Bestival selects Six Degrees Group to underpin festival website infrastructure

Music festival opts for scalable solution to manage demand in run-up to and during four-day event

Bestival, the four-day summer music festival on the Isle of White that attracts over 55,000 attendees every year, has selected technology infrastructure provider Six Degrees Group to underpin support of its website.

The September festival, which this year will see performances from acts including Beck, OutKast and Fouls, relies on the website as its core marketing tool and to provide the latest information to Bestival attendees in the run-up and during the four-day event.

As a result, Bestival requires its website to be both highly available and scalable enough to cope with high peak demands from users, which is why it selected Six Degrees Group (6DG) to provide the solution.

The hosting platform, which is also fully equipped with backup and disaster recovery capabilities, is designed to cope with sudden peaks in traffic, including at times when visitors could be browsing via smartphone while on the Bestival site itself.

"Bestival's popularity and audience continues to grow apace each year. The website is integral to this success, promoting and informing festival-goers of what's happening and why they should join us in September," said Bruce Hay, head of digital for Bestival.

"Through the website they have access to the latest information wherever they are and no matter how many others are online," he continued.

"We have confidence that when we're due to make a big announcement, thanks to the inbuilt resilience of the solution, as well as the support and communication channels we have with 6DG, that our website will be able to support the demand for information."

Campbell Williams, group strategy and marketing director for Six Degrees Group, added the firm has worked closely with Bestival to ensure the solution provides the best performance possible.

"The Bestival website is vital when it comes to drawing the crowds to the event. It's got to be able to perform under pressure when a new act is announced, facilitate ticket sales and seamlessly provide festival goers with the information they need when they are there," he said.

"We have worked closely with Bestival to provide a solution that's aligned to their specific business needs and delivers an excellent customer experience," Williams concluded.