diff --git a/components/frontend/src/lib/components/hackathon/CurrentStateCard.svelte b/components/frontend/src/lib/components/hackathon/CurrentStateCard.svelte
index 2d1c42cb..38257f45 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/lib/components/hackathon/CurrentStateCard.svelte
+++ b/components/frontend/src/lib/components/hackathon/CurrentStateCard.svelte
@@ -76,15 +76,41 @@
     // there is one at all. `new Date()` is only ever compared against, never
     // rendered — the visible clock lives in `Countdown`, which is what keeps this
     // from becoming a hydration mismatch.
-    const boundary = $derived(nextBoundary(currentPhase, nextPhase, new Date()));
+    const boundary = $derived(nextBoundary(currentPhase, nextPhase, new Date(), declared));
 
     // The two conditions deliberately kept out of the banner (see `stateAlerts`):
     // untidy rather than blocking, so an organiser reads them here without being
     // interrupted by them elsewhere.
+    //
+    // Both stay organiser-only, because both are prompts to act. A participant
+    // reading "no phase is declared current" learns nothing they can use — with no
+    // declaration the dates decide, which is what a timeline looks like anyway.
     const noCurrentPhase = $derived(organiserVoice && hasState && currentPhase === null);
     const phaseEnded = $derived(
         organiserVoice && currentPhase?.endsAt !== undefined && currentPhase.endsAt < new Date(),
     );
+
+    // The participant's version of the same fact, and the one thing manual mode
+    // owes them: with a phase declared current the dates on this card and on the
+    // timeline have stopped deciding anything, so a window that disagrees with the
+    // clock is not a mistake and not something to plan around.
+    //
+    // Both directions, unlike `phaseEnded` above: an organiser who declares a
+    // phase early leaves a "current" phase whose start is still days off, which
+    // reads just as oddly as one held past its end. Suppressing the countdown
+    // (see `nextBoundary`) removes the false statement; this is what replaces it.
+    //
+    // A declared phase whose window still covers now says nothing — the dates and
+    // the declaration agree, and there is nothing to explain.
+    const outsideWindow = $derived.by(() => {
+        if (!declared || !currentPhase) return false;
+        const now = new Date();
+        return (
+            (currentPhase.endsAt !== undefined && currentPhase.endsAt < now) ||
+            (currentPhase.startsAt !== undefined && currentPhase.startsAt > now)
+        );
+    });
+    const datesAreAGuide = $derived(!organiserVoice && outsideWindow);
 </script>
 
 <!--
@@ -241,7 +267,7 @@
         </a>
     {/if}
 
-    {#if noCurrentPhase || phaseEnded}
+    {#if noCurrentPhase || phaseEnded || datesAreAGuide}
         <div class="flex flex-col gap-1 border-t border-line pt-3">
             {#if noCurrentPhase}
                 <span class="text-xs text-ink-3">
@@ -253,6 +279,12 @@
                     This phase's dates have passed — it stays current until you change it.
                 </span>
             {/if}
+            {#if datesAreAGuide}
+                <span class="text-xs text-ink-3">
+                    The organisers decide when the hackathon moves on, so the dates on the
+                    timeline are a guide rather than a deadline.
+                </span>
+            {/if}
         </div>
     {/if}
 </section>
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.test.ts b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.test.ts
index c94e0b24..b37cc02c 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.test.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.test.ts
@@ -256,17 +256,62 @@ describe("formatPhaseRange", () => {
         new Date("2026-08-20T09:00"),
         new Date("2026-08-25T18:00"),
       ),
+    ).toBe("Aug 20, 2026, 09:00 – Aug 25, 2026, 18:00")
+  })
+
+  // The case the date-only format could not tell apart: three phases of one
+  // hackathon day all read "Aug 25, 2026 – Aug 25, 2026" before.
+  it("collapses the repeated date on a single-day range", () => {
+    expect(
+      formatPhaseRange(
+        new Date("2026-08-25T09:00"),
+        new Date("2026-08-25T13:00"),
+      ),
+    ).toBe("Aug 25, 2026, 09:00 – 13:00")
+  })
+
+  // Midnight on both bounds is an organizer who left the time fields alone, so
+  // the range is the whole day and there is no time worth printing.
+  it("prints dates alone when both bounds are at midnight", () => {
+    expect(
+      formatPhaseRange(
+        new Date("2026-08-20T00:00"),
+        new Date("2026-08-25T00:00"),
+      ),
     ).toBe("Aug 20, 2026 – Aug 25, 2026")
   })
 
+  it("collapses an all-day range to the one date", () => {
+    expect(
+      formatPhaseRange(
+        new Date("2026-08-25T00:00"),
+        new Date("2026-08-25T00:00"),
+      ),
+    ).toBe("Aug 25, 2026")
+  })
+
+  // One decision for the range, not per bound: an end at 00:00 keeps its time
+  // rather than looking like a range with no end stated.
+  it("shows both times when only one bound has one", () => {
+    expect(
+      formatPhaseRange(
+        new Date("2026-08-25T09:00"),
+        new Date("2026-08-26T00:00"),
+      ),
+    ).toBe("Aug 25, 2026, 09:00 – Aug 26, 2026, 00:00")
+  })
+
   // Both-or-neither is enforced on write by a CEL rule, but rows predating it can
   // still carry one alone, so neither half may render as "Invalid Date".
   it("handles one bound alone", () => {
     expect(formatPhaseRange(new Date("2026-08-20T09:00"), undefined)).toBe(
-      "From Aug 20, 2026",
+      "From Aug 20, 2026, 09:00",
     )
     expect(formatPhaseRange(undefined, new Date("2026-08-25T18:00"))).toBe(
-      "Until Aug 25, 2026",
+      "Until Aug 25, 2026, 18:00",
+    )
+    expect(formatPhaseRange(new Date("2026-08-20T00:00"), undefined)).toBe(
+      "From Aug 20, 2026",
     )
   })
 
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.ts b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.ts
index 0dd5d5fe..2b99d179 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/phase.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,24 @@ export function sortPhasesByStart<T extends { startsAt?: Date | undefined }>(
  * Both dates are optional in the schema, and the CEL rule only forbids one
  * *without* the other on write — rows predating it can still carry either alone,
  * so all four combinations are handled.
+ *
+ * **Times are shown when there are times to show.** The organizer's form fields
+ * are `datetime-local`, so a phase carries an hour and a minute whether or not
+ * anyone meant it to; printing the date alone made every phase of a two-day
+ * hackathon read "Aug 25, 2026 – Aug 25, 2026" and threw away the half of the
+ * schedule that actually paces a hackathon day. Midnight on both bounds is read
+ * as "the whole day" and prints as before — that is what an organizer who left
+ * the time fields alone meant, and it is the only reading under which a
+ * suppressed time loses nothing.
+ *
+ * One decision for the whole range, never per bound: a start at 09:00 against an
+ * end at midnight prints both, because "Aug 25, 2026, 09:00 – Aug 26, 2026" would
+ * read as a range whose end is unspecified rather than as one ending at 00:00.
+ *
+ * 24-hour, and the repeated date collapsed on a single-day range — "Aug 25, 2026,
+ * 09:00 – 13:00". Both keep the line short enough to sit beside a phase name in
+ * the `tnum` spans that render it, which is the whole reason the date is not
+ * simply printed twice.
  */
 export function formatPhaseRange(
   startsAt: Date | undefined,
@@ -87,11 +105,30 @@ export function formatPhaseRange(
       day: "numeric",
       year: "numeric",
     })
+  // Local, like `toDateTimeLocal` and for the same reason: an organizer's 09:00
+  // is their own 09:00, and `toLocaleTimeString` with no zone honours that.
+  const time = (d: Date) =>
+    d.toLocaleTimeString("en-US", {
+      hour: "2-digit",
+      minute: "2-digit",
+      hour12: false,
+    })
+  const midnight = (d: Date) => d.getHours() === 0 && d.getMinutes() === 0
+  const timed = [startsAt, endsAt].some((d) => d !== undefined && !midnight(d))
+  const stamp = (d: Date) => (timed ? `${fmt(d)}, ${time(d)}` : fmt(d))
+
   if (!startsAt && !endsAt) return "No dates set"
-  if (!startsAt) return `Until ${fmt(endsAt as Date)}`
-  if (!endsAt) return `From ${fmt(startsAt)}`
+  if (!startsAt) return `Until ${stamp(endsAt as Date)}`
+  if (!endsAt) return `From ${stamp(startsAt)}`
+
+  // Compared as rendered, so "same day" means the same thing the reader sees.
+  if (fmt(startsAt) === fmt(endsAt)) {
+    return timed
+      ? `${fmt(startsAt)}, ${time(startsAt)} – ${time(endsAt)}`
+      : fmt(startsAt)
+  }
 
-  return `${fmt(startsAt)} – ${fmt(endsAt)}`
+  return `${stamp(startsAt)} – ${stamp(endsAt)}`
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.test.ts b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.test.ts
index ddf1630b..df92a2c0 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.test.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.test.ts
@@ -52,28 +52,67 @@ describe("nextBoundary", () => {
       { endsAt: at("2026-08-13T12:00:00Z") },
       { startsAt: at("2026-08-13T12:00:00Z") },
       NOW,
+      false,
+    )
+    expect(b).toEqual({ verb: "ends", target: at("2026-08-13T12:00:00Z") })
+  })
+
+  it("counts down to the end of a declared phase too", () => {
+    // A declared phase's own end date is still worth naming — it is what the
+    // organizer scheduled. Only the *next* phase's start is a promise the dates
+    // cannot keep.
+    const b = nextBoundary(
+      { endsAt: at("2026-08-13T12:00:00Z") },
+      { startsAt: at("2026-08-14T09:00:00Z") },
+      NOW,
+      true,
     )
     expect(b).toEqual({ verb: "ends", target: at("2026-08-13T12:00:00Z") })
   })
 
   it("falls through to the next phase starting once the current one has ended", () => {
-    // Routine, not an edge case: a declared phase stays current until an
-    // organizer moves the pointer, so its end date passing is normal.
     const b = nextBoundary(
       { endsAt: at("2026-08-10T12:00:00Z") },
       { startsAt: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") },
       NOW,
+      false,
     )
     expect(b).toEqual({ verb: "starts", target: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") })
   })
 
+  it("names no start while a phase is declared current", () => {
+    // The lie this guard exists to stop: nothing starts the next phase but
+    // SetCurrentPhase, so "starts in 3 days" would be false, not just stale.
+    expect(
+      nextBoundary(
+        { endsAt: at("2026-08-10T12:00:00Z") },
+        { startsAt: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") },
+        NOW,
+        true,
+      ),
+    ).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it("names no start for a declaration that resolves to no phase", () => {
+    // A `current_phase_id` naming a phase that is not in the list. The pointer
+    // still says an organizer is driving, so the dates still decide nothing.
+    expect(
+      nextBoundary(null, { startsAt: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") }, NOW, true),
+    ).toBeNull()
+  })
+
   it("uses the next phase when there is no current one", () => {
-    const b = nextBoundary(null, { startsAt: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") }, NOW)
+    const b = nextBoundary(
+      null,
+      { startsAt: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") },
+      NOW,
+      false,
+    )
     expect(b).toEqual({ verb: "starts", target: at("2026-08-15T09:00:00Z") })
   })
 
   it("is null when the current phase has no end date and nothing is next", () => {
-    expect(nextBoundary({ endsAt: undefined }, null, NOW)).toBeNull()
+    expect(nextBoundary({ endsAt: undefined }, null, NOW, false)).toBeNull()
   })
 
   it("is null when every date is in the past", () => {
@@ -82,6 +121,7 @@ describe("nextBoundary", () => {
         { endsAt: at("2026-08-01T12:00:00Z") },
         { startsAt: at("2026-08-02T12:00:00Z") },
         NOW,
+        false,
       ),
     ).toBeNull()
   })
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.ts b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.ts
index 982bc00d..29a276f7 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/lib/utils/relativeTime.ts
@@ -45,24 +45,38 @@ export type Boundary = { verb: "ends" | "starts"; target: Date }
  * The next moment the hackathon changes shape, from the current and next phase.
  *
  * The current phase ending is the boundary that matters while it is running,
- * because that is when what participants may do can change. Once it has ended —
- * which happens routinely, since a declared phase stays current until an
- * organizer moves the pointer — the next phase starting is the only boundary
- * left to name, so this falls through to it rather than reporting nothing.
+ * because that is when what participants may do can change. Once it has ended,
+ * the next phase starting is the only boundary left to name — but only where a
+ * date is what will start it.
  *
- * Null when neither date is in the future: a hackathon with no dates set, or one
- * whose last phase has run out. Both are states the card renders without a
- * countdown rather than with an invented one.
+ * **`declared` suppresses the "starts" boundary entirely.** With a phase declared
+ * current, `SetCurrentPhase` is the only thing that moves the hackathon on:
+ * `resolvePhaseStatus` stops reading the dates, the declared phase stays current
+ * after its window runs out, and the next phase's start date arriving does
+ * nothing at all. Counting down to it told a participant "Hacking starts in 3 h"
+ * about a phase that starts when an organizer clicks — the one statement on the
+ * page that could be flatly false rather than merely stale. A dangling
+ * `current_phase_id` counts as declared too: the pointer says an organizer is
+ * driving, whether or not it resolves.
+ *
+ * The "ends" boundary needs no such guard. A declared phase's end date is not a
+ * promise about what happens next, and `formatCountdown` returns null once it has
+ * passed, so a phase held past its window simply stops counting.
+ *
+ * Null when there is no boundary left to name: no dates set, the last phase run
+ * out, or a declaration with its end behind us. All are states the caller renders
+ * without a countdown rather than with an invented one.
  */
 export function nextBoundary(
   current: { endsAt?: Date | undefined } | null,
   next: { startsAt?: Date | undefined } | null,
   now: Date,
+  declared: boolean,
 ): Boundary | null {
   if (current?.endsAt && current.endsAt > now) {
     return { verb: "ends", target: current.endsAt }
   }
-  if (next?.startsAt && next.startsAt > now) {
+  if (!declared && next?.startsAt && next.startsAt > now) {
     return { verb: "starts", target: next.startsAt }
   }
 
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.server.ts b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.server.ts
index b8728271..fd9de891 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.server.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.server.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ export const load: PageServerLoad = async (event) => {
     // Which row gets the "starts in …" countdown. Named rather than derived
     // here so it is the same "next" the overview's card names.
     nextPhaseId: hackathonState.nextPhase?.id ?? "",
+    // Whether an organizer declared the current phase, in which case no date
+    // starts anything and the countdown above is withheld — same rule
+    // `nextBoundary` applies to the overview's card. The page needs the flag
+    // rather than deriving it from `livePhaseId`, which is set either way.
+    declared: hackathonState.declared,
     enabled: hackathonState.enabled,
     hasState: hackathonState.hasState,
     // Every capability check also requires a confirmed membership, so "open now"
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.svelte b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.svelte
index 6fadc93d..1ecf90cd 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.svelte
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/+page.svelte
@@ -217,7 +217,15 @@
                                     </a>
                                 {/if}
                                 <span class="ms-auto flex shrink-0 items-baseline gap-3">
-                                    {#if phase.id === data.nextPhaseId && phase.startsAt}
+                                    <!-- Withheld while a phase is declared current:
+                                         nothing but SetCurrentPhase starts the next
+                                         one then, so its start date arriving does
+                                         nothing and "starts in 3 h" would be a
+                                         promise no clock keeps. Same guard
+                                         `nextBoundary` applies for the overview's
+                                         card; the date beside it still says when it
+                                         was scheduled for. -->
+                                    {#if phase.id === data.nextPhaseId && phase.startsAt && !data.declared}
                                         <Countdown
                                             boundary={{ verb: 'starts', target: phase.startsAt }}
                                         />
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.server.ts b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.server.ts
index 56f0374e..8cf02a3a 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.server.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.server.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,16 @@ export const load: PageServerLoad = async (event) => {
 
   return {
     hackathonId: hackathon.id,
+    // Arrived here straight from Add Phase, which redirects with `?added` because
+    // `Create` cannot store dates and this is where they get set. Carried in the
+    // URL rather than in state, so a phase legitimately left undated is not told
+    // it was just created when it is reached from the list.
+    //
+    // The form posts to `?/save`, which replaces the whole query string — so the
+    // notice is gone by the second render, failed save included. That is the
+    // wanted behaviour rather than a limitation: it answers "why am I on Edit",
+    // and after submitting once nobody is asking.
+    justAdded: event.url.searchParams.has("added"),
     phase: {
       id: result.phase.id,
       name: result.phase.name,
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.svelte b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.svelte
index 3fe26460..e3a6d748 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.svelte
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/[phaseId]/edit/+page.svelte
@@ -25,8 +25,18 @@
             &larr; Back to Manage Timeline
         </a>
         <h1 class="m-0 text-title text-ink">Edit Phase</h1>
+        <!-- Says why they are here when they did not choose to be: Add Phase
+             redirects onto this form because creating a phase cannot store its
+             dates. Without the line, an organizer who clicked "Add phase" lands on
+             a page titled "Edit Phase" and has to work out what happened. -->
         <p class="m-0 text-xs text-ink-3">
-            Changes are visible to participants immediately.
+            {#if data.justAdded}
+                <strong class="text-ink">{data.phase.name} was added.</strong>
+                Give it a start and an end to place it on the timeline — or save it as
+                it is and schedule it later.
+            {:else}
+                Changes are visible to participants immediately.
+            {/if}
         </p>
     </div>
 
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.server.ts b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.server.ts
index 8f2ee279..edafd517 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.server.ts
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.server.ts
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ export const actions: Actions = {
     }
     const values = parsed.values
 
+    let created
     try {
-      await phase.create({
+      created = await phase.create({
         hackathonId: event.params.id,
         name: values.name,
         description: values.description,
@@ -72,6 +73,21 @@ export const actions: Actions = {
       throw e
     }
 
-    redirect(303, resolve(`/my/hackathon/${event.params.id}/timeline/manage`))
+    // Straight to the new phase's Edit page rather than back to the list, because
+    // `Create` discards dates (see the TODO above) and Edit is therefore the only
+    // place a phase can be scheduled at all. Landing an organizer on the form that
+    // finishes the job beats a list row reading "No dates set" that they have to
+    // notice and click. `?added` is what lets that page say why they are there.
+    //
+    // Falls back to the list if the RPC somehow reports no id: an organizer looking
+    // at their new phase in the list is a worse outcome than a broken Edit URL.
+    redirect(
+      303,
+      created.phaseId
+        ? `${resolve(
+            `/my/hackathon/${event.params.id}/timeline/manage/${created.phaseId}/edit`,
+          )}?added`
+        : resolve(`/my/hackathon/${event.params.id}/timeline/manage`),
+    )
   },
 }
diff --git a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.svelte b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.svelte
index bc260c89..752ca2b2 100644
--- a/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.svelte
+++ b/components/frontend/src/routes/(app)/my/hackathon/[id]/timeline/manage/new/+page.svelte
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@
         </a>
         <h1 class="m-0 text-title text-ink">Add Phase</h1>
         <p class="m-0 text-xs text-ink-3">
-            Participants see the phase as soon as it is saved. Undated phases sort to the
-            top of the timeline until they are scheduled.
+            Participants see the phase as soon as it is saved, and the next step is
+            scheduling it — this form hands straight over to it. Undated phases sort to
+            the top of the timeline until they are scheduled.
         </p>
     </div>