Mainstage Festivals

Mainstage Festivals has built a reputation for organising destination music festivals in stunning locations, bringing together thousands of people for carefully curated experiences. In 2023, the team partnered with Weezevent to introduce a cashless payment system and flexible access control solutions across three major festivals in Albania:

• Kala Festival: At the beginning of June, Mainstage hosted a festival on the Albanian Riviera, drawing a crowd of over 3,000 attendees.
• Explorations: Following the success of Kala, Explorations took centre stage mid June. In partnership with Anjunadeep, an independent record label, this event saw 3,000 cashless accounts activated.
• Ion: In September, Mainstage’s events continued with Ion Festival, set on the shores of Dhërmi Beach, where attendees once again benefitted from our cashless system.

By integrating WeezPay and WeezAccess, Mainstage improved event operations, making entry faster, transactions simpler, and festival management more efficient. This story focuses on Kala Festival, one of Mainstage’s key events, where Weezevent’s technology helped organisers tackle logistical challenges and enhance the festival experience.

Kala Festival: a unique experience on the Albanian riviera

Spanning 8 days, Kala Festival 2024 welcomed 3,000 attendees across five stages in a coastal setting. The festival’s single entrance and widespread layout required a reliable system to manage entry and payments efficiently.

Optimising access control with WeezAccess

With festivalgoers arriving in scheduled waves via transfer buses, check-in had to be managed with precision. Unlike traditional festivals with large peak-time crowds, Kala’s entry system had to handle a steady flow of arrivals while ensuring all attendees were correctly registered and ready to access the festival.

• 25 access control devices were deployed at the entrance.
• Festivalgoers were given a boarding pass that allowed them to top up their cashless accounts online before arriving, reducing the need for on-site transactions.
• A two-step scanning process ensured everything was synced correctly:
  • Step 1: The boarding pass was scanned to confirm transfer details and preloaded credit.
  • Step 2: The festival ticket was scanned and linked to the RFID wristband, syncing the balance.

This process helped attendees move through the entrance efficiently, and festivalgoers appreciated the speed and ease of check-in.

A fully cashless festival with WeezPay

To improve transaction speed and security, Mainstage introduced a closed-loop cashless system powered by WeezPay. With RFID wristbands replacing traditional payment methods, payments were faster and more reliable across bars, food vendors, and top-up stations.

• 100 cashless devices were used across the festival.
• Over 60,000 transactions were processed.
• Festivalgoers could preload wristbands online before arrival or top up on-site.

The cashless model transformed the festival experience. Bar and vendor service was significantly faster, reducing queues and making transactions more convenient. Attendees could also request quick refunds for any unused credit, making the system even more user-friendly.

Overcoming operational challenges

Unlike traditional festivals set in enclosed venues, Kala Festival took place across an entire coastal town. This created logistical challenges, requiring real-time monitoring to keep everything running smoothly.

Weezevent’s team operated from the festival’s command centre, supporting payments and access control. Despite the offline setup, the system allowed issues like overcharges, ticket discrepancies, and vendor requests to be addressed efficiently. Staff were deployed across festival zones to monitor performance and provide on-site assistance where needed.

Even with the challenges of working across such a large area, transactions remained fast, and access control worked efficiently, reinforcing the reliability of Weezevent’s solutions.

Tech that moves with the crowd

WeezAccess and WeezPay played a key role in streamlining operations across Mainstage Festivals’ events. With reliable tools for access control and cashless payments, organisers were able to manage large crowds efficiently while offering a smooth experience to attendees.

As Mainstage Festivals continues to grow its portfolio, Weezevent’s technology supports each edition — from Kala to Explorations and Ion — with scalable solutions tailored to the needs of ambitious, large-scale festivals, whether in or outside of beautiful Albania.