As the UK music festival season starts to wind down, organisers are already rolling up their sleeves to work on next year’s events. 2024 dates are locked in, venues are booked, and the line-ups are taking shape.
While festival planners are looking forward to 2024, they’ll also spend time reviewing their 2023 events; what worked, what didn’t and what can be improved.
If you’re looking for innovative ways to make the festival experience even better, music festival event tech may be the solution you’re looking for.
Music Festivals and Event Tech
Utilising event technology for an event doesn’t need to be overly complicated. A comprehensive event app can do most of the heavy lifting. Badge printing kiosks can also be added to make festival entry super easy (more on that below).
An event app is like every other app we have on our phones. It’s a digital and interactive resource that delivers all the festival info in one easy-to-access place.
As many music festivals are equipped with charging stations, mobile apps are a viable means of keeping attendees informed and in the loop throughout the festival.
Let’s take a look at some common festival features and how music festival event tech can help improve the experience for festival goers and organisers alike.
Rock Star Entry
Many festival goers will make lengthy journeys to get to the event site. Once they arrive, the last thing they’ll want to do is spend umpteen hours in a queue.
Portable badge-printing kiosks can process festival check-ins in moments.
QR code enabled, CrowdComms kiosks support quick scanning, fast badge-printing and quick entry. Which means less time queuing and more time getting the most from the festival.
Who Shall We See?
Festival line-ups are always eagerly awaited. While people will want to know whether their favourites are on the festival bill, many will also be keen to check out new bands and buzz-generating acts.
Event apps allow festival organisers to include artist profiles with detailed biographies, touring schedules, and multimedia content (such as videos and graphics).
Unlike printed brochures, the festival app isn’t restricted to a limited number of pages. Which means smaller acts can deliver more content to attract festival attendees to their performance.
N.B. a note about merchandise – digital profiles can also include links to dedicated festival stores for merch purchases. With the advent of streaming, live performances and merch sales are now the main source of income for many bands and singers. Festivals may not have the on-site resources to sell merch for every performing artist. Including sales links in the festival app can be a financial aid for smaller acts in particular.
Timetable Clashes
Great line-ups packed with your favourite artists invariably = timetable clashes. Most music festival goers are familiar with dashing between stages, trying to get maximum stage time for each band or artist – while also securing a decent viewing spot. It’s a headache (albeit a fun one).
While event apps might not be able to bend time and space so people can be in two places at once, they can be a really useful planning tool for festival attendees.
Personalised schedules (or agendas) allow people to choose the acts they really want to see. The digital feature creates a personalised line-up, so people have a clear view of what’s on and when. The de-cluttered schedule ensures must-see acts don’t get missed, and any clashes can be planned for ahead of time…
Venue Navigation aka Preparing for the Stage Dash
…part of which means grappling with venue navigation.
If the Grass Cutters are on the Daffodil Stage at 1 p.m. for a 45-minute set, and the Tall Poppies are on the Hay Bale stage at 1:30 p.m. (you absolutely DO need to see both), you’ll want to know how far apart the stages are so you can work out the time needed to dash between stages*.
And to do this, you’ll need a map! A paper map might give you some indication of distance, but a digital wayfaring map within a festival event app will show the exact distance between stages, the best route to take, and how long it will take to get there.
It’s guaranteed to get you to the right stage at the right time and avoid accidentally ending up at the Slurry Pit stage, where the maligned Horseshoe Committee are performing an improvised and extended recorder ensemble set
(* festival acts and stages are entirely made-up, although Horseshoe Committee is a great band name).
Is there a Storm Coming?
Or maybe your main stage headliner is stuck in traffic and won’t make their scheduled slot. Or there’s a power outage, and it’s cash only at the coffee cart.
Last-minute changes to line-ups or unexpected weather disruptions can be a challenge.
A festival event app can deliver real-time notifications to help make sure everyone is in the loop for emergency alerts or important announcements. These alerts can also give plan-b options. So, if a storm is coming, festival planners can quickly divert people to the Wellington-boot stall before the rain hits!
Let’s Catch-Up
Music festivals are best enjoyed with other people. While people might attend with a group of friends, partner or family – chances are there are plenty of other people they’ve met at gigs or music events over the years who are also on-site at the same festival. But unless they bump into each other around the venue, how will they know?
Festival event apps can make meet-ups and reconnections easy. Festival goers can create short profiles and be contacted by others to arrange a catch-up onsite or via the in-app digital chat channels.
Support Your Sponsors
Sponsors play a major role in the success of music festivals, to the point where many festivals simply couldn’t happen without the support of sponsors.
Getting a decent return on their investment means sponsors are more likely to return year on year.
Event apps offer a variety of opportunities to interact with festival goers in meaningful ways.
Complementing physical on-site banners and stage sponsorship, the festival event app can include pop-up banners, exclusive offers, contests, or interactive advertisements.
A Greener Festival
Music festivals can generate a substantial amount of waste, including paper schedules, brochures, and maps. We know that many organisers are environmentally conscious and want to reduce their festival’s carbon footprint as much as possible.
A festival app contributes to sustainability efforts by reducing the need for printed materials. Attendees can access all essential information digitally, reducing environmental impact.
P.S. There are probably significant cost savings here too.
When the Party’s Over
The end note has been played, the final pint drained, and the last tent packed away/abandoned – festival organisers are hoping those festival feel-good vibes will stay with attendees and inspire ticket sales for the following year.
A dedicated festival event app with an extended life span can keep people connected to the event community throughout the year. Use the app to show videos, publish next festival updates, line-up teasers, and exclusive app-only content. The app becomes a community hub and a go-to-resource for festival info and announcements
Number Crunching
If festival organisers really want to know what festival goers loved, juicing the app’s data will tell them all they need to know.
The festival app can deliver a range of analytics that show which festival features attendees really loved, and which ones they didn’t. Find out how many people showed up for the 11 a.m. early morning stage slots or whether the cinema tent was the favourite place to hang out on Sunday night.
Music festival event tech that includes data analytics can help with planning for the next festival, so the schedule is all hits and no misses.
In Summary
A streamlined music festival event tech solution, such as event app plus badge-printing kiosks, can really enhance the festival experience for attendees, artists, sponsors and organisers.
Chat to CrowdCommms about how our solutions can help. We can even provide an on-site team to make sure everything runs super smoothly.
