Like most of us, I love a good music festival. Spending time with friends in the sunshine (except it usually rains but still), with drinks, listening to amazing bands, dancing with strangers and generally having an amazing time.
The first festival I ever went to was Leeds Fest, and although it tipped it down pretty constantly and I was covered in a thick layer of mud constantly, it was one of the best weekends ever. For a one-day festival, without the commitment of camping in a field, I have always loved Slam Dunk Festival (coincidentally also in Leeds) where you can cram in a whole lot of live music in just a few hours.
When baby Wright is a little older, I would love to take him to some family-friendly festivals. Glastonbury is the dream of course, but Steven and I are working at Bluedot Festival this year and looking at all the fun things going on outside of a cool music line up is making it a contender for our little family festival adventures in the next few years.
Y’all know I also am all about new technology. I love anything that makes life easier, or more efficient, so when I saw that Data Label had done some market research about new technologies as part of festival entries, I got my nerd glasses on, and set to analysing.
Data Label asked a selection of Baby boomers, Gen X’ers, Millennials and Get Z’ers about their preferred form of entry and payment. Paper tickets, fabric wristbands and cash were least popular with the Millenials with only 17% choosing them. I’m one of those gross people who loves to keep a fabric wristband on until it falls off my wrist, we even used them for our wedding! But paper tickets make me a little anxious – the changes of me losing them is pretty high!
RFID technology wristband entry and preloaded with cash was most popular with Gen X’ers, at 45% but only 18% Millennials. This is a good system for keeping lines moving quickly at festivals, and ensuring that tickets aren’t fake, but that just isn’t good enough for Gen Z’ers, with only 16% of the people choosing this option being in that generation.
Finally, at the height of technology, we have mobile ticket entry, contactless card and smartwatch payments. This requires the least amount of items to be remembered by the festival goers as well as super quick transactions, however, if your phone or watch dies – you are Scooby Doo’ed! 48% of those that will choose this option are Millennials, with 24% being Gen Z, and only 18% Gen X and 10% Baby Boomers.
Technology at festivals is more than just the entry method. Holograms of deceased stars have been known to ‘perform live’ for audiences, and VR behind-the-scenes tours are very popular. Not to mention power bank swaps to keep devices charged (especially useful if you are using your phone as a way to pay for things!), and ways to interact with wristbands via social media.
It doesn’t seem as though technological advances as part of festivals are going away any time soon – we can only imagine what new advances will be next!
I say – bring it on!
This was a collaborative post.