BETHEL, NY — Although it’s safe to say that many of the young attendees thumbing their way to the original Woodstock Music & Art Fair here back in 1969 didn’t have a whole lot of cash on hand, Mysteryland USA, an electronic music culture & arts festival set to return to the same hallowed grounds here over Memorial Day Weekend on May 24-25, is billed as North America’s first completely cashless multi-day music festival.
That’s not to say, however, that financial transactions won’t be taking place. In fact, it’s likely that with Intellitix’s Intellipay system being used, attendees will end up spending more than if they were using greenbacks and change. The company notes that event vendors typically see a 15 to 30 percent uptick in sales, partly due to shorter lines and quicker transactions.
More details from Intellitix (www.intellitix.com):
Mysteryland USA To Go Cashless with Intellitix at Memorial Day Weekend Festival
The Electronic Music Culture & Arts Festival will be the first fully cashless multi-day music festival in North America
Mysteryland USA, the international music and arts festival taking place this Memorial Day weekend at New York’s iconic Bethel Woods Center For The Arts — home to the legendary 1969 Woodstock Festival — will break new ground as its inaugural U.S. event will be North America’s first cashless multi-day music festival.
ID&T, whose company is also behind mega events such as TomorrowWorld and Sensation, has engaged the world’s leading RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) access control and cashless payment providers Intellitix to deploy their cashless payment system, IntelliPay, across the entire festival site.
Each of the expected 20,000 attendees, eager to see headliners Kaskade and Steve Aoki, plus a myriad of other globally renowned DJs, will be issued a Mysteryland wristband, embedded with an RFID chip, which will be the only currency accepted by vendors and merchandisers on-site across the festival.
Customers can add funds to their account pre-event, set up automatic top-ups and, crucially, receive refunds automatically on any remaining balance post-event. There will also be top up stations available across the festival site, accepting credit cards, debit cards and cash.
Spokesperson ID&T/Mysteryland, comments: “While this is the first ever U.S. Mysteryland, we have had sister events taking place in the Netherlands and Chile for over 20 years. We’re known for continually pushing creative and technical boundaries, so the introduction of cashless payments was a natural next step.”
“It will significantly advance the fan experience by improving security, drastically cutting wait times for food & beverages, and eliminating theft and fraud. We are the first major electronic music festival to go completely cashless in the U.S. and see this as the future of all large-scale events.”
Intellitix’ Intellipay system, which will be used at the festival, is also proven to increase vendor sales by between 15% — 30% by speeding up queuing times and eliminating the need to carry and count large sums of cash. It is certified as the world’s most secure closed loop cashless payment system, awarded the Common Criteria EAL3+ rating in 2013 which puts it into an elite group of IT products including Apple, Microsoft and IBM.
Serge Grimaux, CEO of Intellitix, comments: “This is the year when cashless payment hits the mainstream, as proven by major festivals such as Mysteryland USA who are embracing the technology and the benefits it can bring all parties. Festivals in Europe have been innovating through introducing RFID in VIP and backstage applications for the past few seasons and are now moving toward a fully cashless event. It is fantastic to be working with the Mysteryland team, who have the vision to bring this technology to the North American market on such a grand scale.”
