The show must go on! Donegal company boosted by socially distanced festival

Letterkenny based Branded Cups have like many local companies had a tough year as a result of the ongoing pandemic. 

Specialising in eco-friendly reusable custom printed cups, Branded Cups usually have their busiest months in the summer catering to festival and events.

In 2019 they supplied major events such as LegenDerry Food Festival and the Stendhal Festival in Limavady. 

The Covid-19 crisis had put all events and large orders on hold, until an innovative order came along.

“Recently we had some great news and credit must go to Paul, the organiser of Hush Village held at Colesdale Farm. He was determined that the show must go on and set about creating his vision of the UK’s first socially distanced festival. It was a pleasant surprise for the Branded Cups team to receive an enquiry for a large event taking place this year,” said Peter Reynolds, founder of Branded Cups.

Paul vision was to purchase reusable custom printed festival cups with a design that incorporated the QR code which would then launch the La Fiesta app, allowing users to purchase their drinks with a couple of clicks on their smartphones. They would then make payment online, reducing unnecessary contacts and get the drinks delivered saving them time so they could relax and enjoy the music.

“Depending on the progress with fighting against Covid, it is wise to think about how we can operate events under current guidelines in a safe and responsible manner. For a local business to be an integral part of that huge success story in the UK is fantastic,” Peter said.

“The Cups were given to all attendees on entry with hygiene given the utmost priority and this allowed users to then log into the app using their smartphones and QR reader application. Once logged in they were able to order drinks to their designated space to minimise interactions with others, like table service in a pub but on a larger scale.”

As the curtain came down on the trailblazing events the La Fiesta social media page proudly announced “The first socially distanced festival series across the UK took place every Sunday for 3 weeks on the bounce, with every La Fiesta completely selling out. 3 events we’ll never ever forget!”

Peter has set out to help any event organisers looking to host COVID compliant socially distanced events moving forwards. He has created a simple checklist and is happy to discuss any planned events and pass on any advice from his years of experience, welcoming contact peter@branded-cups.com. 

• Socially distanced queues at the bar
• Cleaning sanitiser stations around the site, particularly entry and exit points
• One-way System implemented for attendees to follow
• Bunting or other fencing to divide up the area into smaller pods
• Bales of hay or benches for extra comfort for those requiring seating
• Use technology to update attendees prior to arrival on social media, email and automated text messages with useful information and safety warnings
• Details for track and trace logged and retained for 21 days
• Colourful signage to instruct attendees to comply with current guidelines of maximum households meeting and distancing from each other in all areas of the site.
• Staff to be full compliant and trained in PPE themselves, setting an example is crucial.
• QR code printed onto cups allowing users to get drinks delivered if this option is commercially viable, alternatively table service and contact payments where possible.

“The wonderful thing about working alongside La Fiesta was that we have now seen first-hand how events under the ‘new normal’ can take place in socially distanced and compliant manner and it was lovely to see how well the events went for Paul in particular who had put so much work into everything,” Peter said.

“Of course, you can feel a bit deflated at times when you’ve worked so hard to build a business and things are so much quieter than usual but it’s important to concentrate on the positives. Both in and out of work it’s a good time for reflection, with time to focus and plan for the future, thinking outside the box with smarter business decisions to streamline, diversify and innovate.”

We’ve worked hard behind the scenes and reduced our reliance on any single product. We now offer Branded Coffee Cups as well as our new one-stop shop for event organisers purchasing bundles of any Branded Festivals items on our new websites.

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