As a verified “old,” just the thought of going to a multi-day summer music festival is enough to make me scrunch up my face, put on my cargo shorts and stand out on my lawn, waiting to yell at kids to get off of it.
But for you “youngs” brave enough to withstand such things, the Panorama music fest in New York this month just made a big part of the concert-going experience a whole lot easier: Postmates will enable mobile ordering and pickup from food vendors at the show. That means you don’t have to wait in line for your hipster hot dogs or huevos rancheros (like I said, I’m old, I don’t know what you kids eat at concerts anymore).
Fast Company first reported the news, writing that the Postmates app will have a special geo-fence around the island where the concert is being held. When you log in to the app, you’ll see participating vendors at the show and be able to order and pay for your meal, who will then send you a pickup time. Instead of spending precious minutes in line, you can walk over, grab your food and get back to the show without missing a, errr, beat.
This move towards speeding up and automating the food buying process in high-traffic situations, like concerts, is inevitable. Goldenvoice, which puts on the Panorama festival, is the same company behind Coachella, so expect this type of line-destroying tech in more places fairly soon.
In fact, we aren’t that far off from mobile apps and robots automating even more of our live event eating. Entertainment and hospitality company Levy has already announced plans to add robotic assistants like Miso Robotics’ Flippy to its sports and entertainment venues. And a high-profile multi-day festival like Panorama would be a great spot for Cafe X’s robot barista-in-a-box.
Actually, all this automation is making me re-think my aversion to concerts. I mean, there’s nothing cooler than a dad in cargo shorts ordering food on his iPhone, right?
