Creating an entertainment programme that truly works for your venue takes more than just booking a few acts and hoping for the best. A well-designed programme keeps guests happy, encourages repeat bookings, and helps your venue stand out from the competition. Whether you run a holiday park, resort, or leisure venue, here’s everything you need to know about planning entertainment that delivers results.
Understanding Your Audience
Before you plan any entertainment, you need to know exactly who you’re entertaining. Different age groups want completely different things from their visit, so your programme needs to cater to everyone.
Start by looking at your typical guest profile. Do you mainly welcome families with young children, teenagers, couples, or a mixture? What time of year do different groups visit? Understanding these patterns helps you create targeted entertainment that keeps everyone engaged.
For family venues, you’ll need activities that work for children aged 3-12, plus entertainment that parents actually enjoy watching. Teenagers need their own dedicated programmes, whilst evening entertainment should appeal to adults who want to relax after a busy day.
Take time to analyse your booking data from the past year. Which weeks attracted mainly families? When did you see more couples without children? This information tells you when to ramp up children’s activities and when to focus on adult entertainment instead.
Guest surveys provide valuable insights too. Ask families what their children enjoyed most and what they felt was missing. Find out what would make adults book again. Sometimes the simplest questions reveal the biggest opportunities for improvement.
Don’t forget about accessibility needs. Your programme should work for guests with different abilities, including those who use wheelchairs, have hearing or vision impairments, or need quieter spaces due to sensory sensitivities. Inclusive entertainment programmes make everyone feel welcome and often attract families who struggle to find suitable venues elsewhere.
Balancing Daytime and Evening Entertainment
A successful entertainment programme needs strong offerings throughout the day, not just in the evening. Many venues make the mistake of focusing all their effort on nighttime shows whilst leaving guests wondering what to do during daylight hours.
Your daytime schedule should include:
- Morning activities that get families started on the right foot
- Lunchtime entertainment that keeps guests on-site rather than leaving to find things to do elsewhere
- Afternoon sessions that bridge the gap between lunch and evening programmes
- Quiet periods built in so guests have time to enjoy other venue facilities
Morning sessions work brilliantly when they’re energetic and engaging. Think sports tournaments, dance classes, or crafts activities that give children something to look forward to as soon as they wake up. Parents appreciate morning entertainment because it structures the day and gives everyone a reason to get up and out.
Lunchtime entertainment doesn’t need to be complicated. Simple activities like magic shows, puppet performances, or outdoor games keep guests at your venue during the crucial midday period. When families stay on-site for lunch, they’re more likely to use your restaurants and shops rather than driving elsewhere.
Afternoon programming requires careful thought because energy levels vary. Some guests want active pursuits after lunch, whilst others prefer quieter options. Offer both choices so everyone finds something suitable. A football tournament might run alongside arts and crafts sessions, giving families with different preferences something to enjoy.
Evening entertainment naturally takes centre stage, but it needs careful planning too. Consider offering different options for different groups, such as family-friendly shows earlier in the evening and adult entertainment later on.
The evening schedule might look something like this: children’s disco at 6pm, family entertainment show at 7pm, adult quiz or live music at 9pm. This progression means families with young children can enjoy entertainment before bedtime, whilst adults get their own dedicated time later in the evening.
Remember that some guests choose not to attend evening entertainment at all. They might prefer eating at your restaurant, using leisure facilities, or simply relaxing in their accommodation. Your programme should enhance their stay without making them feel they’re missing out if they skip organised activities.
Creating Age-Appropriate Content
One size definitely doesn’t fit all when it comes to entertainment. Breaking your programme into clear age categories ensures everyone gets content that’s right for them.
| Age Group | Best Entertainment Types | Timing Considerations |
| 3-7 years | Character appearances, simple games, story time | Short 20-30 minute sessions, morning and early afternoon |
| 8-12 years | Sports activities, talent shows, team challenges | 45-60 minute sessions, can handle evening activities |
| Teens (13-17) | Competitions, discos, sports tournaments | Late afternoon and evening, give them independence |
| Adults | Live music, quiz nights, cabarets | Evening focus, some daytime options for non-parents |
When planning children’s entertainment, safety comes first. The Health and Safety Executive provides essential guidance on running events safely, covering everything from risk assessments to emergency planning. Make sure your entertainment team understands these requirements before they start work.
Younger children aged 3-7 need constant supervision and activities that suit their short attention spans. Characters in costume work wonderfully for this age group, as do simple treasure hunts, face painting, and story sessions. Keep activities short and sweet because little ones tire quickly and become restless during longer sessions.
The 8-12 age bracket wants more challenging activities that let them show off their skills. Talent competitions, sports tournaments, and team challenges appeal to this group. They’re old enough to handle evening activities but still young enough to enjoy family entertainment if it’s engaging and not too babyish.
Teenagers present the biggest programming challenge because they don’t want to be seen doing “kids’ stuff” but aren’t ready for purely adult entertainment either. Create dedicated teen programmes that give them independence whilst keeping them safe. Teen discos, sports competitions, and gaming tournaments work well. Consider appointing older teens as junior helpers for younger children’s activities, which gives them responsibility and a sense of purpose.
Adult entertainment needs to offer proper relaxation and enjoyment after a day of family activities. Live music, comedy nights, quiz evenings, and professional cabaret shows all work brilliantly. Don’t forget couples who visit without children – they often appreciate more sophisticated entertainment options throughout the day, not just in the evenings.
Planning for Seasonal Variations
Your entertainment programme can’t stay the same all year round. Weather, school holidays, and seasonal events all affect what works and what doesn’t.
Summer programmes need outdoor options but also backup plans for rainy days. Build flexibility into your schedule so you can move activities indoors quickly when weather turns bad. Having a “wet weather programme” ready to go means you never leave guests disappointed when plans change.
During summer, make the most of longer daylight hours and better weather. Outdoor sports tournaments, pool games, and evening entertainment that spills outside all work brilliantly. Guests expect more during summer holidays because they’re paying peak-season prices, so your programme needs to reflect this with additional activities and longer entertainment hours.
Winter programmes should make the most of indoor spaces whilst creating a cosy, festive atmosphere that keeps guests entertained despite shorter days. Winter is perfect for craft activities, indoor sports, film screenings, and entertainment that brings people together in warm, comfortable spaces. Christmas and New Year periods demand special programming with themed shows, pantomimes, and seasonal activities that make the holidays memorable.
School holiday periods demand more intensive programming because families expect full-day entertainment. During term time, you might scale back daytime activities whilst maintaining strong evening shows for couples and adult guests. Seasonal events and programmes add excitement throughout the year, giving guests something special to look forward to during different seasons.
Easter brings its own opportunities with egg hunts, spring-themed crafts, and family activities that celebrate the season. Half-term breaks throughout the year need targeted programming even though they’re shorter than main summer holidays. Many families specifically book these weeks expecting entertainment suitable for children off school.
Consider creating an annual events calendar that maps out your major seasonal programmes. This helps with forward planning, allows you to book entertainment well in advance, and gives you a clear picture of how your year shapes up. Guests who’ve visited before often ask what special events you’re running, so having a calendar ready helps with marketing too.
Mixing Entertainment Types
Variety keeps your programme fresh and interesting. Guests who stay for a week shouldn’t see the same type of entertainment every night.
Create a balanced mix including:
Live performances – Professional acts, tribute shows, and cabaret nights give guests theatre-quality entertainment without leaving your venue. These work brilliantly as weekend highlights or special occasions. Book tribute acts carefully – guests love recognising familiar songs and performers, but quality matters enormously. A poor tribute act does more harm than good, whilst an excellent one becomes the highlight of someone’s holiday.
Live bands and solo performers create atmosphere in bars and entertainment venues. Acoustic sessions work well during early evening when families are around, whilst fuller band performances suit later adult entertainment. Mix up musical styles across the week so different guests find something they enjoy.
Interactive activities – Quiz nights, bingo sessions, and game shows get guests participating rather than just watching. They’re perfect for midweek when you want to build community atmosphere amongst guests. Interactive entertainment helps people make friends with others staying at your venue, which often leads to positive reviews and return bookings.
Bingo remains incredibly popular across all age groups when it’s hosted well. Family bingo sessions in late afternoon work brilliantly, whilst adult evening bingo creates real excitement. Quiz nights bring people together and encourage friendly competition between groups of guests.
Children’s shows – Dedicated kids’ entertainment keeps young guests happy whilst giving parents a break. Include a mixture of educational content and pure fun. Magic shows, puppet performances, and interactive theatre all work wonderfully for younger children.
Consider running kids’ clubs during school holidays where children can drop in for supervised activities throughout the day. This gives parents genuine free time to relax whilst knowing their children are safely entertained by trained staff.
Sports and activities – Daytime activity programmes encourage guests to stay active and make friends with other visitors. Football tournaments, swimming competitions, and team challenges work particularly well.
Pool games become highlights of summer programmes when they’re well organised. Beach volleyball, water polo matches, and swimming races all create excitement and give guests stories to share afterwards. Indoor sports like table tennis tournaments, pool competitions, and indoor cricket work brilliantly when weather prevents outdoor activities.
Team challenges that mix different age groups can be surprisingly successful. Family Olympics events where parents and children compete together create wonderful memories and get everyone involved regardless of sporting ability.
Creative activities – Arts and crafts sessions, pottery painting, and creative workshops appeal to guests who prefer calmer pursuits. These activities work particularly well during hot afternoons when energetic outdoor activities become uncomfortable.
Crafts that children can take home as souvenirs prove very popular. Making friendship bracelets, painting stones, or creating holiday memories in scrapbooks all give children something tangible from their visit.
Scheduling for Success
The timing of your entertainment matters just as much as what you offer. Poor scheduling can mean brilliant entertainment plays to empty rooms.
Consider these scheduling principles:
Space out similar activities so guests don’t have to choose between two things they’d both enjoy. If you’re running a children’s disco and a family quiz on the same evening, make sure they don’t overlap. Better yet, run them on different nights so families can enjoy both during their stay.
Build in transition time between activities. Guests need time to move from one venue to another, grab refreshments, or settle children before the next session starts. Rushing from one activity straight into another creates stress rather than enjoyment. A 15-20 minute gap between sessions usually works well.
Avoid scheduling conflicts with mealtimes unless your entertainment specifically includes food. Most guests won’t skip dinner to watch a show, so plan around your restaurant’s busy periods. If your main restaurant serves dinner between 6pm and 8pm, don’t schedule your headline entertainment at 7pm.
Think about energy levels throughout the day. High-energy activities work well in the morning and late afternoon, whilst calmer options suit post-lunch when guests might want to relax. Swimming pool games at 2pm during hot weather often see low attendance because people are resting after lunch.
Consider how long each activity should run. Children’s attention spans vary by age, so sessions for younger children should be shorter. Thirty minutes works perfectly for under-7s, whilst 8-12 year olds can handle 45-60 minute sessions. Adult entertainment can run longer, but even adults appreciate events with clear end times rather than sessions that drag on indefinitely.
Weather impacts scheduling more than many venues realise. Outdoor activities scheduled for early morning in summer might struggle because guests are still having breakfast and getting ready. Late morning or early afternoon often sees better attendance for outdoor pursuits.
Create a weekly programme grid that shows what’s happening each day at each time. This visual layout helps you spot problems like too many activities clustered at certain times or long gaps where nothing’s happening. It also makes it easier to ensure you’re offering good variety throughout the week rather than similar activities bunched together.
Display your programme clearly around the venue and in guest accommodation. People can’t attend activities they don’t know about. Consider creating a mobile app or sending daily text updates about what’s happening, especially for last-minute changes or additional activities.
Measuring Programme Success
How do you know if your entertainment programme actually works? Track these key indicators:
Guest feedback – Collect comments through feedback forms, online reviews, and casual conversations. What do guests rave about? What do they wish you offered? Pay attention to patterns in feedback rather than isolated comments. If five different families mention loving the morning kids’ club, you know that’s working well. If multiple guests complain about lack of teenage activities, that’s your cue to improve.
Create simple feedback forms that guests can complete quickly. Long, complicated surveys rarely get completed, but a few well-chosen questions provide valuable insights. Ask specific questions like “Which activity did your children enjoy most?” rather than vague ones like “How was your stay?”
Online reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor and Google reveal what guests really think. Monitor these regularly and respond professionally to both positive and negative comments. Reviews often highlight aspects of your programme that you hadn’t considered important but matter enormously to guests.
Attendance numbers – Monitor how many people turn up to different activities. Low attendance might mean poor timing, wrong content, or inadequate promotion. However, don’t panic if an activity attracts small numbers – some entertainment works brilliantly for niche audiences even though it’ll never be your most popular offering.
Keep attendance records for at least a full season so you can spot trends. Perhaps family bingo always attracts 80+ people whilst the craft session gets 15. That doesn’t mean you should cancel crafts – those 15 guests might be delighted to have a quieter activity option whilst others do bingo.
Compare attendance across different times and days. If your Tuesday evening show consistently attracts fewer people than other nights, consider whether you need to change the content, improve promotion, or accept that Tuesdays are naturally quieter as guests arrive or depart.
Repeat bookings – Guests who enjoyed their entertainment are more likely to return. Compare booking patterns before and after programme changes. Track how many guests specifically mention entertainment when they rebook or leave reviews.
Ask returning guests what brought them back. Many venues discover that specific entertainment offerings create loyal customers who return year after year because they know what to expect.
On-site spending – Good entertainment keeps guests at your venue rather than leaving to find things to do elsewhere. This often leads to increased bar sales and other on-site purchases. Compare spending patterns between guests who actively participate in entertainment and those who don’t.
Monitor how entertainment affects your food and beverage revenue. Strong daytime programming means more guests staying on-site for lunch. Evening shows typically boost bar sales as people buy drinks before, during, and after performances.
Social media engagement – Watch what guests share on social media during their stay. Photos and videos of entertainment activities show what creates excitement and memorable moments. Encourage guests to share their experiences online by creating photo-worthy moments and using venue-specific hashtags.
Staff feedback – Your entertainment team sees what works and what doesn’t from a unique perspective. Regular debriefs with entertainers, activity staff, and venue managers provide insights you won’t get from guests. Staff often spot problems early and can suggest improvements based on daily experience.
Create a culture where entertainment staff feel comfortable sharing honest feedback. They might notice that children lose interest during certain activities, or that adults seem bored during specific performances. This frontline intelligence helps you refine your programme continuously.
Working with Professional Providers
Running a comprehensive entertainment programme takes serious expertise and resources. Many venues find that working with specialist entertainment providers delivers better results than trying to manage everything in-house.
Professional providers handle recruitment, training, programme design, and day-to-day management. This frees your team to focus on other aspects of running your venue whilst ensuring guests receive consistently high-quality entertainment from experienced professionals.
The recruitment challenge alone makes professional providers valuable. Finding talented entertainers, checking their qualifications and references, and ensuring they have the right personality for guest-facing roles takes considerable time and expertise. Entertainment companies maintain databases of pre-vetted performers and can quickly fill positions when staff leave or you need additional people during peak periods.
Training presents another significant challenge. Entertainers need more than just performance skills – they require customer service training, health and safety knowledge, safeguarding awareness, and understanding of your venue’s specific requirements. Professional providers deliver comprehensive training packages that prepare staff properly before they start working with your guests.
Programme design benefits enormously from specialist expertise. Entertainment companies understand what works for different age groups, how to structure daily schedules, and how to create variety that keeps programmes fresh week after week. They’ve seen what succeeds at hundreds of venues and can apply these lessons to your situation.
Day-to-day management becomes much simpler when professionals handle the detail. They deal with staff rotas, performance issues, equipment maintenance, and all the countless small tasks that keep entertainment running smoothly. When problems arise, experienced managers know how to resolve them quickly without disrupting guest experiences.
Look for providers who offer bespoke programmes designed specifically for your venue’s needs rather than one-size-fits-all packages. The best partnerships involve collaborative planning where the provider truly understands your guest profile, venue facilities, and business objectives.
Ask potential providers about their approach to safeguarding, health and safety, and quality control. Professional companies should demonstrate robust policies in these areas and show clear evidence of how they maintain standards across all their venues.
Consider the financial model carefully. Some providers charge fixed fees whilst others work on different arrangements. Understand exactly what’s included in their service and what additional costs might arise during peak periods or for special events.
Check references from other venues using the provider. Speaking with venue managers who’ve worked with them reveals insights you won’t get from sales presentations. Ask about communication, problem-solving, and how the provider handles challenges when they arise.
The right provider becomes a genuine partner in your business, understanding your goals and working collaboratively to achieve them. Poor providers simply deliver a generic programme regardless of your specific needs. The difference shows clearly in guest satisfaction and business results.
Final Thoughts
Designing the perfect entertainment programme takes careful planning, but the effort pays off in happier guests and better business results. Focus on understanding your audience, creating variety, and building a schedule that works throughout the day and across different seasons.
Remember that your programme should evolve based on guest feedback and changing trends. What worked brilliantly last year might need refreshing this season. Stay flexible, measure your results, and don’t be afraid to try new approaches when something isn’t working.
Start by auditing your current programme honestly. Which activities consistently attract good numbers? Which ones struggle despite your best efforts? What gaps exist in your offering? This honest assessment reveals where to focus your improvement efforts.
Involve your whole team in programme planning. Front-line staff often have brilliant insights because they hear directly from guests about what works and what doesn’t. Housekeepers, restaurant staff, and reception teams all gather valuable information during casual conversations with visitors.
Test new activities on a small scale before committing fully. If you’re considering adding a new type of entertainment, try it for a few weeks and gather feedback. This approach minimises risk whilst letting you experiment with fresh ideas.
Budget realistically for your entertainment programme. Quality entertainment costs money, but it’s an investment that pays back through repeat bookings, positive reviews, and guests who choose your venue specifically because of your entertainment offering. Cutting entertainment budgets too severely often proves a false economy when bookings suffer as a result.
Stay aware of industry trends and what other successful venues offer. Visit competitor venues during quiet periods to see their programmes in action. Attend industry events and trade shows where entertainment providers showcase new ideas. Join professional networks where venue managers share experiences and advice.
Plan well ahead for peak seasons. The best entertainment providers and acts get booked months in advance. Last-minute planning often means settling for second-choice options or paying premium prices for availability.
Document what works so you build institutional knowledge. When an activity succeeds brilliantly, record exactly what made it work – the timing, the format, the promotion, everything. This documentation helps you replicate success and train new staff effectively.
Consider your entertainment programme as central to your venue’s identity rather than just an add-on. Venues known for exceptional entertainment attract guests who specifically seek out quality programmes. This reputation becomes a powerful marketing tool and justifies premium pricing.
With the right entertainment programme in place, you’ll create memorable experiences that keep guests coming back year after year. Those returning families and glowing reviews represent the true measure of entertainment programme success.
