Naadhagama · 2025

Naadhagama: a festival pass you build yourself

Naadhagama grew from a concert into a multi-day festival of music, with shows, campfires, drama and morning activities spread over several days. A pass is no longer one seat at one show: it is a set of entitlements the buyer has to turn into a plan. This is the platform that lets them do it.

Role: UX designer
Platform: Responsive web, desktop and mobile
Scope: Sign-up, passes, pass builder, checkout, profile
Follows: The National Museum ticketing system

01The problem

A festival pass is a promise of several things. Someone still has to decide which ones, on which day.

The earlier Naadhagama system sold a ticket to a show: pick a date, pick a quantity, pay. The festival does not work that way. A top-tier pass includes one Naadhagama show, sessions of Notes Upon a Mountain, entry to Gregory's Campfire across several nights, drama, and unlimited entry to the festival park.

Each of those has its own dates and its own limit. If the platform only sold the pass and left the choosing for later, the organisers could not plan capacity and the buyer would not know what they had bought.

02The platform

Three passes, three sets of rules

Pedro
LKR 16,000
One Naadhagama show, Once Upon a Mountain at Ambewela, multi-day entry to Gregory's Campfire, unlimited festival park, and morning activities on reservation.
Single Tree
LKR 12,000
One Naadhagama show, one entry to Gregory's Campfire, and unlimited entry to the festival park.
Gregory
LKR 7,000
One Naadhagama show and unlimited entry to the festival park.

The pass a buyer picks decides how many steps the builder has and how many choices each step allows.
Several passes can be bought at once; a bar at the foot of the screen holds the pass, the quantity and the running price.

03User journey

Building a pass, one rule at a time

Each step covers one part of the festival and says, in a sentence, what the chosen pass allows there.

01
Pick a pass
Three passes side by side, each listing what it includes and its price.
The ruleOne pass type, any quantity
02
Naadhagama
The main show runs on several dates. The buyer picks the one they will attend.
The ruleChoose one
03
Notes Upon a Mountain
Sessions on different days, chosen with checkboxes because more than one is allowed.
The ruleChoose two
04
Campfire and drama
Evening campfires and afternoon dramas, each listed with its date and time.
The ruleUp to the pass's limit
05
Add-ons
Yoga, the Pekoe Trail and Thaala Sanchaara are optional extras with their own prices.
The rulePriced separately
06
Details and checkout
Name, contact and identity details for the pass holder, then payment.
The ruleOnce per booking

04Design decisions

How the builder stays understandable

A flow with this many choices can easily feel like a form. Four decisions keep it feeling like planning a weekend.

Say the rule before asking the question

Buyers cannot be expected to remember what their pass includes five steps in. Every step opens with one sentence that restates it for that part of the festival.

How it works

One sentence per step"With the Pedro Pass, you'll get access to two Notes Upon a Mountain sessions." The number is in bold.
The control matches the ruleWhere one option is allowed the choices are radio buttons; where several are allowed they are checkboxes.
Dates and times in the optionEach choice carries its date and time, so nothing has to be looked up elsewhere.

The Drama step: a sentence saying the Pedro Pass includes two dramas, with two of three options selected

The plan builds beside you

By the fourth step a buyer has made several choices and can no longer see them. Going back to check is how people abandon a long flow.

How it works

A rail of what has been chosenOn desktop, the left side lists each part of the festival with the selections made under it.
It doubles as navigationThe current step is highlighted in the rail, so it shows both progress and the plan so far.
On a phone, dots and a reviewThe rail becomes five progress dots, and a Confirm Your Selection screen shows the whole plan before details are asked for.

The Add-ons step with the left rail listing the Naadhagama, Notes Upon a Mountain, Campfire and Drama selections

Watch before you choose

Notes Upon a Mountain and Thaala Sanchaara mean nothing to a first-time visitor. Choosing between things you cannot picture is guesswork.

How it works

A short film before the builderAfter picking a pass, the buyer is offered a video of what the festival is, before any choices are asked of them.
Past events on the home screenThe dashboard shows earlier Naadhagama events with photographs, as evidence of what a ticket buys.

After payment, the pass becomes the home

Once someone has paid, the question changes from what to buy to where to be and when.

How it works

My PassThe profile opens on the pass, showing the same plan the buyer built, session by session.
My Tickets and payment methodsKept as separate tabs beside it, out of the way of the plan.
A clear end to the purchaseThe success screen names what was bought and leads straight to the tickets.