Despite being a legal requirement since March, only four festivals in Belgium allow people to pay in cash when paying for tickets, parking spaces or camping spots.
Festival season is in full swing and festival tokens, campsites, and obscure "administrative fees" are common currency in music events across the country. But when payment is made in the presence of both the consumer and the vendor, the latter is legally obliged to accept cash – a law designed to prevent discrimination between consumers. And that also applies to festivals.
"Only Les Ardentes, Dour, Esperanzah and Ronquières are complying with the rules. Paying in cash is not possible at Couleur Café, Graspop, Paradise City, Brosella, Francopholies, Pukkelpop, Rock Werchter, Tomorrowland and Lokerse Feesten," Laura Clays, spokesperson for consumer rights organisation Test-Achats, told The Brussels Times.
Lack of transparency
Test-Achats contacted festivals to remind them of their obligations. A spectrum of excuses for not allowing cash were given in response.
"Some say that cash can be used as long as tickets are not sold out. But they don't indicate this on their website and when we go to the festival, we find that this is not always true," Clays observed. "The real problem is the lack of transparency."
Festival-goers also face obscure extra charges at some festivals. For instance, those who bought tickets for Les Ardentes or Paradise City had to pay extra charges added at the end of their booking. Test-Achats highlights that extra charges should always be justified and stated at the beginning of the booking process. Failure to do so is a misleading commercial practice.
The consumer rights organisation pointed to other practices that are problematic: no transparency about the conditions of buying tickets in instalments; a ban on the resale or exchange of tickets; no transparency about the value of virtual festival tokens and opening hours of food and drink stalls; the need to buy several festival tokens at a time; and "dark patterns" that encourage overconsumption.
The cashless payment system at Les Ardentes festival in July 2023. Credit: Belga
"Every year we receive complaints from consumers about the consequences of cancelling a festival, the resale of tickets and the means of payment available on site," Clays said. "Festivals are no exception to other businesses and should be better controlled."
In April, the Economy Ministry published payment guidelines for festival organisers but Test-Achats regrets that clear obligations were not imposed on festivals. Clarification is especially needed about paying in cash, the lack of transparency about refunds in case of cancellation, and the unjustified fees sometimes charged to activate festival tokens.
Festival-goers who have experienced issues are asked to report them on this form.
