From Rotterdam, all the way to Utrecht, the festival is renowned for its unique mix of theater, good food, drinks, but mostly, great vibes. Behind the scenes, Twelve ensures people can make payments easily and smoothly. From that first cappuccino in the afternoon to the very last round at the bar.  

We interviewed Nadine van Pinxteren, responsible for Communication & PR at De Parade, and asked about her experiences with Twelve. Roos Potter, Customer Success Manager at Twelve, and Michelle Trautig, Project Manager at partner organization Moneycomb, both shed some additional light on how the collaboration between Twelve and De Parade comes together behind the scenes.

Four Dutch cities, one traveling theater village

“We don’t just build up De Parade once and then that’s that,” Nadine van Pinxteren explains. “We move the entire festival to a different city, four times. Every time, we rebuild this entire village, from tents to stages to restaurants and bars.” 

This itinerant setup makes for a unique but also extremely complex festival. Every city has its own dynamic, with a different mix of visitors and different peak times. But the POS and payment terminals also need to travel with the festival and be ready to use immediately, once set up.

Michelle Trautig confirms: “Within a single day, everything needs to be up and running as if nothing ever happened. This calls for close collaboration and quite some preparation.”

From cash and single registers to one central system

Most days, De Parade starts out with a couple thousand visitors, at minimum. But during the evenings, those numbers increase quickly. On busy weekends, the festival might see more than 8,000 visitors in a day. Restaurants fill up quickly around dinner time, too, while later in the evening, people shift to the bars.

This places high demands on the payment system. Van Pinxteren reflects on the situation before De Parade worked with Twelve’s POS and payment terminals:

“Every tenant used to have their own registers or worked with cash only. It was incredibly chaotic and cumbersome. Now, everything runs on Twelve, which brings a sense of calm. From the artists to the restaurants and bars: everyone works with the same system now.”

It’s this uniformity that means the organization remains in control, even during peak times. It also ensures visitors always get served without having to spend too much time in line.

Short (communication) lines and solid operational collaboration

Setting the entire system up meant multiple parties needed to collaborate intensively. Twelve provides the payment terminals and pin machines, while Moneycomb supports daily operations.

“We communicate daily, both with Twelve and De Parade,” Trautig says. “There are always small changes and tweaks, like pricing that needs to be amended or an extra register to add. Because of the short communication lines, it’s easy for us to take care of.”

For Roos Potter, success is found specifically in the simplicity of Twelve’s POS and payment terminals and the fact these are nearly invisible: “We make sure the payment systems function properly, so visitors hardly notice them. For us, success means everything simply works.”

Real-time insights that go beyond daily operations

In Rotterdam, De Parade kicks off on a relatively small scale, but as it gets closer to Amsterdam and Utrecht, the festival transforms from a theater village into a full-on festival city. 

Twelve’s POS and payment systems travel along, are built up each time, and immediately operational whenever the festival starts. The moment the entrance opens, the system needs to be ready to facilitate thousands of transactions per day.  

For De Parade’s organizers, the real-time insights Twelve provides are indispensable. Van Pinxteren explains how this goes beyond their daily operations:   

“Twelve allows us to check up on exactly what is being sold, and which moments are the busiest. That information isn’t just useful during the festival itself, but it also helps us with making the best possible choices when planning next year’s edition.”

The result is a festival in which payments never become a bottleneck. Visitors can focus on enjoying the theater shows and having a good time, while the restaurants and bars benefit from having a single payment system that’s simple, quick and reliable. This brings a lot of peace of mind for the organization, letting them focus on programming and the visitor experience.

A Dutch classic as unexpected best selling item

Sometimes, real-time insights lead to unexpected, fun surprises. During our interview, Van Pinxteren found out that ‘poffertjes’ (a small Dutch pancake) were one of the top four best selling items. “So cool! I never would have thought,” she responded in surprise. This goes to show that data doesn’t just support proper planning, but it also leads to new insights into what visitors value.

Overall, the collaboration between Twelve and De Parade shows how a complex, traveling festival can run smoothly due to the simplicity of its payment setup and good operational processes.

While visitors enjoy the theater shows and a bite to eat, Twelve and Moneycomb make sure payments are processed smoothly, at all times. City after city, summer after summer. 

Interested in Twelve’s POS and payment terminals? Get in touch and schedule a free demo with our team.