Think back to the last time you got a ticket to go into a festival? Seems like awhile ago right? You might have just received a wrist band that you flashed to security. Those days are long gone as Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) are the latest (and honestly greatest) in festival technology.
To put it in the easiest terms, RFID is an actual chip (no not your average bag of Ruffles) that sends out a signal. RFID technology has made its way into music festival wristbands. You may have noticed at the last festival you attended (Bonnaroo 2011, Bamboozle 2012, Coachella 2012) that to enter the grounds you had to walk through what looked like a fun metal detector. These “fun metal detectors” had an outline of a hand that security kindly asked to place your hand by. Placing your hand in the outline like a missing puzzle piece, your wristband was validated within a millisecond, letting festival organizers know that “you, (place name here), have made it to the festival!”
Rather than carry a wallet or worry about losing credit cards, in advance or at the event you can load funds onto your wristband to spend around the site. Transactions occur generally between one and three seconds.
By loading funds onto wristbands, it actually becomes a lot easier for the festival organizers as well. Gone are the long queues due to waiting for credit card transactions to go through, and organizers don’t need to worry about the cash. “It’s much more efficient, much more convenient. Within the coming year we’re going to see more festival attendees registering their wristband online and link it to their Facebook profiles. At this year’s Coachella, around 30,000 fans did just that.
Besides music festival goers, bands can actually prosper from the new technology as well. A person might discover a band at a festival that they really like. The wristband could help connect a person with the band, letting that person download tracks, along with growing that bands fan base.
Those afraid of damaging the wristband and being denied entrance into a festival need not fear. RFID wristbands are “pretty much indestructible.” Don’t worry about getting them wet either. The wristbands can survive being submerged in up to 18 inches of water. So please continue washing your grubby hands at festivals.