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UK festival goes completely cashless

Well, what an incredible weekend we had at Magical Festival! This year they decided to be trailblazers and become a completely cashless festival. A few of our team went down to Sussex for this fab festival because they were using our revolutionary cashless events system, as we mentioned in our last blog.

Ready to help from start to finish

In the lead-up to the event, we made sure that all of the equipment was ready to go. Armed with a suitcase full of RFID scanners, chargers and laptops, we headed down south.

On the Thursday, we spent the day training the crew on how to use our RFID cashless payment system. For many of them, it was the first time they'd ever used anything like it, but within a matter of minutes, the crew members became pretty much experts! Before we say anything else, though, we must give a hive, virtual round of applause for the incredible team of volunteers at the festival, especially our lovely cashless crew in the Info Tent. In true Magical Festival style, you are amazing! The festival organisers were great at communicating with ticket holders about the cashless event. In fact, we couldn't have done a better job of it ourselves! Information about the technology was given on the website and in a newsletter, assuring attendees that it was secure, quick, and easy to use.

During the event, the fantastic volunteers were on hand in the info tent to answer any burning questions anybody still had, and they did a superb job of it! The same tent also acted as a top-up station for attendees to put credits on their wristbands so they could pay for various things all over the festival.

Tech that impressed - attendees fell for the cashless festival experience

The gates opened on Friday afternoon, and soon enough, we had the first festival-goers come in to top up their fully-branded wristbands for the weekend, which were supplied by the awesome ID&C. The wristbands came equipped with RFID chips, enabling attendees to load them with credits on-site at the info tent and making purchases.

Once the credits were on the band, all that was left to do was tap their wrist on a scanning device at each stall. It really is as simple as that: top up and tap! Some festival-goers were a little sceptical and were intrigued at how their wristbands could possibly be used in place of cash or card, but once they started using it to buy food, drinks, or classes, they soon felt comfortable. The feedback we received throughout the event was fantastic - so many attendees commented on how quick it was to pay, and that they felt more secure not having to worry about having money being lost or stolen.

One said "I didn't have to worry about losing stuff or not having the right money". That's a huge win for cashless festivals in our eyes, as less time in queues and no worrying means more energy goes into enjoying yourselves, and believe us, there was plenty to enjoy!

But what did the vendors think?

We managed to speak to a few of the vendors, and each one of them thought the cashless festival was a roaring success. Several told us how quick and easy it was to use the system and how they loved not having to worry about counting change. One of the food vendors was impressed at how it reduced the chance of cross-contamination after handling cash, and one of the bar staff told us “we were rammed in the tent but we just sailed through it because of the technology”. Not bad, even if we say so ourselves!

The Main Event

We were treated to hidden musical gems, late night woodland discos, yoga workshops, a paint party and a unicorn slip & slide. You can see why it’s difficult to choose our highlights from the weekend (though the slip & slide, and paint party were tried and tested by our team and we would 100% recommend them!). Magical Festival really does have something for everyone, and it’s impossible not to enjoy yourself there. The atmosphere was lovely and you could really feel that the whole ethos of the weekend was about inclusivity and self-love.

If you fancy a weekend of awesome experiences, great music, and meeting lovely people, we thoroughly recommend Magical Festival.

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