Here Comes the Summer trials blockchain payments

Innofest, an EU-backed project which turns participating music festivals into “living labs” for technological innovation, last month trialled a blockchain-based cashless payment system at Dutch mini-festival Here Comes the Summer.

IQ highlighted in March how the blockchain – the decentralised database technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin – is already being used in ticketing, live streaming/VR and the distribution of performance royalties, but Here Comes the Summer is believed to be the first time the tech has been deployed for on-site payments at a festival.

The company behind the trial, which ran from 28 to 30 April, was GUTS Tickets, an Amsterdam-based start-up which says its blockchain-based platform “makes it possible to follow the lifecycle of a ticket from A to Z”.

For Here Comes the Summer, GUTS distributed food and drink tokens through the blockchain, allowing attendees to buy tokens through their smartphones – and creating a permanent, easy-to-follow record of all transactions at the festival.

GUTS will use the results of the trial to “hone its product”, says Innofest.

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