Building a website from the ground up isn’t usually in the budget when producing an event. Luckily, there are some good WordPress themes available to use as starting points, and each template offers quite a bit of customization.
Here’s a roundup of La Sirena’s favorite themes for events:
Showthemes
I want to give a special shout-out to Showthemes because their support and documentation has always been excellent. I took them for granted until I was trying to customize a horrible theme called Fest. The event producer and I had a terrible experience with Fest and ended up returning it and using a theme by Showthemes instead.
Fudge 2.0
Highly responsive and very attractive, this theme is well-liked for a reason. If your message and and content are simple, it’s hard to go wrong with Fudge 2.0.
Conference Pro
Modern, easy to use, and very flexible.
Khore
This theme comes with the option for an extensive navigation menu, covering whatever your needs may be (ticketing, schedule info, photo galleries, your various social media, contact info — you name it.) Each link in the menu gets a dedicated page on your site, versus having everything crammed into one long, endlessly scrolling page.
Vertoh
Check out how we worked with our client, Bold Hat Productions, to customize this theme for Fremont Oktoberfest and Kirkland Uncorked. Like some of the other themes, it is worth noting that there is an option to prominently display and link to sponsors, should that be a requirement for your event.
Mondree
I like this one because it has the potential to be really simple and clean and it’s clear right off the bat how customizable and mobile-friendly it is. Check out how we worked with our client, Bold Hat Productions, to customize this theme for Fremont Solstice, a weekend-long music and arts festival in Seattle.
Other Themes
I’ve personally never used these themes, but they look promising and my curiosity is definitely piqued. If you have any positive or negative feedback from personal experience working with them, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
Mesh 2.0
This one is specifically tailored towards music and concerts, but if that’s what you need then you should take this theme into consideration.
Eventum
Eventum seems like a good option for when the info you’re trying to get across is pretty basic and potentially even sparse, allowing you to spruce it up with a decently stylized design and imagery, letting it punch above its weight class.
Eventerra
Includes a registration form and ticketing. Seems like a good balance between images and text, for when your event requires a more text-heavy marketing / informational approach.
Eventica
Another theme that seems like a good fit for when you have a limited amount of content and want to give it a larger voice by packaging it in something stylish and impactful.
Gather
Really simple. Nice schedule layout. Seems like this is designed more for mobile viewing than desktop viewing.
Clubber
Good for the dissemination of a high volume and variety of info. Probably not your best bet for an annual event or events that occur at a lower frequency than ongoing weekly bookings.
The Keynote
Seems like a good option for when your event DOESN’T have a wide swathe of imagery to use and you need something more text-heavy.
Shindig
Stylized, seems like it’s best for concerts and similar types of events that don’t require much explanation and whose format most people are familiar with.
Skyline
Not specifically designed for events, but this one seems highly adaptable. This theme would be of use if your event doesn’t need options for registration, ticketing, or a display of a schedule or itinerary.
Cookie
Similar to Skyline in that it’s not designed specifically for events, but appears to be highly adaptable should your events page not need a ton of typical event resources (although this is still set up to include some of these options.)
Things to keep in mind
- Themes are a good starting point but you will need to be a bit tech-savvy or hire a designer/developer-type to install it, make it fit your event’s style/branding, or customize the template.
- You have to do regular maintenance and updates on your WordPress site every few months. You can’t just leave it laying around or you might make your site vulnerable to getting hacked.