2016 was another huge year for RFID technology at festivals. The United States continues to lead the way on number of festivals adopting the technology, and while there was little growth in the UK, the rest of Europe saw a significant increase in adoption rates.

Coachella - the first music festival to use RFID wristbands in replace of paper tickets, took its first soiree into cashless by introducing tap-and-pay stations via Square. While it didn't' completely eradicate the ability to ay with good old green, when one of the biggest festivals in the world introduces cashless payments, its surely only heading in one direction?

RFID festival stalwarts, Lollapalooza rolled out its 'Lolla Cashless' platform for a third year running, while Bonnaroo fans have gotten used to tapping their RFID wristbands to gain access to The Farm - a method of access control that has been in place for five years now.

In the UK, its the independents that are making waves (pardon the geek pun), with boutique festivals Standon Calling and the new-ish dance music event Eastern Electrics among only a handful of events using RFID wristbands last summer.

On the continent however, its a different story. Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and France have all seen a rise in RFID technology at live events. The EDM behemoth TomorrowLand is perhaps the best know for using contactless wristbands, while other large scale festivals including Sonar [ES], DGTL [NL], and MELT [DE] have all used the technology for more than two years.

To discover how RFID wristbands can benefit your festival or event, contact us or read more about RFID technology below:

What are cashless wristbands?

Festival Insights, published this about the arrival of cashless festivals in the UK .

RFID Infographic

*Research and statistics accumulated from clients and partners of ID&C Ltd.