In live entertainment, there are several possible schemes for the seating assignment of spectators. There are several schemes which are most commonly used, though there are no hard and fast rules and alternate or modified schemes are sometimes used as is suitable to the event.

Reserved seating

In a purely reserved seating (also known as allocated seating or assigned seating) scheme, each ticket

Ticket (admission)

A ticket is a voucher that indicates that one has paid for admission to an event or establishment such as a theatre, movie theater, amusement park, zoo, museum, concert, or other attraction, or permission to travel on a vehicle such as an airliner, train, bus, or boat, typically because one has...

 is assigned a specific seat

Chair

A chair is a stable, raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs are most often supported by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or could have a different shape depending on the criteria of the chair specifications. A chair without a back or...

 in the venue at the time of purchase. Seats are typically identified by row number/letter, seat number, and sometimes by section.

Reserved seating is the most common scheme used for large indoor venues such as stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

s, arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

s, and larger theaters. It is also common at other venues, as are other seating schemes, such as outdoor amphitheaters.

An option to enhance the seat assignment strategy is Intelligent seating

Intelligent seating

Intelligent seating is a method of seating assignment where the choice of a seat is determined by multiple factors. Those individuals who benefit from intelligent seating assignments face a reduced risk of encountering negative experiences.-Factors:...

, which assigns seats by taking into account various experience-influencing factors.

General admission

In a general admission (also known as open seating or free seating) scheme, each spectator has a ticket, however the location from which they will watch the event is determined upon arrival at the venue. General admission is most commonly employed in seat-less venues, such as outdoor festival shows and smaller club shows. It is also sometimes used in seat-less sections of events that would otherwise have reserved seating (standing-room only sections, including the floor section(s) at some concerts). In some general admission events, a ticket may still assign the holder a specific section of the venue (e.g., balcony or floor), with the choice of seat within that section.

General admission can also refer to a scheme in which seating is available, however, it is not pre-assigned. Typically in this scheme, seat selection is on a first-come, first-served

First-come, first-served

First-come, first-served – sometimes first-in, first-served and first-come, first choice – is a service policy whereby the requests of customers or clients are attended to in the order that they arrived, without other biases or preferences. The policy can be employed when processing sales orders,...

 basis. A common example of this scheme is most movie theater

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

s.

General admission events may be ticketed with no assigned seat number, or it may be purely first-come, first-served, in which the first certain number of people in line are admitted (either as a free event, or paying at the door/gate). Due to the first-come, first-served nature of the seating selection, line-ups may still form for pre-ticketed events.

Festival seating

Festival seating typically refers to the form of general admission in which there is a large open area (generally outdoors) and all spectators must stand (unless they are permitted to bring their own portable seating). Many music acts use festival seating because it allows the most enthusiastic fans to get near the stage and generate excitement for the rest of the crowd. Some performers and bands insist on a festival seating area near the stage.

On December 3, 1979, the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, was the site of one of the worst rock concert tragedies in United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 history. Eleven fans were killed and several dozen others injured

1979 The Who concert disaster

The 1979 Who concert disastertook place at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio on 3 December 1979, as part of the band's U.S. tour, the first in three years...

 in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

. The concert was using festival seating. When the crowds waiting outside heard the band performing a soundcheck

Soundcheck

A soundcheck is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance, when the performer and the sound crew run through a small portion of the upcoming show on the venue's sound system to make sure that the sound in the venue's "Front Of House" and stage monitor sound...

, they thought the concert was beginning and tried to rush into the still-closed doors, trampling those at the front of the crowd.

The tragedy was blamed on poor crowd control

Crowd control

Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...

, mainly the failure of arena management to open enough doors to deal with the crowd outside. As a result, concert venues across North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 switched to assigned seating or changed their rules about festival seating. Cincinnati immediately outlawed festival seating at concerts, although it overturned the ban on August 4, 2004, since the ban was making it difficult for Cincinnati to book concerts. (In 2002, the city had made a one-time exception to the ban, allowing festival seating for a Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

concert; no problems were experienced.) Cincinnati was the only city in the U.S. to outlaw festival seating altogether.