Festival Apps Put Guidebook to Good Use

Festivals are prime candidates for mobile guides. They have tons of things going on, which are spread out around a large area. The visitors really want information about what to do and where to go at their fingertips. The people who come to show their wares want more visibility. There are performances and demonstrations at different times. And people tune in to Twitter to find out what others are enjoying.

Artomatic

This is a huge art festival in Washington, D.C. where they take over an 11-story building and transform it into an enormous interactive gallery. They have 1,300 artists and performers. Their festival app has a comprehensive listing of the artists along with descriptions of their art. It has photo galleries of featured exhibits. It has social media sections with lively discussions (Twitter, Facebook, and, of course, Pinterest). The schedule is a well-organized view of all of the hands-on activities. And the icons are artistically designed (not surprisingly, given that it’s an art festival).

Essentially Ellington

This is a cool jazz festival and competition in New York City. In addition to the essentially - schedule, maps, social media - they have a great listing of restaurants and local attractions that people can browse and use to navigate. They also put in recordings of their competition finalists for people to see.These guides both make me want to attend their festivals. Hopefully, this gives you some ideas for your own festival app!