The Dead Time Problem: Rethinking the Lulls in Live Events

There’s always a lull.

Between doors and the opening act. Between acts. During changeovers. While people queue. Or just... wait.

We call it dead time. But it isn’t dead.

It’s underused.

The Cost of Ignoring the Quiet Bits

When we plan events, we obsess over the peaks: the big reveals, headline sets, and magic moments. But the in between spaces shape the audience experience just as much.

Dead time is when your audience becomes conscious of their surroundings. They get bored. Or frustrated. Or lost. Or hungry. Or they start looking for exits, toilets, snacks, and something to do.

And every one of those small frictions affects how they feel about your show.

In fact, research from Experience Institute and Eventbrite highlights that moments of transition and wait time often shape overall satisfaction more than peak moments. Audiences remember how they felt, not just what they saw.

What Dead Time Actually Offers

Dead time is a design opportunity. It’s a moment to:

• Reinforce your story or theme

• Offer delight in unexpected ways

• Surface sponsor content that doesn’t feel like an interruption

• Create space for reflection or reconnection

• Let the environment breathe

It doesn’t always need to be filled with noise. But it should never be neglected.

Some of the best examples come from events that design every moment with intention:

Boomtown Fair weaves story and ambience into every corridor, queue, and transition. Roaming performers, themed districts, and set design don’t wait for the main stage, they lead you there.

Secret Garden Party uses its woodland setting to spark serendipity. A hidden installation appears. A storyline ghost drifts by. A pause in the programme isn’t a lull; it’s stage dressing waiting to be discovered.

Vivid Sydney transforms urban walkways into illuminated experiences during the Light Walk, making travel between moments a highlight in itself.

Signal Festival in Prague uses public space to surprise and delight with ambient visuals and interactive installations during otherwise mundane movement between exhibits.

And it’s not just the immersive or arty festivals:

Music festivals have long known that gaps between sets risk drop off in energy. Many now stagger line ups across multiple stages, so the energy continues without overwhelming.

Others introduce light touch activities in the in between: casual card games, low-fi gaming zones, beauty bars, pop up lounges, and shaded wellness areas to rest and recharge.

In each case, the through line is intention.

Design Principles for the In Between

Think of dead time as part of your show flow, not outside it. Here are some ways to use it well:

• Ambient storytelling: Soundscapes, projections, lighting shifts, or roaming performers

• Soft engagement: Low pressure, opt in activities that invite curiosity but don’t demand focus

• Modular sponsor touchpoints: Photo ops, AR layers, slow paced games

• Comfort infrastructure: Clear signage, shaded areas, water, quiet spaces, seating zones

• Wellness and decompression: Guided breathing, calm zones, sensory areas, slower soundscapes

• Thoughtful pacing: Spacing the day to allow mental and physical recovery

It’s not about stimulation. It’s about experience management.

Dead time, when handled right, becomes its own kind of offering: a moment to breathe, reset, or be quietly entertained.

Psychological Value: The Peak End Rule

According to psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s Peak End Rule, people judge experiences largely based on how they felt at the most intense moment and at the end. Dead time often occupies the "end" of short segments, and if it's frustrating, that emotional residue lingers.

Managing this time well improves the perceived quality of the entire experience. It’s not just nice to have. It’s strategic.

The Best Events Use Every Moment

Great producers think in arcs, not just spikes. They know that emotional rhythm matters. That attention is earned across the whole journey, not just the highlights.

By treating dead time as part of your experience design, you raise the baseline. You make the wait feel worthwhile. And you give your audience fewer reasons to disengage.

Because when nothing is happening, something still is.