Festivals are there to be enjoyed but how often have you run yourself ragged, traipsing from venue to venue, or missed a must-see artist because of faulty timetables or that mountain of heavy leaflets you couldn’t quite get through? Logistical niggles can soon take the fun out of festivals but thanks to Apps for the Arts, a new scheme, future events are set to be slicker and more visitor-friendly than ever – and joining the scheme is surprisingly cost-friendly, too.
How it works
Up until now, many arts organisations haven’t been able to splash out on their own smartphone app. But with Apps for the Arts, organisations can now share the development cost making it affordable.
Victoria Forrest, an award-winning designer and entrepreneur who works with Arts organisations throughout the UK says: “An app of this kind can cost upwards of £20,000, making it out of reach for most Arts festivals. Much of this cost, however, falls within the programming development and user-testing stages.”
This new Apps for the Arts scheme allows organisations to share the expensive back-end programming and development costs, and still allows the interface to look exactly how each organisation wants it to look, reflecting their own identity and unique branding.
Not only will unreliable footfall counters be rendered redundant, the app’s ability to gather anonymous visitor data means that organisers will learn more about where visitors go. They can also calculate how long festival goers spend in that location.
User benefits of Apps for the Arts
Stay in the loop / Automatic daily updates
Printed festival catalogues, which often feature typos and incorrect information, will become a thing of the past as audiences move over to interactive technologies that offer new content on the go.
Curate your own festival
Fed up of the fiddly cross-referencing of printed guides? Smartphone users can now filter events by Diary, Artist or Venue; follow a pre-curated tour, or personalised itinerary powered by the Favourites feature. Want to see a specific artist? Add this to your calendar, find out which other events are nearby and GPS mapping will take you there.
Spread the word
Users can also share events through social networking routes, Facebook, Twitter and email, so that event promotion is no longer limited to flyers and mailouts. Even more people can enjoy your festival, encouraging more visitors.
Join the club
Apps for the Arts is looking for more members to develop the scheme. To apply, just register your interest by e-mailing takepart@apps4arts.co.uk before July 16th. Places on the scheme are limited.
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