Boxbar Tech, the world’s first automated, self-serve drinks solution to dispense a full menu, and Parklife Festival have release figures from their groundbreaking partnership, in a move that could be set to revolutionise the drinks service experience at major festivals.
Following the success of the Boxbar installation at The Warehouse Project events series in the autumn and winter of 2023, Parklife Festival and Live Nation UK have taken the lead amongst the UK festival circuit in enhancing and optimising beverage service through Boxbar’s innovative automated, self-serve drinks solution.
Parklife Festival is one of the UK’s premier music festivals. Organised and promoter by The Warehouse Project and Live Nation, the Manchester festival started life in Platt Fields Park, before moving to Heaton Park in north Manchester where it has become the largest metropolitan festival in the UK. The 2024 edition saw the likes of Doja Cat, Disclosure, Becky Hill and Kaytranada perform across the weekend of 8th and 9th June.
Boxbar’s deployment at the Manchester festival made Parklife the first music festival in the world to dispense a complete drinks menu utilising automated self-service technology. 35 Boxbar terminals were deployed across two locations, serving 10 different products including beers, ciders, spirits and mixers, Prosecco and the world’s first self-service Aperol Spritz cocktail bar.
For payments, Boxbar integrated with Global Payments’ WBO POS back office and card terminals.
Boxbar claim increased bar service speeds by up to 258% and efficiencies that reduce bar infrastructure, staffing and overhead costs. As a result, Parklife’s partnership with Boxbar generated a claimed145% return on investment.
“With Boxbar, we feel like we’re ahead of the game,” said Dan Pirie, Head of Bars at Parklife. “We were keen to be the first festival to take the leap into replacing a high volume bar with self-serve terminals. The bar looked fantastic and it really feels like we have moved into the future with this installation. The queue was moving rapidly and the entire flow of the operation felt very smooth. There is real potential to significantly increase transaction speeds and make cost savings with Boxbar.”
Speaking after the festival, Andrew Thubron, Boxbar COO and Co-founder, said:
“To gain the trust of such a heavyweight of the UK circuit fills us with great pride. It’s no secret that we’re in a very challenging time for festivals, but the opportunity automated, self-service drinks technology offers for operators to reduce costs and become more profitable is genuinely game changing. It put a big smile on our faces to see the Boxbar effect on such a large scale at Parklife. Faster service, less queues, happy fans and the end of flat, warm drinks at festivals!”
