6 Important Reasons How Festival Apps Will Contribute To A Safe Return

Here’s an overview of what we’ve learned over the past months from clients and how installing our mobile apps can help you tackle the new challenges arising when returning to normal in 2021 and 2022.

Our solution is ready for whatever’s next, a year where live events and festivals will return – unfortunately for most countries still in a rather moderate way, worst case even hybrid/virtual – but surely packed with new safety protocols installed by authorities and endless list of new visitor guidelines.

Your App As Main Tool For Real-Time Communication

Below you’ll find 6 ways (both adapted and standard fuctionality) of how our platform supports our clients in 2021 and the years to follow, tackling the new challenges that arise when returning to normal. Together, we’re able to help them plan their re-opening as safe as possible for each attendee, fan or ticket buyer.

We’ve learned that communication is promising to be even more essential in the upcoming seasons. A mobile app as the ideal instrument to message, engage and inform on protocols, before and during your event.

#1. ‘In-your-face’ info on the COVID protocols in place

There are many placeholders within our solution to give these key messages a prominent place ensuring a very high visibility. The app will add an extra layer of interactivity in your messaging and will help you spread any pre-event attendee checklists ensuring a safe environment.

#2. Connect or integrate your app with local or national ‘Corona Alert’ apps

We see that each country has installed its own national app to track infections or keep track on whether you’ve been in touch with infected people. More info on the Belgian app here.

If we can link our app with external apps like Uber, Instagram, or even Twitch, creating a download link towards the Corona apps isn’t a problem at all. For our South African client Rage Festival, we added a prominent card in the newsfeed linking to the national (pre-)screening web platform called Keep Out Covid.

#3. Ticket wallets for a ‘touch-free’ access control

Our digital in-app ticket wallet enables a contactless ticket scanning at the entrance gates. The less contact points, the less risk of infections spreading

Read more about this on our Ticket Wallet product page. Additional functionality delivered by this feature, enriched digital tickets with route description, special entrance protocols, ticket upgrades, …

#4. Flexibility to swap your app interface

Since the outbreak in March 2020, we decided to take ‘flexibility‘ to a whole new level. Our clients can now manage, change and adjust the app menu and bottom navigation bars to the right context, needs or requirements. All happening from our CMS in just seconds, no app updates needed anymore.

For example, add your ticket shop until you’re sold out, give the map or ‘Mobile Order’ a prominent place in your app interface only during the event, add your webshop or video page after the event, …

#5. Real-time Push Notifications

The biggest difference between a website and a mobile app is the ability to send push notifications and wake people up right from their pockets. Especially in 2021, using this kind of messages to inform and engage with your event visitors and attendees is exactly what you’ll need to do.

We see that governments are highly receptive when these kind measurements can be taken into account when granting permissions or allowing a higher number of attendees per event.

#6. Location-aware Push Notifications & Intelligent Safety Alerts

Staying in control of your crowd (and their good behavior), is also a key element not to get any bad press attention. In a worst case scenario of loosing control over you audience at the event grounds, you may even be forced to shutdown due to the high risk of spreading infections.

Together with UK-based Crowd Connected, we can provide you with heat maps and location data to monitor crowd densities and share real-time safety updates and to every attendee. Think re-balancing at crowded bars or entrances, measuring max. occupancy at certain areas or venues, …

This is the ideal tool to stay in control and stay ahead of the problems.

Why all this? To Take Away Your Visitor Anxiety

When fans and music lovers start to consider buying tickets for re-opened festivals, events and venues, this return will come along with a broad range of mixed feelings and emotions. For a big part of your audience, the excitement around returning to their favourite sports or music event will be accompanied with fears or even anxieties about how safe this ‘new normal’ actually is.

One of the new challenges is to take away these new anxieties or minimize the fears your visitors may have when coming back to your event after 2 years of being locked down in their own bubbles or homes. A new topic on the organizer’s to-do list is to ensure all possible measurements are being taken and even try to address these in your communication strategies and marketing efforts when kicking-off your pre-registration or ticket sales.

1 key takeaway already surfacing: (touch-free) technology and an overload of communication are key elements in your return strategy.

We’ve witnessed our clients struggling with these challenges in countries like Australia, New Zealand Israel and South Africa (where the markets are already have been re-opened at some stages). The only thing you can do is to communicate better, earlier and more efficient than ever before, adopt special COVID and touch-less technologies, embrace government protocols, aal of this to help lower the risk for all event attendees.

Ready To See More Of Appmiral?

Learn why festivals and live events of all sizes are adopting Appmiral’s event apps to grow their digital audience and engage with their fans.

Book a product demo with one of our solution experts at your convenience. We want to hear about your event, answer your questions, and show you how Appmiral can help you digitally transform your visitor and fan experience.