Free guide · 15-minute read
Building a Small Town
Things to think about before you run a public event. Any big gathering — festival, concert, fair, fun run — is a small town you build from scratch: entrances, water, power, food, crowds, weather, and a safe way out for everyone who came.
- The only rule: everyone goes home
- Find your adult in the room — and give them the keys
- The smallest number wins: capacity without the math degree
- The 8-question Gut Check before you commit
Written by Chris Kerr, founder of XA Security — twenty-plus years producing and securing live events, from community festivals to major international tours. Vice-Chair, Event Safety Alliance Canada.
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What’s inside
Lessons from twenty years of big events.
Not a compliance manual — the honest playbook XA hands its own clients: how to work with regulators instead of around them, why budget shortfalls become safety shortfalls, and how to explain your plan to a judge.
- 01You're building a small town
- 02The only rule: everyone goes home
- 03Could you explain it to a judge?
- 04Regulators are on your side
- 05Start six months out. Minimum.
- 06The smallest number wins
- 07Crowds can crush
- 08Hire vendors who've done your kind of event
- 09Decide the hard calls before the day
- 10Some people will need help
- 11Don't surprise the neighbours
- 12The Gut Check
Edition 1.0 · 2026 · 29 pages · mobile-friendly PDF · Published free under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Why this matters
This keeps happening.
Nobody plans an event expecting people to die. These organizers didn’t either.
A permit is not a plan.
The Gut Check
Tick what’s true. Be honest.
The guide opens with eight questions. The first three:
- 1I've run an event this big, or hired someone who has.
- 2I have a show stop plan.
- 3I can pay for every cost, even if sales are slow.
Blank on 1, 2 or 3: stop. All eight — plus the hard stops — are in the guide.
Get the guideAbout the author
Chris Kerr
Chris Kerr has produced live events for more than twenty years, from every seat at the table: promoter, venue, touring artist and security provider. He founded XA Security in 2004 and serves as Vice-Chair of the Event Safety Alliance Canada.
About the publisher
XA Security
XA Security is an event security and crowd management company in Calgary and Edmonton. Over two decades its teams have looked after millions of patrons at festivals, concerts and public events. This guide is published free of charge — useful whether or not you ever work with us.
Build something people will remember.
Build it so everyone goes home.
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