Got a drawer, shoebox or old wallet stuffed with gig stubs, and no idea what to do with old concert tickets? You're in good company. This guide covers how to display concert tickets without ruining them: 12 ideas, split into displays for a collection that keeps growing, ways to frame one special night, craft projects (made from copies, never originals) and what to do now that so many tickets live on your phone.
How to display concert tickets: first, check what they're printed on
Before you pick a display, look at how the ticket was printed. Gig tickets come in two main types:
- Thermal tickets. There's no ink: the print comes from a heat-sensitive coating, which is why these tickets fade. That covers thin, receipt-style tickets and many boarding passes, but also plenty of thicker box-office tickets, because a lot of venue ticket printers print straight onto thermal card. Look for a smooth, coated surface and black or grey print that may already be patchy.
- Ink-printed tickets. Printed with ink, with no heat-sensitive coating. These cope better with being displayed, although strong sun will still fade them.
Thermal coatings don't like heat, sunlight or humidity, and they react with plasticisers (found in soft PVC plastics), sticky tape, solvents and even hand cream. Friction can mark them too, so never scratch or rub a ticket to work out what it is. The two types aren't always easy to tell apart by eye, so if in doubt, treat a ticket as thermal: keep it out of the sun, don't tape or glue it, and use copies for anything crafty. Our guide on how to preserve tickets and stop them fading goes into more detail.
Ideas for a growing collection
If you go to gigs regularly, the question isn't just what to do with ticket stubs you already have, but where the next one goes. Here's how the main concert ticket display ideas compare:
| Idea | Best for | Originals kept safe? | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slot-top memory box | A growing collection on the wall or a shelf | Yes: nothing is stuck down (hang it out of direct sun) | Low |
| Ticket album | Big collections, kept on a bookshelf | Yes, with PVC-free pockets | Low |
| Peg-and-string line | Ink-printed tickets and copies, swapped often | Only if you hang copies of thermal tickets | Low |
| Box frame | One special gig | Yes, if held with photo corners | Medium |
| Coasters, magnets, collage | Gifts and fun | Use copies only | Medium |
1. Post them into a slot-top ticket memory box
A slot-top box is the low-effort option: you post each ticket in through a slot in the top and it joins the rest behind a clear front. The Wandersake Memory Box has a thin slot about 11.5cm long in its top edge (longer tickets go in short end first) and a clear acrylic front, so nothing needs glue, tape or pins. When it's filling up, release the tabs on the back and rearrange things so your best nights face out.
It comes in Medium (20 x 20cm, £34.95) and Large (30 x 30cm, £39.95), in White, Black or Natural Wood, and hangs on a wall or stands on a shelf. Mixing tickets with a printed gig photo or two and the odd wristband makes it look less like an archive and more like your own music history.
2. A ticket album with polypropylene pockets
For big collections, a slip-in album or binder with clear pockets keeps every ticket flat, protected and in order. Check the pockets are polypropylene or polyester, and avoid PVC (sometimes sold as "vinyl"), because soft PVC contains plasticisers that can fade thermal print. Skip self-adhesive "magnetic" album pages too. File by year, and slip a note behind each ticket with the date, venue and support act.
3. A peg-and-string ticket line
A length of twine and some mini wooden pegs strung across a shaded wall, above a desk or along a bookshelf makes a cheap and cheerful gig ticket display you can swap around whenever you like. Of all the ticket stub display ideas here, it's the easiest to change, but it leaves tickets open to light, dust and handling. Use it for ink-printed tickets and copies, string it well away from windows, and keep thermal originals in an album or a box out of direct sun.
Framing ideas for one special gig
Some nights deserve their own frame: a first gig, a band's farewell tour, the night you met someone. Here's the best way to frame concert tickets without damaging them.
4. Ticket and photo in a box frame
A box frame for concert tickets has depth between the glazing and the back, which stops the ticket pressing against the front and leaves room for layers. Pair the ticket with a printed photo from the night (even a blurry one has charm) on a plain mount. Hold the ticket in place with photo corners rather than glue or tape, so it can come out again undamaged. If the frame will hang in a bright room, look for UV-filtering glazing.
5. Ticket with the setlist, plectrum or wristband
If you managed to grab a setlist at the end of the night, or caught a plectrum, a deeper box frame can hold it beside the ticket. An arena or festival wristband works too: lay it flat or coil it neatly. Our guide to festival wristband ideas covers cutting them off and keeping them. For heavier objects, ask a framer to stitch or strap them to the backing board rather than gluing them.
Creative ideas (use copies, not originals)
Creative ways to display concert tickets often involve cutting, gluing or sealing, which is fine as long as it's a copy. Scan or photograph the ticket in good, even light, print it, and keep the original somewhere safe.
6 to 8. Coasters, magnets and a printed ticket collage
- 6. Coasters: ask a print shop or online photo printer to turn copies into coasters. A set of four from one tour makes a great present for whoever came with you.
- 7. Fridge magnets: print small copies, stick them to self-adhesive magnetic sheet and trim. Your gig history, on the fridge.
- 8. A printed ticket collage: scan your whole collection, arrange it digitally and print it as a poster. You get the wall-of-tickets look while the originals stay safe in an album or box.
What to do with e-tickets and phone tickets
Plenty of gigs are now phone-only, which leaves nothing to keep. A few workarounds:
- 9. Screenshot it on the day. That way you're not relying on an app or account to keep it for you. Just don't share a photo of the barcode online: ticket barcodes and QR codes can contain personal information.
- 10. Print a souvenir copy. After the gig, print the screenshot on matt card, trim it to ticket size and treat it like the real thing.
- 11. Keep the physical extras. The wristband, a lanyard, the print-at-home PDF, or the setlist if you were lucky enough to get one.
- 12. Write a gig card. Note the date, venue, support act, who you went with and the song they opened with, and keep it with the printed copy.
Where to hang tickets (and where not to)
Knowing how to display concert tickets is half the job; choosing where is the other half. Paper keepsakes last longest somewhere cool, dry and out of direct light, which in a British home rules out a few obvious spots:
- Sunny windowsills and walls that catch direct sun: sunlight fades thermal print and yellows paper.
- Above radiators or storage heaters, or near a log burner: heat speeds up fading and can darken thermal paper.
- Steamy kitchens and bathrooms: humidity cockles paper and can encourage mould.
- Cold external walls that get condensation in winter: if a wall gets damp patches, it isn't the wall for paper.
Better spots include a hallway or landing, a shaded living-room wall or a bookshelf away from the window. Whatever you choose, handle tickets with clean, dry hands, and skip the hand cream just before.
FAQs
Are old ticket stubs worth anything?
Most are worth far more to you than to a buyer. Tickets from historic or legendary gigs can sell to collectors, with value depending on the artist, rarity and condition. Complete, unused tickets usually fetch more than torn stubs, and fading, scratches and bent corners all reduce value, so store anything special flat and out of the light.
Can you laminate concert tickets?
Not in a hot laminator if they're thermal paper: the heat-sensitive coating can turn the whole ticket black. Cold, self-adhesive pouches avoid heat, but the adhesive is permanent and may affect thermal print over time. For anything you care about, a polypropylene sleeve or a box frame protects it without changing it, so laminate a copy instead.
What's the best way to frame concert tickets?
Use a box frame so the ticket doesn't press against the glazing, hold it with photo corners rather than glue or tape, and add a mount to give it some breathing space. Pair it with a photo, setlist or wristband for context, then hang it away from direct sun, radiators and steamy rooms so it doesn't fade.
How do you stop concert tickets fading?
Keep them cool, dry and out of direct sunlight, and away from soft PVC plastics, sticky tape and hand cream, all of which can affect thermal print. Store the ones you aren't displaying flat in PVC-free sleeves, and scan your favourites now so you'll still have a copy if the originals do fade.
Give your tickets a home
Your gig history deserves better than the kitchen drawer. Explore our memory boxes and give every ticket somewhere to go, from the first support act to the last encore.