Submitted by Mike Grenville on Wed, 30 Jul 2003 16:37

There was lots of texting going on with not much sign of MMS at the WOMAD music festival in Reading last weekend. However BBC is considering integrating MMS both to and from the stage at a future music event this summer.

Texting and music festivals is becoming a well established combination and this year's WOMAD was no exception. Last year BBC Radio 3 invited festival goers to send their feedback and the 'best womad moment' to them via SMS. This year Radio 3 built on their festival experience and added a novel way to encourage registration for their free concert tips service by offering a free foot massage on production of the registration text message provided by a team of expert reflexologists. This also brought people to the Radio 3 tent and the various activities going on there that were not included in the main programme.

James Whitmarsh from BBC Radio and Music Interactive division said that "Over 600 people registered for the alerts and tips during the three day festival from the Radio 3 world music team. Messages were sent out to drive attendance at special Radio 3 concerts at the festival and to give tips on bands and DJ recommendations to watch out for."

An example message:

Hi, it's Dr Kershaw here. Djelimady Tounkara joins me at 11pm on the Vill stage. Plus you get to see me DJ! Don't forget to txt back how your weekend's going!

Although photos and comments are currently invited by email and through the web site, Radio 3 plans to incorporate live picture messaging during festivals to and from the stage.

Certainly the interest in having an integrated camera and phone seemed high from my own experience. Each time I used the camera it attracted questions and interest from those around with most being impressed. However the limitations of the camera (an O2 Nokia 3650) can be seen in mixed lighting situations such as the 'Super Rail Band' photo, but as a tool to capture odd moments and interesting scenes it was a winner.

Other plans include live p2p text chat based around different musical interests at the festival which will mirror directly how texting is already being used during the festival.

The message infrastructure was supplied by WIN

WOMAD

You can listen to many of the concerts online here: BBC Radio 3