Cashless fest?

[Gards]

I still see no good reason why this should be forced on people.

Do the food vendors pay a flat rental fee to be there, or a percentage of sales.

If it is a percentage, then the powers that be, have done it so they can increase their profits.

At a large Festival I w#rk at down here, the promotors forced all the food vendors to use square, so they could squeeze as much money out of them as possible. This happened after Live Nation had purchased %51 of the festival. Subsequently many of the vendors did not come back the next year, and lots of punters were pissed off.

The only reason any venues and or Festivals go cashless is to save and make them more money.

And it basically indicates that they do not give a fuck about their patrons, and that they are only concerned about the bottom line.

This a sad state of affairs when you think about where JazzFest has evolved from and that there is meant to be some sort of community ethos, and not just greed involved.

And it will disenfranchise and make life difficult for people. Which is not right.

[rosetree]

I still no reason why this should be forced on people.

Do the food vendors pay a flat rental fee to be there, or a percentage of sales.

If it is a percentage, then the powers that be, have done it so they can increase their profits.

At a large Festival I w#rk at down here, the promotors forced all the food vendors to use square, so they could squeeze as much money out of them as possible. This happened after Live Nation had purchased %51 of the festival. Subsequently many of the vendors did not come back the next year, and lots of punters were pissed off.

The only reason any venues and or Festivals go cashless is to save and make them more money.

And it basically indicates that they do not give a fuck about their patrons, and that they are only concerned about the bottom line.

This a sad state of affairs when you think about where JazzFest has evolved from and that there is meant to be some sort of community ethos, and not just greed involved.

And it will disenfranchise and make life difficult for people. Which is not right.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

[chrisjoseph]

Has anyone actually confirmed that Jazzfest will be cashless this year, or is this someone speculating and it's now turned into a "fact"?

[fichadelphia]

Has anyone actually confirmed that Jazzfest will be cashless this year, or is this someone speculating and it's now turned into a "fact"?

No, here and on Facebook it’s all speculation.

[swag]

Nothing official from Jazzfest itself. It's based on online statements made by vendors and vendor staff (and/or folks claiming to be vendors), what they claim the fest has told them. I'm not one to jump on lightly-sourced rumors, but the same info seems to be coming from many different folks, including food, drink, and crafts folks.

[piscesgirl]

This is on FB posted as a response to the crawfish bread vendor pulling out, by someone who allegedly was previously employed by Fest in coordinating food vendors:

"Due to a new twist, many vendors are considering an exit. What’s the twist?? JF is going cashless!!JF food vendors can only take credit cards with money going into the JF bank accounts. Their Team will extract the 3.25% processing fee, sales tax, and a bit more than 20%. What’s left will be sent via check to the Vendors. Then in 2024, the Vendors will get a 1099 for the prior year, which could affect their Federal taxes, possibly putting them in a higher tax bracket. Some vendors wonder if the Festival will make more $$ than the Vendor because vendors have to pay for food, equipment, labor to prepare the food, serve the food, clean up and many other miscellaneous costs. "

[Marignygregg]

This is on FB posted as a response to the crawfish bread vendor pulling out, by someone who allegedly was previously employed by Fest in coordinating food vendors:

"Due to a new twist, many vendors are considering an exit. What’s the twist?? JF is going cashless!!JF food vendors can only take credit cards with money going into the JF bank accounts. Their Team will extract the 3.25% processing fee, sales tax, and a bit more than 20%. What’s left will be sent via check to the Vendors. Then in 2024, the Vendors will get a 1099 for the prior year, which could affect their Federal taxes, possibly putting them in a higher tax bracket. Some vendors wonder if the Festival will make more $$ than the Vendor because vendors have to pay for food, equipment, labor to prepare the food, serve the food, clean up and many other miscellaneous costs. "

Interesting. If true, we could start seeing less Mom and Pop venders and more with deep pockets. McDonald's and Burger King at Fest ?? Popeye's could be the ' gateway ' vender.

Sad....

[swag]

Interesting. If true, we could start seeing less Mom and Pop venders and more with deep pockets. McDonald's and Burger King at Fest ?? Popeye's could be the ' gateway ' vender.

Sad....

Popeyes was a sponsor from '03-'05, with the "Popeyes Blues Tent". They also had a food booth. iirc, they didn't offer chicken since the fest already had a fried chicken booth, but did sell etoufee and biscuits.

The Gentilly stage used to be the Burger King stage, but I don't think they sold food.

And, of course, there was the Great McRib Po Boy Fiasco of 2015.

[fichadelphia]

Interesting. If true, we could start seeing less Mom and Pop venders and more with deep pockets. McDonald's and Burger King at Fest ?? Popeye's could be the ' gateway ' vender.

Sad....

I truly hope not.

[rosetree]

Has anyone actually confirmed that Jazzfest will be cashless this year, or is this someone speculating and it's now turned into a "fact"?

It is in the Contemporary Crafts contract.

[rosetree]

So many questions about what is behind the curtains...
In Contemporary, we always had the option of cards or cash. We had to report our daily sales each day (on the honor system). The Fest did not get any income from us besides the extremely high booth fee. This year they are requiring a POS and if you do not have one, one can be provided to you. Cashless only. FWIU, these are no provisions for a % of sales to go to Fest. If they require that along with the high booth fee, that would be unprecedented among arts festivals. Its either one or the other, not both.
Now food booths.... have they always had a % going back to Fest, or is this a first year thing? If so, that would kill most of the profit of many small businesses. If so, then we will see a big increase in food prices as well as smaller portions. There are many booths that are mom and pop endeavors, if they have to front the money for participation and then wait for a check from Fest, it won't work. They have to pay employees for working and other immediate costs. I don't know the food booths as well as the Crafts, but if this is true, I think that there may be some unexpected hardships down the pike from a drastic payment restructuring. We will see more vendors deciding that the rewards are not as great as they used to be and the risks increasing.
Now we wait for clarification from the vendors meeting in a couple of weeks.....

[Fred (Texas JF Fanatic)]

666

[festbabe]

This is on FB posted as a response to the crawfish bread vendor pulling out, by someone who allegedly was previously employed by Fest in coordinating food vendors:

"Due to a new twist, many vendors are considering an exit. What’s the twist?? JF is going cashless!!JF food vendors can only take credit cards with money going into the JF bank accounts. Their Team will extract the 3.25% processing fee, sales tax, and a bit more than 20%. What’s left will be sent via check to the Vendors. Then in 2024, the Vendors will get a 1099 for the prior year, which could affect their Federal taxes, possibly putting them in a higher tax bracket. Some vendors wonder if the Festival will make more $$ than the Vendor because vendors have to pay for food, equipment, labor to prepare the food, serve the food, clean up and many other miscellaneous costs. "

I dunno. I find these facts a bit dubious. Like the Contemporary Craft vendor on FB claiming the booth fees have "tripled since last time" and it turns out "last time", for him, was many years ago, not preceding calendar year. And other CC vendors made comments to dispute his claim as hyperbole.

[mangochill]

Pros and cons of cash or credit can be debated. But really, who cares, aside from the vendors who might get less profit. If there is a true decrease in profit to the local merchant, then that is unfortunately a part of doing business. Such is life and society and everything.

But, I can’t comprehend how anyone would boycott Jazzfest because of the payment method. It seems incongruous with logic. Why deny youself such joy over something so incredibly insignificant.

There’s taking a stand, and then there’s being silly. This is Jazzfest, and taking the position to boycott Jazzfest because you can’t use cash is just silly.

getmetojazzfest.

[piscesgirl]

I dunno. I find these facts a bit dubious. Like the Contemporary Craft vendor on FB claiming the booth fees have "tripled since last time" and it turns out "last time", for him, was many years ago, not preceding calendar year. And other CC vendors made comments to dispute his claim as hyperbole.

I am skeptical, as well. Just posting as fodder for conversation.

I have no idea what the current situation is for food vendors. I'd be curious to know if there is a percentage involved or only a booth fee. 20% definitely seems ridiculous.