The brave new world of festival technology is upon us. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and contactless payments are leading the charge: over 40 festivals worldwide have used RFID in wristbands or other forms, while Wireless was the first UK festival at which all stallholders accepted cashless payments (also via wristbands). The recent British Summer Time Festival also featured heavy promotion by Barclaycard of its own contactless payment system.
Moving away from cash towards electronic payments suits festival goers worried about petty-theft and the need to withdraw wads of cash before a big weekend. The technologies also have obvious attractions for events organisers, who have traditionally struggled to harness the potential marketing benefits of such a captive audience. A cashless festival brings with it the promise of real-time intelligence on who festival goers are, what they are buying, and perhaps most importantly, what they might buy more of with a well-placed promotion.
RFID wristbands and contactless payments using mobile phones have so far gained the most attention. Yet biometric technology is emerging as a viable alternative in this technology arms race, having been successfully piloted for the first time in the UK at Festival No.6 in Portmeiron