With the winter brewfest season in full swing, it is encouraging to see venues sell beer festival wristbands for designated drivers at a reduced price. Offering low cost admission to designated drivers is not only admirable, it sends an important message to the patrons and local authorities.
If your beer festival needs to sell designated driver wristbands here is an example you can learn from.
Winter beer festivals are tremendously popular events, the sold out Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival in Saint Paul Minneapolis being the latest example. Just like years past, the carnival will have huge crowds quenching their thirst using the "all you can drink" wristband system.
But what about those who volunteer to be the designated driver in order to bring the beer drinkers and hell raisers home when the festival is over? Shouldn't those heroes be given special treatment as a "thank you"?
A quick look at the Beer Dabbler FAQs shows a smart answer to that important question.
Q: Does it cost anything to have a designated driver attend the festival?
A: Yes $10. And the designated driver will have a different color wristband. If that band is removed the driver will be asked to leave. New this year, Flamenco Organic Coffee is providing each designated driver a reusable coffee mug and will be providing complimentary coffee at their booth!
Event safety and compliance with local laws should always be of the highest importance. Local laws vary, but it is safe to say that the penalties for drunk driving are severe and are reason alone for a festival to offer special designated driver tickets.
Selling festival tickets at different prices (General admission and designated driver) in different tiers (multi-day and single day) can be a complicated task to manage. That doesn't even include things like pre-sales for VIPs or a souvenir beer mug with a ticket purchase!
Special wristbands for designated drivers is just a one part of managing big crowds at a beer festival or any festival for that matter. The ticketing software you choose needs to support online sales, multi-day passes and admissions through multiple gates. ThunderTix offers those features plus the tools to keep ticket fraud at bay with sophisticated barcode ticket printing and scanning.
What do you think? Should every beer festival be required to sell wristbands for designated drivers at a reduced price, or better yet, for free?