To handle registrations from other colleges, decide who may enter, ask every registrant for their college name and a photo of a valid college ID when they register, and check that ID again at the gate. Published rulebooks from Indian inter-college fests do this in different ways. Some limit entry to students of affiliated colleges. Some charge outside participants a separate fee. Some require the college Principal to certify each entry form.
Decide who is eligible first
Write the eligibility rule down before you draft any registration question. The University of Mumbai's cultural competitions are open to bonafide students of its affiliated colleges. They also bar students who have turned 25 by 1 September of the academic year [3]. You can copy both tests: a status test (is this person a student of a recognised college?) and an age test (is this person within the limit?). If you are not sure whether your college must approve an event that draws outsiders, read how to get college permission for an event in India.
Do not make the rule so tight that outsiders cannot register at all. A college-fest guide notes that outside students can usually register by showing a valid student ID and paying a registration or day-pass fee [6]. If your event is meant to draw students from other colleges, say so in plain words on the registration page.
Build the registration questions
The form does most of the work. Unifesto supports custom registration questions, including file uploads and show-if logic. You can therefore ask the outside-college questions only of people who say they come from another college. Set this up on the Unifesto organiser page. A simple set looks like this:
- Are you a student of this college? (Yes or No)
- If No: name of your college, your course and year, and your city
- If No: upload a clear photo of your valid college ID card
- For all registrants: name exactly as printed on the ID, and a mobile number that can receive WhatsApp confirmations
The name question matters more than it seems. Rathinam Grand Fest requires the registered name to match the attendee [7]. If you ask for the name as printed on the ID, the gate team has something to compare against.
A small, free event may need only a basic form. The comparison of Google Forms and Unifesto for event registration shows where each tool fits, especially once you add paid tickets or team registration.
Some fests need a Principal's sign-off. Mumbai's rules require each participant's entry form to be certified by the college Principal and submitted in duplicate at registration [3]. Most fests will not need that much paperwork. If your rulebook does, ask for a scanned copy of the certified form as a file upload. State whether it must reach you before a fixed date.
Set fees and group rules
Several rulebooks treat outside participants differently on money. The B.P. Poddar Institute's Elixir brochure set a separate fee column for "other college" participants, though the extracted figures do not map clearly to either group [4]. The same brochure said teams from other colleges would have no preliminary round [4]. A separate fee and a separate format are both used in practice.
Fees vary widely. Dibrugarh University's Inter-College Youth Festival 2025-26 charged Rs 1,500 per participant, including accompanists [5]. The Elixir brochure set Rs 600 per group for up to 8 members, with Rs 50 per extra member. It does not say whether that applies to outside colleges [4]. Work out the arithmetic before you publish. Say 300 people buy a Rs 300 ticket. That is Rs 90,000 in gross ticket sales, before any platform fee or refund.
If you run group registrations, Unifesto's group tickets let the lead pay while teammates claim their seats by invite link. This suits a college that sends a team, because one person pays and each member confirms their own seat. Set the group size limit and the price per extra member in the ticket settings. Then state the same terms on the registration page.
Verify IDs at check-in
A form upload is a record, not a check. The Dibrugarh festival required each participant to carry a valid college ID throughout the event [5]. The Elixir brochure required a college ID for verification before entry [4]. UMANG 202V required a valid college ID card for entry, alongside the confirmation email [2].
A practical gate routine:
- Confirmation email or WhatsApp message with the QR pass, shown on a phone or printed
- Physical college ID shown at the gate, compared with the name on the registration
- Name and college on the ID checked against the registration record, not just the photo
- Wristband or stamp for admitted students, so re-entry is quick
Unifesto gives every registration a QR pass. Crew can scan from the Unifesto app at as many check-in points as you need. A duplicate guard stops the same pass being admitted twice, and live attendance shows the count as people arrive. For a larger crowd, how to check in 2,000 people without long queues explains how to split the gate.
Do not rely on the QR pass alone to prove a person is a student. The pass shows that a registration exists. The ID shows who is holding it.
Handle refunds, name changes and transfers
Outside students will cancel, and some will ask for a different name on the pass. Settle these rules before sales open. GLOGIFT 27 says fees cannot be refunded once paid. It offers a refund only if the organisers cancel for unforeseen reasons [8]. Rathinam Grand Fest refuses refunds when a participant cancels, and bars registration transfers altogether [7]. Those are two strict positions. You can pick a middle one, such as a refund before a stated date and a transfer to another person for a fee. Write it down. Students who do not turn up add to the drop-off, so how to reduce no-shows for a free college event applies to them as well.
In Unifesto, the organiser can move a registration to another account by email. That covers a student who cannot attend and wants to pass the seat to a friend. Approve refunds before money moves, so you can check each request against your rule.
Our view:
Ask for the college ID at registration, not after. A student who uploads a photo at sign-up is far less likely to arrive without one than a student who hears about the requirement at the gate. Put the ID requirement in the first line of the registration page, not in the footer.
A limitation of this advice
We found no official government, AICTE or UGC rule on handling outside-college registrations for fests. The guidance above comes from individual college rulebooks and vendor blogs. The Quora answer about IIT Bombay TechFest is user-generated and was not checked against the official site [9]. Read your own university's rules first. A file upload also does not verify that an ID is genuine. Unifesto stores what the student uploads, so the gate check is still a human job.
FAQ
Can a student from another college register for a fest?
Yes, if your rules allow it. Many rulebooks ask for a valid college ID and a registration fee. Some restrict entry to students of affiliated colleges [3][6].
What should I ask outside students to upload?
A clear photo of a valid college ID card. UMANG 202V and the Elixir brochure both required one [2][4]. Ask for the name exactly as printed on the ID too.
Should outside colleges pay a different fee?
Some do. The Elixir brochure used a separate fee column for other colleges, though its figures are not fully clear [4]. Set your own fee and state which group it applies to.
What if a student from another college cancels?
Decide the refund rule before sales open. GLOGIFT 27 refuses refunds once fees are paid, while Rathinam bars transfers. Pick a rule and publish it [7][8].
Sources
- Annual Inter-College Festival “UMANG 2024” Entry Registration for campus event.: https://www.thebges.edu.in/annual-inter-college-festival-umang-2024-entry-registration-for-campus-event/
- ANNUAL INTER-COLLEGE FESTIVAL “UMANG 202V: https://www.thebges.edu.in/annual-inter-college-festival-umang-202v-ancient-wisdom-entry-registration-for-campus-event/
- 1 University of Mumbai INTER-COLLEGIATE CULTURAL COMPETITIONS: https://archive.mu.ac.in/dsw/Rules.pdf
- THE GRAND CULTURAL FEST OF B. P. Poddar Institute of Management and Technology: https://fest-website.vercel.app/rules/Elixir%20Event%20Brochure.pdf
- DIBRUGARH UNIVERSITY INTER-COLLEGE YOUTH FESTIVAL, 2025-26: https://duliajancollege.in/Rules%20and%20Regulations.pdf
- College Fest Meaning & Types in India: https://www.borntobanger.in/blog/college-fest-meaning
- Refund Policy - Rathinam Group of Institutions: https://rathinam.global/refund-policy/
- Refund & Cancellation Policy · GLOGIFT 27: https://glogift2027.in/refund-cancellation
- Can a student of a different college attend the IIT-Bombay TechFest? - Quora: https://www.quora.com/Can-a-student-of-a-different-college-attend-the-IIT-Bombay-TechFest