Show dictionary · Production Management
Load-In
Also: load in · in
Load-in is the scheduled window when a production moves equipment into the venue and builds the show: unloading trucks, rigging points and motors, staging, then audio, video, lighting, and scenic elements, usually in that order.
In practice
Load-in order follows physics: rigging goes first because everything that flies must be in the air before the floor fills up, staging follows, then the technical departments build in parallel where the space allows. The reverse order governs the strike.
Load-in schedules are negotiated during the advance and drive labor calls, truck arrival times, and union crew sizes. A "6 AM load-in" on the schedule sets off a chain: riggers at 6, audio and lighting at 8, backline at noon, soundcheck at 3.
In union venues the load-in defines who touches what: loaders move cases off trucks, stagehands build, and department heads direct. Knowing the local’s rules before load-in day is part of a competent advance.
How you’ll hear it
"Trucks land at 5:30, doors open for load-in at 6 sharp, riggers first."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.