Failed growth for the Venoge Festival

The Venoge Festival, which will take place at the end of August, is now in its 25th edition.

So 25 years ago, a bunch of friends who wanted to move the villages a little bit created this festival. Over the years, this festival has grown, with its qualities and flaws. A few years ago, it was still an amateur festival, with all that it entails: charm, conviviality, but also a sector “food and beverages” in the service chaotic but funny, or a sound system not really up to scratch.

But it was a good child.

And then the festival grew. The programmers realized that the stars of the 80s, it attracted a lot of people and it required not-so-high fees. So some have sniffed the right vein and the madness of grandeur has gone through this.

Now this festival has its shareholders. He wants to play in the big leagues.

And he loses his soul.

There are so many signs that show a willingness to “benefit above all” that it becomes unpleasant.

Evolving is good. But it should have been done by keeping one’s soul. And working on the flaws: Last year, the wait at food stalls and bars was once again chaotic, and the sound system not sized for this type of scene. Like the year before. And the last one.

Today, I came across this “promotional” post: The Facebook page of the festival that publishes the long list of prohibitions. It’s useless and clumsy to promote with this. The majority of prohibited goods are already outlawed by law, so recall is unnecessary. The other part of the goods highlights the “we want to put your pockets full because you serve captive customers and you serve forced to consume inside”.

This year, there is a big novelty: Cashless: It will not be possible to pay with cash. Nor with a Mestro/Vpay/credit card. It will be necessary:

• Register before the festival (or on site)
• Get a bracelet that will store your credit
• Load are bracelet with money (with obviously a fee of 2 frs when the first load)
• If there is any credit left at the end of the festival, ask for a refund on its IBAN via the festival website.

And what is the added value of this system?

For the customer: There are none. Without cash is possibly appreciated by some, but there are already a plethora of cashless payment systems (Cares Maestro, credit cards, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay and so on…), and there is no need to create an additional system.

For the organizer: In addition to the laudable advantage of not having to manage cash funds, the system makes a nice profit on the remaining credits on the bracelets at the end of the festival: Few people ask for reimbursement. Another step towards maximum profit, then.

Another point: To my knowledge, prohibiting the use of cash as a means of payment has no legal basis in Switzerland. Or rather is not legal.

In short: This year, I will not go to the Venoge Festival.