What is the operational period, and how do I set its start and end?

The Operational period is the total time you need for a booking, including activities around the performance. It can cover arrival, setup, the show, an overnight stay and the return trip. Set it with Period start and Period end in the booking's Details > General info section.

This article is for artists and artist team members. You need permission to edit the booking to change these values. If the booking is read-only, ask your artist-group administrator or the agency responsible for the booking to make the change.

The operational period is sometimes called the operation period or Einsatzzeitraum. In the English application, the section is labelled Operational period and its two endpoints are labelled Period start and Period end.

Period start is the beginning of the time needed for this booking. Enter a date and, when known, a time. For example, this could be the start of travel or the time you arrive at the venue for load-in.

Period end is the end of the time needed for the booking. Enter the date and, when known, the time when the booking-related work or travel finishes. This may be after the performance ends or on a later day.

Use the same practical definition throughout your team. If a booking includes the return journey, set the end to the planned completion of that journey. If the recorded period covers the venue visit only, make that scope clear in the booking notes.

These fields describe different parts of the booking:

Changing the Operational period does not change the Show dates, Show times or Duration. Keep those performance fields accurate in their own right. Record individual production timings in the booking schedule.

The date display can depend on your regional settings. Use the date picker when you are unsure whether a displayed date uses day/month or month/day order.

A DJ plays a 90-minute headline set on 21 November 2026, from 22:00 to 23:30. Load-in starts at 17:30. Pack-down and equipment collection finish at 00:15 on 22 November.

Enter the following values:

The performance takes place on 21 November. The operational period extends into 22 November because the work finishes after midnight. Do not move the Show end to 00:15 just to include pack-down.

For a daytime event, both period dates can be the same: for example, arrival at 14:00, a show from 17:00 to 18:00, and departure at 19:00. For a booking with travel on surrounding days, use the earlier departure date and later return date as the period boundaries when those journeys are part of the recorded period.

You can leave all four Operational period fields empty. After saving, the booking preview does not display an Operational period section.

An endpoint can have a date without a time. For example, a saved Period end of 22 November with no time displays the date without adding a midnight time. Leave a time empty when it is unknown; enter 00:00 only when midnight is the intended time.

There is a specific case to watch for: if you clear both Period start fields but leave an end value, saving the booking can display the Show start date as the Period start date, with the start time empty. Reopen the booking to check the result. To remove the operational period entirely, clear both date and time at both ends.

Use the field's clear icon to remove an existing date or time. Simply deleting the typed characters may restore the previous value when you leave the field.

The period start date must not be after the Show start date. Optune can display Start cannot be after the start of event when this date order is invalid.

An end date before the period start date can display End date must be after start date. Correct the dates before saving.

Always check the time order yourself. The same-day combination of a start at 17:30 and an end at 00:15 can be saved without a warning. It does not describe the intended finish on the following day. Change the end date to the next day and verify the saved result.

Check the complete date and time at both ends instead of comparing the clock times alone. A smaller clock time can be correct when its date is later.

In the Artist month calendar, a booking with an operational period extending into a second day spans those days. In the club-night example, the calendar spans 21–22 November while the booking's Show heading remains dated 21 November.

The booking preview displays the period separately from the Show. The generated itinerary preview also shows the Operational period separately from the performance timings and Schedule entries.

For a contract, the Data > Booking section provides four separate fields:

Use the fields you need in the document's Main content and check the resulting preview. Keep descriptive labels such as "Operational period starts" beside the values so the recipient can distinguish them from the Show times.

In an editable contract draft, these inserted fields reflect updated booking values when you reopen the document and generate its preview. For example, changing the booking's Period end time from 00:15 to 00:30 updates an inserted Operational period end time field. A time typed manually into a paragraph is ordinary text; review and update those written details yourself. Always check the final preview before sharing the document.

Task-template offsets are calculated from the Show start date. An earlier operational start for travel does not move that reference date.

For example, with a Show on 21 November and an operational start on 20 November, an offset of -7 creates a task due on 14 November. Changing a booking date later does not automatically reschedule tasks already created from a template. See How do I create and apply task templates for artist bookings?.

The booking covers two calendar days, but the show is only on one day. Check the Operational period. Travel, setup or pack-down can extend the overall booking beyond the performance date.

My end time is after midnight, but the end date is still the show day. Select the following calendar date under Period end, save and reopen the booking to confirm it.

The start date returned after I cleared it. Check whether a Period end is still set. In that case, the saved start can fall back to the Show start date. Clear all four fields if you want to remove the whole operational period.

Save is disabled while I am editing. Finish editing the General info panel by clicking outside it and check for validation messages. If you have made no changes, there may be nothing to save.

I can read the period but cannot edit it. Check your booking edit permissions with the artist-group administrator or the agency responsible for the booking.