Is cash required for on-site payments (food, drinks, merch etc.)?

[mootzk]

This will be my fourth time going, but I haven't been since 2017 so I'm wondering if things changed on that front. Do food stalls, bars, merch stands etc. receive only cash or do they usually have credit card/apple pay support? I'm arriving from abroad so it would help to know if i need to exchange more many in advance 🙂

Thanks!

[StoneCircle]

Cards/Apple etc are readily accepted by most traders, however it is a good idea to carry some cash in case of a power outage and for traders who aren't equipped for card payments. There are numerous ATM's on the site.  

[marathonsteve]

On 4/30/2023 at 1:57 PM, StoneCircle said:

Cards/Apple etc are readily accepted by most traders, however it is a good idea to carry some cash in case of a power outage and for traders who aren't equipped for card payments. There are numerous ATM's on the site.  

Yes take both

[Twiggy553]

It’s mostly all contactless now, but definitely a good idea to take some cash.

i took about a quarter of what I was expecting to spend in cash last year (though not sure I spent any of it)

[gooner1990]

17 hours ago, Twiggy553 said:

It’s mostly all contactless now, but definitely a good idea to take some cash.

i took about a quarter of what I was expecting to spend in cash last year (though not sure I spent any of it)

You did well as 3 or 4 times I got to the bar and it was 'Cash Only'  - JPT field during Primal Scream was one that I can recall off the top of my head!

[carlosj]

Brothers Bar in West Holts was cash only.

[clarkete]

As everyone says, it's definitely worth some cash, but the big queues at cashpoints are thankfully a thing of the past.

IN 2022 there were lots of places for food (and to a lesser extent drink) which had bigger queues than previous years.  An advantage of having cash was you could in some cases go to places that were cash only and get served more quickly

 

[blutarsky]

I took £200 cash in 2022 and only spent about £50, most of which was bunged to a friend for sundries. 

[Mark Greensmith]

Yep take some cash most definitely. I assumed going in 2022 that everywhere would be card, but it wasn’t. Can’t remember specifics.

[Boris]

On 5/12/2023 at 9:51 AM, blutarsky said:

I took £200 cash in 2022 and only spent about £50, most of which was bunged to a friend for sundries. 

Sundries, you say 🤔

[spg]

20 hours ago, Boris said:

Sundries, you say 🤔

Fridries and saturdries too possibly 🤫

[Mr_Grump]

Do the on-site cash machines charge for withdrawals? I'm very much cashless these days and being a tight yorkshireman, don't want to pay to get what's mine 🤣

[blutarsky]

If I remember rightly they did in 2019

[incident]

2 hours ago, blutarsky said:

If I remember rightly they did in 2019

Yeah, safe to assume that these days any ATM at any Festival is going to charge through the nose.

There did used to be free ATMs by the farmhouse, but that was back in the days when NatWest used to open an actual temporary branch on site and so they were part of that - something like that would be inconceivable now. Don't think that's been around for approx 15 years or so.

[balti-pie]

Im pretty sure the cashpoints up by the Farmhouse/FMS were still free last year, the ones in the marketplace definitely charge though (and its not a Yorkshire/regional thing to hate those charges, i'm from the south coast and would happily walk an hour out of my way to not pay access charges 😄)

[Another eforum account]

On 5/14/2023 at 10:28 AM, Mr_Grump said:

Do the on-site cash machines charge for withdrawals? I'm very much cashless these days and being a tight yorkshireman, don't want to pay to get what's mine 🤣

I believe all cash points on-site charge this year - if you check at the info desk the details will be up-to-date on which charge what 

[gooner1990]

On 5/14/2023 at 5:01 PM, incident said:

Yeah, safe to assume that these days any ATM at any Festival is going to charge through the nose.

There did used to be free ATMs by the farmhouse, but that was back in the days when NatWest used to open an actual temporary branch on site and so they were part of that - something like that would be inconceivable now. Don't think that's been around for approx 15 years or so.

Fairly sure my first year of going (2004) I saw people banking cheques!

[Duggyfresh44]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:47 PM, gooner1990 said:

Fairly sure my first year of going (2004) I saw people banking cheques!

I used the NatWest bank in 97/98 I think. It was near the crew camping when I was litter picking (Tom’s Field?) totally span me out having to walK into a bank. I’d totally forgotten about that until I read this thread! 

Edited June 6, 2023 by Duggyfresh44

[dondo]

On 5/14/2023 at 5:01 PM, incident said:

Yeah, safe to assume that these days any ATM at any Festival is going to charge through the nose.

There did used to be free ATMs by the farmhouse, but that was back in the days when NatWest used to open an actual temporary branch on site and so they were part of that - something like that would be inconceivable now. Don't think that's been around for approx 15 years or so.

 

On 5/17/2023 at 1:47 PM, gooner1990 said:

Fairly sure my first year of going (2004) I saw people banking cheques!

Yes, I cashed cheque(s) in there in 2003 and maybe 2004 too.  Was a tip on here a think saying it was quicker than waiting for the cash machines.

[donthaveacoolname]

I saw a post form a trader on FB begging asking people to use cash if they can at all, the service can be spotty with everyone on site competing for the same bandwidth and they had a story of a neighboring trader in tears last year because 2 of the card machines stopped working and she could barely trade, so perhaps If you can have some cash with you, Cash Is King!!

[phillyfaddle]

On 6/7/2023 at 5:38 PM, donthaveacoolname said:

I saw a post form a trader on FB begging asking people to use cash if they can at all, the service can be spotty with everyone on site competing for the same bandwidth and they had a story of a neighboring trader in tears last year because 2 of the card machines stopped working and she could barely trade, so perhaps If you can have some cash with you, Cash Is King!!

Second this 👆Traders prefer cash. Wifi signal is patchy. Festival #14, I’ll be relying on cash again, with a card as back up.