Event Ticketing for Cities and Public Institutions
Free and paid programs, attendance reporting and promotion — all in one platform built for public cultural programming, with a flat 99¢ ticket fee.
- Public Benefit Corporation
- Flat $0.99 Ticket Fee
- Nonprofit-Friendly Pricing
- Grant & Budget Cycle Friendly
- Audience Growth Focused
Included with membership
Public Program Promotion That Reaches the Whole City
Publish a programme once and it reaches residents who do not follow the department — on the pages people already browse to find things to do locally.
Free programs get the same promotion as ticketed ones, and carry no fee.
You upload
Your program
Local culture & events page
Where residents browse what is on near them.
Genre banners
Banner placement, targeted by city.
Featured programs
Priority slots, not a chronological list.
Homepage features
Front page in your own market.
Cultural News & guides
City guides that keep ranking all year.
Season announcements
A whole programme, not one date.
Free Programs Free, Paid Programs 99¢
Most public programming is free, and most ticketing platforms still charge for it. Every commercial term in one place.
No fee on free programs
A free RSVP costs nothing to issue, which matters when most of what a department runs is free at the point of entry.
Flat 99¢ on paid tickets
99¢ per paid ticket plus standard card processing, with no percentage taken from a publicly funded programme.
Simple to put through procurement
One published per-ticket price and no long-term contract, which is a shorter paper trail than a custom quote.
Your refund policy
Your department sets the rules and approves each request. Residents can ask up to 7 days before the event.
Free RSVPs and Paid Programs Together
A department running a free Saturday workshop and a ticketed evening concert needs both counted the same way.
Free tickets with a headcount
An RSVP that caps the room and gives you an arrival count, which is what turns a free event into a reportable one.
Capacity per session
Cap a community hall at what it holds, and change it between terms without rebuilding the listing.
Attendance you can report
Check-in counts for free and paid alike, so a council report can show who actually came rather than who signed up.
Front Desk Ticketing for Public Venues
Walk-ins, will-call lookups and check-in from one screen, on the same live capacity as online.
- Walk-in registration against the same live capacity as online.
- Scan from a phone or tablet, with live attendance counts. No hardware to buy.
- Look up any booking by name or email, then reprint or resend it.
- Staff roles, so a volunteer or seasonal hire can check people in and see nothing else.
Community hall · Sat 11:00 AM
Live
Checked in
96 / 120
- Scanned · Free RSVP
- Will-call · found by name, resent
Same inventory as online
Built for How Public Programming Actually Works
Library, park and community hall — for a department that answers to a council and a funder.
Free and paid in one calendar
Both counted the same way, so a quarterly report covers the whole programme rather than half of it.
Email your attendees
Message everyone booked onto a programme — a venue change, a weather closure, an accessibility note.
Guest checkout
Buyers check out without creating an account or remembering a password.
Recurring programs
Put a weekly series on sale as a run rather than rebuilding the same listing every week.
Reporting for councils and grants
Attendance, reach and participation exported in the shape a committee paper or a funding return asks for.
Roles across departments
Give each venue, team and finance lead exactly the access their job needs, and nothing more.
From First Impression to Door Scan
Most ticketing reports begin at checkout and end at the sale. Yours covers the whole arc — what drove demand, what sold, and who actually turned up.
- See what drives demand — impressions, clicks, saves and engagement before the sale.
- Track sales as they happen — tickets, revenue, occupancy, promo codes and campaign performance.
- Measure real attendance — check-ins and door scans, not just tickets issued.
- Understand your audience — where they come from, how they grow and what brings them back.
- Export it for your board and funders, alongside fees, refunds and payout activity.
Support From People Who Know Public Programming
Real-person help
Real people who know what a committee paper and a funding return are.
Guided onboarding
We walk your team through setup and your first programme.
Ongoing assistance
Help across the year, not just the first week.
Resource library
Asset specs, the media kit and grant-cycle guidance, published rather than requested.
Public Program Ticketing FAQ
What does a free public program cost to list?
Nothing. Free programs carry no ticket fee, which matters when most of what a department runs is free at the point of entry.
What is charged on a paid program?
A flat 99¢ per paid ticket plus standard card processing. No percentage is taken from a publicly funded programme.
How does this go through procurement?
The price is published and per-ticket, with no long-term contract, which is usually a shorter paper trail than a custom quote.
Can a free event still have a headcount?
Yes. A free RSVP caps the room and gives you an arrival count, which is what turns a free event into a reportable one.
Can we run a weekly series without rebuilding it?
Yes. Put a recurring programme on as a run rather than creating the same listing every week.
Can different venues have their own capacity?
Yes. Each programme carries its own cap, set to the room it actually happens in.
Can schools and community groups book a block?
Yes. Issue or sell a block of places in one go, with the attendee list ready at the door.
Who approves a refund on a paid program?
Your department does. Requests arrive in your dashboard and you approve or decline each one. Residents can ask up to 7 days ahead; that cutoff is set by CultureOwl.
What can we show a council committee?
Attendance, reach and participation by programme, for free and paid alike, exported in the shape a committee paper asks for.
Can we show where attendees travelled from?
Yes. Reporting breaks attendance down by market, zone and venue, which is usually what an equity or access question needs.
Do we own the resident data?
Yes. Purchaser, booking and attendance data is yours and exportable at any time.
Where do public programs get promoted?
On the local culture and events pages, genre banners, featured programme and homepage placements, season announcements, and city guides.
Does this reach residents who do not follow us?
That is the point of it. Programmes appear where people already browse for things to do locally, not only in the department's own channels.
Can we run this alongside an existing system?
Yes. Many departments start with one venue or one programme strand and widen it once the reporting proves out.
Reach More Residents With Every Program
Free and paid programs, promotion and reporting in one place, for a flat 99¢ per paid ticket.