Event Genius has signed brand new UK festival Wide Skies & Butterflies on a five-year deal that will see the end-to-end provider become the festival’s sole ticketing, travel, access control and payments partner.
The festival – created by the team that have worked on events such as the Isle of Wight Festival, BST Hyde Park and tours from the likes of Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay – is new for the UK circuit and will launch in August 2022 at the Raynham Estate in Norfolk.
Held over three days, the festival promoted by SMS Event Production is the brainchild of founders and directors Samira Williams, Mark Ward and Sam Booker and will feature a diverse range of music, comedy and more, as well as a large variety of kid’s activities that will all be played out within the grounds of the Estate.
Tom Raynham is CEO of the Raynham Estate, Abbie Panks is head of events and marketing at the Raynham Estate and Tom Branson is event director.
The festival will take advantage of Event Genius’ end-to-end product suite, which includes ticketing, travel and packages, access control, onsite cashless payments and their flexible payment plans.
Wide Skies & Butterflies will also benefit from the integration between Event Genius’ services. Event-goers will need just one account to purchase tickets and accommodation, as well as top-up their cashless credit, obtain access to the event and also purchase food and drink, merchandise and any other ancillary products onsite.
The Wide Skies & Butterflies team have production and management experience in live events and festivals around the world, including British Summer Time in Hyde Park, the Isle of Wight festival, Cannes Film Festival and more local events, including Houghton Hall and the Royal Norfolk show.
Sam Booker, co-founder at Wide Skies & Butterflies, said: “We’re thrilled to have signed with Event Genius and can’t wait to utilise their full range of products. The ability to use their entire product suite was one of the main reasons we chose to go with them. Not only does it simplify the process and workload on our side and allow us to focus on building the best festival possible, but it also makes sure the fan experience is as smooth as possible which is crucial, particularly for a new festival like ours.
“Starting a festival from scratch gives us a clean slate to create long standing integrated partnerships. A five-year deal with Event Genius allows us to work together to shape the entire concept of the festival so that from the moment a customer buys a ticket to leaving the festival they have the best experience possible.”
Event Genius CCO Yonas Blay said: “As music and festival fans at Event Genius and Festicket, we can’t help but have admired the work of the team at Wide Skies & Butterflies for a long time. To say we are pleased to be working alongside a team that have worked on such high profile events would be a bit of an understatement!
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into developing a fully integrated end-to-end solution for festival fans and creators, and are therefore over the moon to be chosen by such a reputable team to be a key part of their new venture. We can’t wait to get started.”
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