Building a Great Music Festival App.

Recent technical developments have meant that festival-goers now have an expectation that every music festival will have an App for their event. For organisers this means additional planning and investment and may be a subject they have little expertise in. What are the considerations required when building a great App for a music festival. 

Fortunately for festival organisers there are plenty of App building companies that can create a perfectly usable solution at a reasonable cost. Any company commissioned with this work will need a technical specification and guidance on content from the festival organisers which enables them to build an App that meets all requirements. Building an App is not a quick process and needs to be included as part of the festival's planning process, it should not be a last-minute thought. 

Technical Specifications. 
Any company that builds Apps can usually provide assistance in getting together a technical specification or the organisers may have in-house expertise to perform this task. Typical technical requirements should include consideration for platform usability so the App should operate on both iOS and Android as the two main operating systems used on mobile devices. The design should be built with useability in mind with an intuitive user interface which makes the App easy to use with straightforward navigation. The App should have a comprehensive backend API integration capability that allows GPS enabled maps, weather and event scheduling for example. The App needs to have the capability to provide real time updates and notifications because the nature of a music festival often means there will be multiple artist or set time changes. Festival-goers need to feel safe using the App so it needs to be built with the ability to encrypt user data as well as complying to any relevant GDPR requirements. Once built the App needs to be thoroughly tested to ensure it can handle anticipated traffic volumes and that it works well on all operating systems. This is not a comprehensive technical specification but covers the typical requirements that need to be considered. 

Content. 
Festival-goers will expect a certain level of functionality on a festival App so it needs to be built with the capability to include essential useful content. Comprehensive line-up information and schedules is an absolute must for users, they want to know when and where they can see their favourite artists. An interactive festival site map that is GPS enabled will help users navigate around a site and find everything easily without getting lost. Other popular content will be a list of food and beverage vendors and their location and if possible, the ability to pre-order and pay via the App. Organisers should where possible allow for links to social media platforms to create better community engagement for the event. Vitally important for a festival App is guidance about emergency procedures and how to access on-site medical facilities. Users can enquire about medical treatment via the App or find on-site facilities using the interactive mapping functionality. 

Depending on budgets and timing festival organisers can either use one of the many self-build Apps available online or they may prefer a more bespoke solution. Whatever route they take the festival App is now considered a key element in attending any music festival. 

For festival organisers planning their next events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering. 

Image by o Davide Baraldi via Pexels

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