As it does every spring, the Brussels Jazz Marathon is returning to animate Brussels, from 20 to 22 May 2016. This year, thanks to the help of the Brussels-Capital Region, festival goers will experience their concerts in an “enriched” mode, in a smart city way, thanks to a new mobile app, some of whose data will then be available on Opendatastore.brussels, the regional open data portal.
More than 250 concerts over the festival’s three days and nights: once again, the citizens of Brussels are getting ready to experience a weekend with festive tones and music on the occasion of the 21st Brussels Jazz Marathon.
To make their choices from among the rich programme on offer and get around easily between the many stages, set up in the open air in the most beautiful sites of the Brussels region (including the Grand-Place) as well as in a series of clubs, halls, cafés and hotels, smart festival goers who have a smartphone can luckily count on support from the Brussels Jazz Marathon mobile app.
Smart city thinks of the less able
This year, this app is surfing on the smart city vibe by offering innovative features. The App is directed in particular at less able festival goers (or persons with reduced mobility - PRM), thanks to a subsidy granted by the Secretary of State of Brussels for Equal Opportunities and the Digital Transition, Bianca Debaets. Specifically, the App provides a guide indicating those places of the festival accessible to reduced mobility persons. Accessibility information will then be available on Opendatastore.brussels, the regional open data portal.
The App will also be used as a full-scale test bench for a contactless payment system. No more need for cash or a bank card to pay at the ticket booths and drinks stands: The Brussels Jazz Marathon is thus one of the leading music festivals on the smart city scene.
Information about the STIB in real time
The STIB, a long-standing partner of the festival, is again offering to all visitors to the Brussels Jazz Marathon, its free JAZZ bus service that will transport Marathon participants to the most far-off cafés and sites from 20.00 to 2.00 in the morning. To enjoy each note of music and not miss a minute of the unique atmosphere of the festival, the App will relay information in real time about this shuttle service.
A festival site covered by Urbizone
Festival goers will also appreciate free Internet access at the concerts given in the Fernand Cocq square in Ixelles. The square, well known to night life aficionados, is covered by the Urbizone regional wifi network: A great opportunity to test this continually expanding service!
