![The template open in Strokes: the title “Press release: [Event name], [date]”, then a details table for Event, Day and date, Times and Venue and a “The one new thing” box.](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fhero-light.a476c8aa.webp&w=3840&q=75)
![The template open in Strokes: the title “Press release: [Event name], [date]”, then a details table for Event, Day and date, Times and Venue and a “The one new thing” box.](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fhero-dark.a4173882.webp&w=3840&q=75)
When to use it
- Announcing a conference, festival, fundraiser or public talk to local and trade press
- Getting an event into newspaper, radio and online calendar listings
- Inviting TV and photo desks with a media advisory in the days before
- Reporting results afterward: attendance, money raised, winners, what's next
- Telling reporters about a new date, a venue change or a cancellation
An event press release announces a public event to journalists in the form of a news story: what is happening, when, where, what it costs and why it is worth covering, all in the first two paragraphs. A quote, the practical details a listings editor can copy, a line for photographers, the boilerplate and a media contact follow. This template keeps that order and adds the two companion pieces most events need: a media advisory for the days before and a short release with the results afterward. For other kinds of news, from a product launch to a correction, see the press release examples.
How to use this template
- Find the one new thing
“Our conference is back” isn't news. A first, a number, a person or a change from last year is. Write it in one sentence before anything else, because it becomes the headline.
- Fill in the logistics table first
The table at the top holds the facts every desk checks: day and date, times, the venue's street address, the price (or the word free), how to register, accessibility and a contact who answers on the day. Copy from it as you write, so the release, the advisory and the website never disagree.
- Write the lead from the table
Dateline, then who is holding what, when and where, in one or two sentences. Put the price in the first or second paragraph, where a listings editor will look for it.
- Add a quote, then the line for media
One quote from a named organizer that gives a reason or a detail nobody else could. Then tell photographers and crews what happens when, and where to check in.
- Plan three sends, not one
The announcement goes out when registration opens, the media advisory a few days before and again on the morning, and a short results release that evening or the next morning. The template has a section for each. Put the send dates in the table.
Event press release format
The skeleton is the standard one from the press release template, built as an inverted pyramid. What changes for an event is how much of it is logistics, and how early they appear.
| Part | What goes in it for an event | Example |
|---|---|---|
| PartRelease line | What goes in it for an eventFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, or an embargo date and time | ExampleFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| PartHeadline | What goes in it for an eventThe event plus the one new thing | ExampleTucson conference for freelance writers will publish what its 40 speakers charge |
| PartSubhead | What goes in it for an eventDates, place and price the headline left out | ExampleMarch 13–14 at the Ironwood Center. Day passes $85; students free. |
| PartDateline and lead | What goes in it for an eventCity, date, then what, when (day, date, time), where and who | ExampleTUCSON, Ariz. — Jan. 27, 2027 — The Desert Ink Conference… |
| PartDetails | What goes in it for an eventProgram highlights, speakers, numbers, who it's for | Example40 speakers, 12 editors taking pitch meetings |
| PartQuote | What goes in it for an eventA reason or a story from a named organizer | Example“Every year someone asks what to charge…” |
| PartTickets and access | What goes in it for an eventPrices, how to register, accessibility, parking or transit, age limits | ExampleLive captions in every main session |
| PartFor media | What goes in it for an eventPhoto moments with times, interview availability, press check-in | ExampleRate sheet available to press at 9 a.m., March 13 |
| PartAbout | What goes in it for an eventThe organizer's standard boilerplate, under 100 words | ExampleA nonprofit gathering held each spring since 2019 |
| PartMedia contact | What goes in it for an eventA named person and a mobile number answered on the day | ExampleOwen Mirza, (520) 555-0149 |
Most US newsrooms follow AP style, the style guide behind the dateline format (TUCSON, Ariz.) and the month abbreviations (Jan. 27, but March 13). Every fix an editor has to make costs them time, so a release that needs none is easier to use.
Event press release example
A filled-in announcement for an invented two-day conference, sent six weeks before the event, when registration opens.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tucson conference for freelance writers will publish what its 40 speakers charge
The Desert Ink Conference runs March 13–14 at the Ironwood Center. Day passes cost $85; students attend free.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Jan. 27, 2027 — The Desert Ink Conference, a two-day gathering for freelance writers and editors, will give every attendee a printed sheet listing what its 40 speakers charge per word, per hour and per project. The conference runs Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ironwood Center, 410 E. Saguaro St.
Day passes cost $85 and weekend passes $140 at desertink.example. Students with a school ID attend free, and 50 scholarships cover the full weekend for writers who apply by Feb. 26. Sessions cover pitching national magazines, negotiating contracts and earning from newsletters, and on Sunday afternoon 12 editors from regional and trade publications will take 10-minute pitch meetings.
“Every year someone asks what to charge, and every year the room goes quiet,” said Marisol Vega, the conference's founder and a freelance journalist for 19 years. “This year the answer is on paper, with names next to the numbers.”
The Ironwood Center is wheelchair accessible, every main session has live captions, and parking is free in the center's garage.
For media: reporters attend free with credentials if they register by March 6. The rate sheet will be available to the press at 9 a.m. on March 13, and Vega is available for phone interviews before the conference.
About the Desert Ink Conference
The Desert Ink Conference is a nonprofit gathering for working freelance writers and editors, held in Tucson each spring since 2019.
Media contact
Owen Mirza, Press Coordinator, press@desertink.example, (520) 555-0149 (mobile, answered both conference days)
###
Why it works. The headline is about the rate sheet, not the conference, because the rate sheet is the part a reporter can write a story about. The first two paragraphs carry everything a calendar needs: days, dates, hours, street address, prices and the free option. The quote explains why the organizers did it in words a person would say, and the media line holds the rate sheet until the morning of the event, which gives reporters a reason to come in person.
Event press release samples
The same conference needs two more releases, and other events lean on different details. Each sample below gives the opening of the release; the rest follows the format above. The four event samples also end with a listing line: date and time, place, who can come and a media contact, the facts a calendar editor copies. All are invented.
Media advisory
MEDIA ADVISORY
Freelance writers' conference releases speakers' rate sheet Saturday morning
What: The Desert Ink Conference publishes what its 40 speakers charge, then opens two days of sessions for about 600 writers and editors.
When: Saturday, March 13, 9 a.m.; sessions until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Where: Ironwood Center, 410 E. Saguaro St., Tucson. Press check-in at the east entrance.
Who: Founder Marisol Vega; 12 editors taking pitch meetings Sunday from 1 p.m.
Visuals: 9 a.m., attendees reading the rate sheet in the main hall; Sunday afternoon, pitch meetings at 12 tables.
Contact on the day: Owen Mirza, (520) 555-0149
An advisory is an invitation, not a story: a list an assignment editor can read in ten seconds. Send it three or four days before and again early on the morning of the event. The visuals line, with times, tells a desk when a camera should arrive.
Post-event press release
Desert Ink rate sheet shows freelance rates ranging from 10 cents to $2 a word
TUCSON, Ariz. — March 15, 2027 — Rates charged by the 40 speakers at this weekend's Desert Ink Conference ranged from 10 cents to $2 a word, according to the rate sheet the conference published on Saturday. The median was 45 cents. About 610 people attended, up from 430 last year, and editors took 96 pitch meetings on Sunday. The full sheet is at desertink.example/rates.
A results release leads with what happened, not with thanks. Numbers that didn't exist before the event (money raised, attendance, a winner, a finding) turn it into news a reporter who skipped the event can still use. Send it the same evening or the next morning, with two or three photos linked.
What changes in the first paragraph
Read the three Desert Ink pieces side by side. The facts carry over from one to the next; what leads changes with what the reader can do next.
| Piece | Sent | The first paragraph leads with | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|---|
| PieceAnnouncement | SentJan. 27, when registration opens | The first paragraph leads withThe rate sheet, then the days, hours and street address; prices follow in paragraph two | What it leaves outResults, which don't exist yet |
| PieceMedia advisory | SentThree days before, and the morning of | The first paragraph leads withWhen and where to be, and what a camera can film | What it leaves outThe story, the quote and the background |
| PieceResults release | SentMarch 15, the Monday after | The first paragraph leads withWhat the sheet showed: the range, the median, and attendance against last year | What it leaves outPrices and registration |
Fundraiser gala
Savannah literacy gala will auction a walk-on part in a local novelist's next book
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Feb. 18, 2027 — Read Forward Savannah will hold its spring gala on Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m. at the Riverside Ballroom, with a goal of raising $120,000 for after-school reading tutors. Tickets are $150 at readforward.example. The top lot: the winning bidder's name, given to a character in novelist June Okafor's next book.
Listing: Saturday, April 24, 7 p.m. · Riverside Ballroom, 210 W. River St., Savannah · Open to the public; tickets $150 · Media: Ana Price, (912) 555-0173
Instead of the cause in general, this one gives the goal in dollars, says what the money pays for and puts the most quotable auction lot in the headline.
Charity run
Hill Street 5K closes Ridge Road for three hours on Sunday, May 16
OMAHA, Neb. — April 15, 2027 — About 2,000 runners are expected at the Hill Street 5K on Sunday, May 16, which starts at 8 a.m. at Hillcrest Park and raises money for the Hill Street food pantry. Ridge Road between 50th and 66th streets will close from 7 to 10 a.m. Registration is $35, or $15 for runners under 18, at hillstreet5k.example until May 12.
Listing: Sunday, May 16, 8 a.m. · Starts at Hillcrest Park · Runners of all ages; $35, or $15 under 18, until May 12 · Media: Jo Banda, (402) 555-0134
For a race, the road closure affects more readers than the race does, so it goes in the headline. Local radio and traffic desks can use it even if nobody covers the race itself.
Free concert series
Linden Square concerts return for 13 Thursdays, with a rain stage for the first time
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — May 5, 2027 — Thursday Night Square, a free outdoor concert series, returns to Linden Square from June 3 through Aug. 26, with shows from 6 to 9 p.m. each Thursday. If storms are forecast, concerts move to the covered stage at the Market Hall, announced by 3 p.m. on the series' website.
Listing: Thursdays, June 3 to Aug. 26, 6 to 9 p.m. · Linden Square; Market Hall if it rains · Free and open to all, no tickets · Media: Theo Grant, (828) 555-0152
A series release needs the full date range and the weekly time in the lead. Saying where the rain plan is announced, and by when, answers the call outdoor events get on a cloudy afternoon.
Webinar or online event
Duluth library offers a free online class on spotting scam emails and texts
DULUTH, Minn. — Sept. 1, 2027 — The Lake Superior Library will hold a free one-hour online class on recognizing scam emails and texts on Wednesday, Sept. 22, at noon Central time (1 p.m. Eastern). Anyone can register at lakesuperiorlibrary.example/class; a recording will be posted for a week afterward.
Listing: Wednesday, Sept. 22, noon Central (1 p.m. Eastern) · Online · Free and open to anyone; registration required · Media: Lena Moe, (218) 555-0167
An online event has no venue, so the time zone does the venue's job. State it, add the Eastern equivalent if your audience is national, and say whether there is a recording, because that changes whether an editor lists it as a date or as a resource.
When to send each piece
| Piece | When | Goes to |
|---|---|---|
| PieceAnnouncement release | WhenWhen registration or tickets open; for print monthlies, months ahead | Goes toReporters on the beat, trade press, calendar editors |
| PieceCalendar listings | WhenBy each outlet's own deadline, often through a form | Goes toNewspaper, radio, TV and community calendars |
| PiecePitch to one reporter | WhenWith the announcement, for a feature or a profile | Goes toOne named journalist at a time |
| PieceMedia advisory | WhenThree or four days before, and again that morning | Goes toAssignment desks, photo desks, TV producers |
| PieceResults release | WhenThat evening or the next morning | Goes toEveryone who got the announcement, plus anyone who covered it |
The pitch is a different document from the release: two or three personal sentences to one reporter, with the release pasted below. The pitch email examples include one for an event. For photos, logos and speaker bios, link a press kit instead of attaching files.
Mistakes that sink event releases
- No day of the week. “March 13” makes an editor check a calendar. “Saturday, March 13” doesn't.
- No price. If it's free, say free. If tickets cost money, give the range and where to buy them.
- A venue without an address. The name of a hall means nothing to a reader across town. Give the street address and, for big venues, the entrance.
- Sponsors in the lead. Thank them in a later paragraph or the boilerplate. The lead belongs to the event.
- A contact who is busy on the day. The person named should carry the phone and answer it, which is rarely the person running the event.
If plans change, send a short release at once with the change in the headline: “Desert Ink Conference moves to April 10–11 after venue flood.” Give the new date, what happens to tickets and where updates will appear, and send it to everyone who got the original. The ten complete press release examples include a correction release that works the same way.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should you send an event press release?
Send the announcement when registration or tickets open, often a few weeks ahead for a local event. Monthly magazines plan issues months in advance, so pitch them earlier. Check each outlet's calendar deadline, send a media advisory three or four days before, and send it again on the morning of the event.
Do I need a media advisory as well as a press release?
If you want reporters or cameras at the event, yes. The release tells the story and can be used without attending; the advisory is a short who, what, when, where and visuals list that tells an assignment desk exactly when to send someone. Small events can combine the two by adding a For media paragraph to the release.
How long should an event press release be?
Often 250 to 400 words, which fits on one page with the boilerplate and the contact; the conference example above runs about 300. The first two paragraphs carry the essentials, so the rest can be cut without losing the event. A media advisory is shorter still, often under 150 words.
