This is how festivals have evolved to become the ultimate experience.
Over the years festivals have become the best excuse for you to party for 2 to 3 days straight without worrying about cops or running out of alcohol. Simply put, the party doesn’t stop because something is always happening.
We now live in an era where our experiences hold tight to how we perceive and feel towards events and brands. If the experience is good and memorable, you post about it, tag the brand, use the hashtag and spread the word. However if the experience is bad, we also spread the word just not a good light. We bash the experience/brand, while others troll and create memes about the experience eg. Fyre festival.
The modern festival has easily become more experiential; filled with more activities, food selections, entertainment, aesthetics, memorabilia, merchandise, photo booths and many other touch points.
Here we look at modern festivals and how they are capitalizing on creating a 360 experience for festival goers, making sure these are moments they never forget.
Artist-based
Rosefest
Inspired by her platinum selling album ‘Rosegold’, Rnb songstress Shekhinah, created Rosefest. Rosefest is a festival that takes place on Women’s day, with the main purpose of celebrating female artists in the industry. The ensemble is an all female line up with the likes of Sho Madjozi, Shimmy, Lady Zamar, Shekinah and many others.
“The world Shekhinah created with “Rosegold” is a space of self-empowerment and celebration, supported by the strong messages of the album. Tracks like “Different” praise our uniqueness, ‘Suited’ speaks to the strength of connection in love, while ‘Power to She’ is a female empowerment anthem, rooted in our African identity.”
Cottonfest
Cottonfest is a festival founded by rapper and self proclaimed ‘King of cotton’, Riky Rick. Riky prides himself on his ability and obsession with dressing well, no matter the occasion, umswenko(swag) must always be adhered to. And ultimately that is what Cottonfest is focused on, ‘The Drip.’
This is a festival like no other because the crowd gives off the wildest energy. With a hot lineup curated every year it’s no wonder this event is wild but what makes it unique is how the consumers participate in ‘The Drip.’ Everyone gets on their worst behavior and dresses up for the occasion.
Dreamvillefest
Using the same name as his stable ‘Dreamville’, J.Cole decided to create Dreamvillefest. Based on the idea that not much happens in North Carolina and this initiative is to try put it on the map. I mean you can’t really blame Cole for this because all the biggest festivals always happen in the biggest cities, which is common around the world. Therefore he felt like he needed to go home and represent for his city and his people.
The festivals itself aims to provide a unique opportunity for locals and traveling visitors alike to gather and enjoy a music celebration in one of Raleigh’s most beautiful and historic locations, Dorothea Dix Park
Brand-based
Corona Sunsets
Corona Sunsets takes place all over the world, in countries like Mexico, South Africa, the U.S and Japan. The main purpose of this festival is about celebrating the golden sky A.K.A the sunset.
Consumers are treated to great live music that takes place on two different stages, a variety of tantalizing cuisines and obviously a few Corona’s, otherwise why would else would you even be there?
The aesthetics play a huge role here as the Mandala decor adds some personality to the fiesta, making it feel like a carnival. Also not forgetting the branded stands and photo booths.
Bacardi Holiday Club
Brought to you by events agency Until Until. The Bacardi Holiday Club is a mini holiday break a few months just after starting with the new year.
It takes place at Welgelegen Manor, just outside of Johannesburg. A weekend camping experience, all-inclusive with your ticket purchase.
During the day it’s mainly just vibes, chilling by the pool, taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the moments with your friends. Then at night is when it really gets crazy with a really hot line up.
Revolvefest
Revolve is widely known for it’s clothing as it’s an online clothing store for women. Revolvefest on the other hand takes place during the weekend of Coachella but here’s the thing, its invite only.
What really makes Revolvefest so unique is how they invite a whole lot of influencers, treat them to the best service, give them access to a few celebrities and boom, everybody is talking about it. However the festival is quite small in comparison to Coachella but that makes their selling point so effective because you could be one of a lucky few to get invited to rub shoulders with some amazing personalities.
Republic of Extra Cold
Castle Lite is well known for creating some of the most epic experiences when it comes to parties. Then, they came up with the Republic of Extra Cold. This is an event whereby you apply to go to the republic and the lucky few who get chosen to experience an exclusive party in a secluded area. It’s a jam packed day filled with the dopest acts in entertainment plus the experience of a lifetime. Also Castle Lite is know for its aesthetics, keeping everything cold and cool.
What makes it special is that the Republic of Extra Cold has it’s own cabinet/leadership. The 2020 feature had Pearl Thusi as the president as usual, Boity as the minister of Drip, Donovan Goliath as the minister of vibes, Ayanda MVP as the minister of beats and of course Junior Khoza as the minister of summer bodies.
International acts
Rocking the Daisies
Rocking the Daisies is probably one of the longest running festivals in South Africa. Held at the Cloof Wine Estate outside Darling in Cape Town, it’s known for bringing really dope international acts every year. With the likes of 6lack, Russ, Jay Prince, the 1975, Majid Jordan and Mura Musa who have blessed the Daisies stage. Not to mention this is also a wild camping experience for those who don’t want to leave the party. Plus you can download the Daisies app and mark the location of your tent(just in case you’ve had one too many).
RTD takes place in October, right in the middle of spring, it’s no wonder it’s such a vibe among young people especially students. Also if you feel like not partying for a bit then #RTDtalks is for you as a selected host interacts with some of the partygoers on some hot topics. Otherwise you can visit the merch store and get yourself the hottest merch courtesy of Cape Town rapper Yangsta CPT and his YGen clothing line, amongst many others.
Coachella
This is easily the biggest festival of the year with the biggest acts in the world performing, from Beyonce to The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and many more. The main purpose behind Coachella is to showcase fellow creators and musicians’ work to a diverse audience as it is also an art festival. And truth be told in comparison to most festivals, the aesthetics are out of this world!
Coachella probably has the biggest and most diverse line-ups of musicians of any festival with over 20 acts performing everyday, over 3 days, with one big headliner on each day. Africa’s very own Black Coffee, Burna Boy, Wizkid and Davido have rocked the Coachella stage too.
