you'll be able to update the ticket settings and venue map.

NOTE: You aren't able to create or edit a seating map from a mobile device.

3. Create your map.

When you open the venue designer, choose between a preset layout or a blank canvas. If you choose a preset layout, enter the amount of sections, rows, or tables you want on the map. Then click Continue.

Then click and drag them to reposition them.

To add sections, tables, objects, or text to your map, click the related icons. You must have at least one ticketed area. Choose from these options:

• Section

  • Reserved seating: attendees pick their individual seats

  • General admission: attendees choose a general section

• Table: a table with seats.

To make a rectangular table where all the seats face each other, set the "End seats" to the max.

Customize your map.

After you add sections and tables to your map, you can customize their labels and layout to best match your venue.

Edit your labels.

Tickets for reserved seating events have labels that help attendees find their seats. For example, a ticket might say, "Balcony 1, Row AA, Seat 7."

To update your labels:

1. Select a section or table.

2. Select Edit.

3. Select the prefixes and labels to update them.

4. Mouse over “Table prefix” or “Section prefix” to see a preview.

5. Select Apply.

NOTE: To update the labels on an assigned seating section, you must be on the Labels menu.

Update the layout of assigned seating sections.

By default, assigned seating sections are rectangles with no skews or curves. If this doesn’t match your venue:

1. Select your assigned seating section.

2. Select Edit.

3. Under Layout, change the alignment, curve, and/or skew.

4. Select Apply.

Edit and delete individual seats.

If you need to change the label of an unsold seat to match your venue:

1. Select a section or table with seats.

2. Select Edit.

3. Select the seat you want to edit.

4. Update the label.

5. Select Done, then Apply.

If you need to remove unsold seats from a section or table:

1. Select a section or table with seats.

2. Select Edit.

3. Select the seat(s) you want to remove.

4. Select Delete unit(s), then Apply.

To add a deleted seat back, select it again and click Restore unit(s).

Add tiers to your event.

Tiers divide your seats into different areas. For example, you could have a “Front row” tier or a “Balcony” tier. All seats must have a tier before you can publish your event.

1. Go to “Tiers” in your venue designer.

2. Click “Add tier."

Click the name of the tier to change it. Change the color of the tier by clicking the colored circle. Your attendees will see the colors of the tiers when they select tickets.

3. Click the seats you want to add to a tier.

Select entire sections, rows, and tables by clicking their label. To select multiple seats and sections, hold "Shift" on your keyboard. Then click and drag your mouse over your selections.

4. Click the “+” next to the name of the tier to add your selected seats.

Once added, the colors of the seats will change to the color of the tier.

5. Optional: Adjust the selling order.

Drag the “eye” icon close to your best seats. When attendees don’t pick a seat, Eventbrite chooses a seat closest to the eye icon.

Optional: Add holds to your venue map.

Reserve certain seats by adding holds. For example, you could block off sections for a socially distanced event or hold seats for staff members. If you want to hold seats for specific attendees, create an access code for them.

1. Go to “Holds” in your venue designer.

2. Click “Add hold."

Click the hold name to change it. Change the hold color by selecting the colored circle. Giving holds different colors helps you tell them apart. Your attendees won't see your hold colors.

3. Click the seats you want to hold.

Select entire sections, rows, and tables by clicking their label. To select multiple seats and sections, hold "Shift" on your keyboard. Then click and drag your mouse over your selections.

4. Click the “+” next to the name of the hold to add your selected seats.

Once added, the colors of the seats will change to the color of the hold. To remove holds, select the seats. Then, click the “-” next to the current hold.

5. Optional: Create an access code for the hold.

If you want to hold seats for certain attendees:

1. Hover over the hold and click the padlock icon to see "Access controls."

2. Select New access code.

3. Enter a name for the code, like “Staff” or “Earlybird."

4. Click Save.

Attendees enter the code during checkout to buy tickets for those held seats.

Add tickets and manage the checkout settings.

After creating your venue map, save your changes and close the venue designer. Then, create tickets and choose which tiers to sell them in.

If your event has paid tickets, you’ll need to use Eventbrite Payment Processing. Donation tickets are not available for reserved seating events.

1. Save and close the venue designer.

When you save, give your venue map a name and choose if you want to use it on other events. Then click the “X” to close the venue designer.

2. Create tickets for your reserved seating event.

To create tickets:

1. Select Add ticket type.

2. Give it a name, like “General Admission” or “VIP."

3. Enter a price for each tier the ticket is in.

4. Set the dates for when tickets should be on sale.

To create a free ticket, enter “0” for the price. If you don’t want the ticket to be available for a certain tier, leave the price field blank.

3. Review your advanced settings.

For more customization, adjust your advanced settings.

• Add a ticket description - Let attendees know what’s included with their ticket.

• Change the ticket visibility - Hide tickets to prevent attendees from seeing them.

• Limit the number of tickets per order - Set a limit if you only want attendees to select a certain amount of that ticket type per order.

• Set your sales channel - Choose where attendees can order tickets. Tickets that are "at the door only" won't be available through your online listing.

4. Save your changes.

5. Optional: Choose your checkout settings.

To remove the pick-a-seat option:

1. Go to Settings.

2. Un-check Allow attendees to pick their own seats.

3. Save your changes.

To change the order your tickets display in checkout:

1. Go to Admission.

2. Set Group type to Ticket type.

3. Rearrange the tickets by dragging the icon to the left of the ticket name.

After you publish your event, view your event page. Then select tickets and/or seats to confirm your settings are correct.

Remove reserved seating

If you haven't sold any tickets yet, you can remove reserved seating from your event. To remove reserved seating:

1. Unpublish your event.

2. Go to Tickets and delete all ticket types, add-ons, holds, and promo codes.

3. Click Edit Venue Map and go to Tiers.

4. Delete all tiers by mousing over them and clicking the trash can icon.

5. Save your changes, then exit the venue map.

6. Go to Build event page and disable Reserved Seating.

7. Save your changes.

If you re-enable reserved seating, your event will use the previously created seating map.