Any seasoned festival-goer knows how tricky it can be to meet up with lost friends at these events, a problem further complicated by phones that are easily lost and smartphones that quickly run out of juice. But, for visitors to Electric Picnic this weekend, Vodafone has a clever solution.
In just over two days, Stradbally Estate, Co Laois, will be overrun by music and madness as Electric Picnic kicks off its 10th anniversary spectacular. The three-day festival has been described as Ireland’s Glastonbury and marks the end of Vodafone’s Centre Stage initiative for 2013.
Vodafone invested more than €4m in the online festival hub announced in May this year and its tents have already been spotted at Body & Soul, Castlepalooza, Sea Sessions and Forbidden Fruit, among others. As well as providing exclusive content and giving away free tickets online, the Vodafone-branded tents offer festival-goers a place to recharge their phones.
At Electric Picnic, though, the Vodafone Recharge Tent has a little something extra to offer. Group Hug lets users save friends’ contact details online and, should they need this information in a time of crisis, all they need to do is visit the Vodafone Recharge Tent at the festival and send them all a free text to let them know where they are.
Group Hug can be used whether your phone is lost or out of power and it doesn’t matter who your network operator is, as anyone can register for the free service.
The Recharge Tent will also have an Instaprint wall, where visitors can print Polaroids of their Instagram pics from the festival. All they need to do is tag the photo #FollowTheFeeling and #VodafoneCentreStage and a framed print will be waiting at the tent for collection.
