r/Wellthatsucks 9h ago

Reading festival 2026

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u/strat-fan89 5h ago

You pay for your festival ticket. If you select camping, a 500 [currency] hold is put on your credit card. Each tent gets an RFID tag on arrival where your tickets are checked. They cost next to nothing. Your tent is registered upon entry. If your tent is not registered again when you leave, the 500 [currency] is deducted from your account.

Alternatively, you could do spot checks of cars while leaving the area. Someone has a three day pass with camping and leaves with a nearly empty car without a tent? Boom, 500 [currency] fine for you. Yes, you really DID agree to these terms and conditions while purchasing your tickets. Yes of course you may go back and clean up your (any) campsite and have your fine wiped.

Two ways, just from the top of my head. Definitely not perfect. I bet there would be others and possibly even better ones. People would only need to care.

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u/eggrolldog 3h ago

Haha guess you don't know the reprobates at Leeds/Reading; you'll have some psychos going round cutting out or otherwise destroying everyone's RFID tags. Then they'll still leave their tent and steal someone else's once it's taken down for them.

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u/strat-fan89 2h ago

Then apparently you cannot hold a large festival in that area. 🤷🏼‍♂️

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u/Loose-Supermarket286 3h ago

Ah, well, those over-engineered ultra-technical solutions. Sounds good, while you are sitting comfortably in your chair at home, but completely impractical. To give you an example: I was at Rock im Park in Nuremberg this year. And to buy anything, you had to wear an RFID chip. I didn't need camping or merchandise - just a drink and something to eat. Well, you needed to register with all details, address, bank account, create an account. Transfer money to your festival account. Tons of data protection agreements. After the festival you waited for over two weeks, until they transfered back the money to your bank. For a coke. And a burger. This is the price of RFID+money. You will scare a lot of people who never intended littering.

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u/NoPriorThreat 3h ago

Yet, Rock im Park is still fully sold out every year, even with RFID chips to buy drink or meal.

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u/strat-fan89 2h ago

I provided a second, way less technical solution. I am also not a festival organizer. I am just saying, there are methods out there. They each have their shortcomings, I am aware. But if this is the result of doing nothing, then literally anything is better than this. Even not having a festival at all would be preferrable to this. Keep in mind that whatever you do can always be combined with a "I'm sorry we had to do this, but you left us no choice" campaign. Do that for ten years and maybe measures can be dialled back again.