A new cashless payment system at Roots N Blues N BBQ festival caused problems for guests and vendors on Friday,
but event staff say the system is encouraging shorter lines.
The 2017 Roots N Blues N BBQ festival features an all-star lineup of music acts this year — but it also
features a new ticketing and payment system. Guests this year must use wristbands that have a small RFID, or
radio-frequency identification, chip attached to get into the festival and pay for drinks, food and
merchandise.
The new chip system caused a few problems early Friday as the festival kicked off at Stephens Lake Park, but
overall staff and guests gave mostly positive reviews.
At 4 p.m. when guests began trickling in through the front gates, those who came ready with their wristbands on
their right arm quickly passed through the entrance. After a line of security staff wearing red shirts checked
any bags, guests just had to hold the RFID chip on their wristbands near one of 10 small towers.
A soft “beep” indicated the tower scanned the chip and granted entry.
Volunteer Patty King, who was monitoring the entry system, said the wristbands allowed people to enter the
festival more quickly than in previous years. Last year, for example, an entry line with hundreds of waiting
people quickly formed, she said.
There were no lines for entry when the first bands started playing. Crowds, however, formed around the customer
service area and “cashless top-up” stations, where people grappled for the first time with the chip system.
The “top-up” station located next to ticket sales had two tellers taking credit or debit cards and two
tellers taking cash. Volunteers at the station were busy, but answered any guest questions about the cashless
system.
My chip “still says denied and I can’t get my beer,” one woman with a VIP lanyard yelled over the crowd
around 5 p.m. The tellers fixed the issue with a new wristband.
King said a few guests experienced problems with chips that would not scan, but volunteers were trained to fix
the problem.
“We’ve had a couple hiccups with chips not reading, but, of course, there are going to be some hiccups with a
new system,” volunteer Patty King said. “We were able to resolve the issues quickly.”
The Intellitix chips used at this year’s festival work almost like a barcode, with each guest given a unique
tag. Vendors will not accept cash or cards this year, instead money must be loaded onto the wristband chip
ahead of time. Guests were asked to double-tap the RFID chip on a small scanner for all payments.
A few vendors struggled with the new chip system, too
Volunteer Patty Rodriguez, who was serving alcohol at a bustling beer station, said right as the festival began
she had an issue getting a tablet to work with the chip scanners. The problem was resolved quickly, she said,
and every transaction since went smoothly.
“Getting things started was kind of tough because we were figuring out the system,” said Rodriguez, who was
volunteering for her second year. “Otherwise we’ve noticed they get people through the line quicker.”
Rodriguez said one positive to the system is wristbands eliminate confusion among customers, who in previous
years could not know which vendor took cash only, card only or both. No cash is better for vendors because no
one can steal or lose any money and tellers don’t need to spend time counting change, she said.
The KOPN 88.5 FM vendor tablet malfunctioned a few hours after the festival began, said Rob Rasmussen, who was
working at the radio station’s table. A short in the power system “blew out” several vendor units, he said.
Festival staff replaced the tablet about 10 minutes after KOPN reported the malfunction.
Rasmussen said the new system caused a few frustrations for people beyond the malfunction.
“It’s still incredibly frustrating” for people “that you have to pay five bucks to get your money back,”
Rasmussen said. “Don’t put more money on your” chip “than you want to spend, I guess.”
Money can be placed onto the wristband chip through the Roots N Blues N BBQ smartphone app, the festival
website or one of the six “top-up” stations scattered throughout the park. Any unspent money on the RFID chip
system will be returned to guests after Sunday, but there is a $5 service charge.
There are no paper receipts with the wristbands — guests receive one via email — which volunteer Lindsey
Poenie said she anticipates will cut down on the amount of time customers wait in lines. Receipts also will not
get wet from alcohol and pens will not run out of ink.
“I’m only seeing good things and we’ve only heard good things from people,” Poenie said.
The RFID wristbands are used at other music festivals around the nation, such as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.
According to the Intellitix website, the ease of use and shorter lines boost sales for vendors by 15 to 30
percent.
The chip system also collects transaction data for each guest, according to Intellitix. The data can provide
simple statistics such as attendance figures as well as more complex information about demographics, purchasing
habits and contact information for every event attendee.
