More UK music festivals go cashless
The Cotswolds’ 2000 Trees has become the latest UK festival to go 100% cashless with a PlayPass-supplied RFID system.
The 10,000-capacity, three-day event – whose most recent edition was held from 12 to 14 July 2018 – deployed 100 point-of-sale terminals across 55 sales outlets, with visitors incentivised to pre-register and load funds before the festival with a £10 or £15 bonus credit if they topped up £100 and £150, respectively.
Festival director Andy Rea reported a “significant” increase in bar sales, along with a reduction in queueing times, with transaction times down to 40 seconds.
“Twenty-eighteen has been a momentous year for us with our move to cashless,” says Rea. “It was a decision we had been deliberating for a couple of years; I think it is a very positive step forward for our festival that we are really proud of.”
“You can’t underestimate the convenience it adds to the customer experience, not having to worry about bringing cash and keeping it safe – plus the tech helped render queues almost non-existent, allowing people to spend more time enjoying the festival. The positive feedback we’ve had from our audience, traders and staff has reinforced our belief that we made the right choice in going cashless and appointing PlayPass.”
“Queues were almost non-existent, allowing people to spend more time enjoying the festival”
Also doing away with paper money was Northern Ireland’s Jika Jika! Festival, which made its debut on 25 and 26 August in Ebrington Square, Londonderry.
Event Genius supplied the RFID technology, which increased spending by 23% per head when compared to prior Jika Jika! events held on the same site last year.
“We’ve been hugely impressed with Event Genius Pay,” says festival director James Crossan. “The solution speeds up transactions at the bar and makes it easy for fans to top up credit, allowing them to spend more time enjoying the music and less time waiting in queues.”
Lauren Lytle, newly appointed head of technical operations at Event Genius, adds: “It’s been a privilege to be able to help Jika Jika! make a resounding success of their debut festival.
“From start to finish their team’s commitment to ensuring their fans have the best possible time has been amazing and it’s great to have been the first RFID payment provider to deliver a fully cashless festival in Northern Ireland.”
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