DMCWORLD speaks to the man behind your one stop shop for your festival adventure
Zack welcome to DMCWORLD. Festicket is a great way to book your ultimate trip, what was your original idea behind the booking system?
“It started as an idea back in February 2011, when I tried to get a group of friends to go to Coachella Festival in California. I love going to festivals, but I hate booking them – having to arrange tickets, accommodation, local transfers, etc…With Coachella, it got far too complicated so the whole trip fell through. Festicket is meant to solve some of these problems, and make booking festivals holidays quick and easy.”
You have just launched the new site. What makes this one better than the original?
“Festicket.com shows off now the unique character of each festival we work with. Have a look at Carnevale di Venezia, for example, you can watch a video teaser – see the amazing location in Venice, look at the wild costumes people wear, watch the entertainment – and immediately get an idea of the event. It’s got the headliners, and you can click on their picture to listen as you browse. Festicket write original content to give tips for the festival. You get excited enough you can then book packages in the quickest and easiest ever way from a large range of prices to suit all budgets”
When choosing festivals to work with, what do you generally look for?
“We look for the unique events that are a bit crazy, a bit special. Festivals can be so much more fun than the overcrowded, massive, corporate events in the UK. It shows when the organisers have a passion for what they do. You can swap identikit crowds for friendly, interesting mixes of people. Ticket prices are better value in Europe. And of course, it’s nice to escape the overcast, muddy English country park, and spend time in the sun…”
You have proudly joined forces with Day Zero, what can you tell us about the festival?
“Day Zero is genuinely quite crazy. This once-in-a-lifetime event will bring together party people for 24 hours, for a mix of music, performing arts, installations, and spiritual teachings, ending at the exact moment the Mayans decreed as the end of this world cycle. Artists playing are a mix of house and techno acts, including Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The location is amazing too – by a stepped pyramid in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico – and they have some amazing visual artists on board, to make sure it looks incredible. Bring a hammock too – buried in a tropical forest, if you need a rest you can tie up and chill out.”
Can you tell us about the packages you’re offering for there?
“We’ve got a range for all tastes, all with a week’s accommodation in cool hotels to enjoy Playa Del Carmen and Mexico, complete with beach club passes. They culminate with the 24 hours DAY ZERO marathon. If you go all-out with the Platinum Package, you get a spa massage for two, private transfers, a large Junior Suite room, beach club passes, a bottle of bubbly, a three-course meal for two, and lots more.”
What about other packages?
“Our packages to Carnevale di Venezia are really special. In the ten days leading up to Shrove Tuesday the narrow streets of Venice fill with masqued party-goers, wearing extravagant costumes covered in feathers, sequins, lace and veils. nFesticket have tickets on Friday February 8th to the exclusive Decadenza event at Teatro San Gallo: attracting a young, cool crowd with its mix of house music and live instrumentals, but still with extravagant Carnevale costume, Decadenza’s night of excess is reflected in its sponsorship by Cointreau.
What have been your current highlights with the festivals you have worked with?
“Monegros Desert Festival in Spain started out as a barbecue with a few hundred friends in the Spanish badlands; it has grown to become a 24-hour massive rave across five stages. Festicket went on a staff trip there earlier this year, and in between working hard (of course…) we managed to party a bit too. We saw The Prodigy, Paul Kalkbrenner and the Wu Tang Clan – or at least, part of it. Apart from trips, we love getting feedback from customers. It’s great when people discover a festival through Festicket, and love it as much as we do.”
What other festivals you looking forward to in the winter and in 2013?
“We are really excited to work with Melt! in July, two hours from Dessau in Germany. Well known to a loyal few in the UK, who return year after year, the site stands out – in the middle of five industrial mining excavators, surrounded by a lake. Melt! also has a special atmosphere that Festicket love. It’s a friendly and relaxed crowd, who also party hard – main stages finish at 7am, and there is a Sleepless Floor open through the weekend well into Monday daytime. Past years have seen big headliners like Bloc Party, Robyn, Justice, Lana Del Ray and Pulp – while they also have an impressive list of electronic artists like Richie Hawtin, Todd Terje, Modeselektor and Laurent Garnier.”
Would you consider ever organising your own festival?
“Haha…I think everyone dreams of that, don’t they? What headliners you’d book, what weird art installations could be made, the perfect location – maybe on an oil rig in the North Sea? However, through talking to organisers you realise how incredibly hard they work, and how difficult they are to pull off. That’s why we prefer to cherry pick the best festivals, and offer them through the site.”
Finally where would you like to see Festicket heading in the future?
“We’re constantly hitting new milestones at the moment in terms of bookings, users and festival holidays on sale. We know there is a trend of people going abroad to festivals – for warmer weather, better value, and more fun. Festicket are making that happen for more and more people. We thus intend to become THE ultimate one-shop-stop for all music fans. But we won’t stop there…Festicket will also become THE reference for festival advices and reviews made by a trusted community. Think tripadvisor but for festivals!”
