Big festivals are the events to see, and be seen – and brands looking to sponsor these festivals have gotten that memo. It’s officially festival season and along with all the outfits, headliners, and epic venues, we can’t help but notice that brands want in on the festival action.

What started as lively events to get music, food, arts, and culture lovers together in one place, dancing and partying the night (or daytime) away – whatever type of festival you’re at, has become so much bigger.

This is mainly due to the way brands and sponsors are getting involved, striving to create experiences for event goers that are just as, if not more, memorable and immersive than the festival itself! This year, more brands than ever set up shop at festivals across the world, from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to Stagecoach, to Rolling Loud.

Coachella

is this where it all started?

The phrase, “Have you been to Coachella?” itself has come to create a luxurious exclusivity since its inaugural festival in 1999, and while the headliners and crowds have only gotten bigger, sponsors and brands are a big reason why.

This festival in the desert of Coachella Valley, California has attracted the top names in all genres of music over the years, with celebrities, influencers and festival lovers alike flocking to not only enjoy the music, but seriously elevate their social presence while getting exclusive access and content that has almost become a bigger incentive to attend than the music itself.

From makeup brands renting luxurious vacation homes for their selected festival attendees, to clothing brands decking out their models in festival-clad looks to parade at the grounds (while promoting them, of course), and sponsors who may have only had a booth in the past, creating full-on immersive experiences involving art, food, drink and even tech to the festival landscape.

Some of the biggest brand activations at Coachella 2024 included:

• Pinterest‘s first-ever activation at the festival inviting guests to ‘transform into their most creative selves’ by creating moodboards with on-site fashion and beauty stylists
  
• 818 Tequila brought its popular ‘818 Outpost’ back for a one-day pop-up experience featuring a full saloon with complimentary drinks
  
• Youtube has been Coachella’s exclusive live stream partner since 2014 and this year they created a 2,000 square-foot immersive desert oasis full of photo opps and interactive surprises partnered with MAS
  
• Heineken has also been sponsoring Coachella for more than 20 years and kicked it up a notch this year with their own annual spin-off festival: Heineken House (that took place within the Coachella grounds)
  

So, similar to Heineken, are sponsors and brand experiences going to get so big that they become their own event entirely?

This has already been done (successfully) by REVOLVE! The fashion brand curated such an elite (invite-only) party at Coachella, they were able to start and run their own festival that started in 2015 and is now completely independent from Coachella.

REVOLVE Fest

the spin-off takeover

Revolve is one of the first retailers that tapped into the influencer and reality TV star-driven online promotion market, specifically when it came to festival season. They had been bringing influencers to California’s Coachella Valley for years, putting them up in a hotel, decking them out in their brands, and in turn, receiving organic social media exposure of it all.

The REVOLVE party at Coachella was invite-only, meaning that it was chocked full of celebrities from actors to singers, Youtube starts, magazine Editors, fashion models, and those lucky enough to score a ticket.

Dubbed Coachella’s most lavish party, REVOLVE clearly got the memo that their brand activation was becoming something bigger than being part of a festival… so they made their own.

The first-ever REVOLVE Festival, partnered with People StyleWatch started in 2015, completely unaffiliated with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

REVOLVE Festival is known for its total social [media] takeover with hundreds of creators, celebrities and performing artists attending the event in prior years, including faces like Brooklyn Beckham, Travis Kelce, Odell Beckham Jr., Orlando Bloom, Timothée Chalamet, Kaia Gerber, Winnie Harlow, and so many more.

In the past few years especially, the incentive and positive reinforcement for moves like this have worked in their favour and because of it, they only want to get bigger.

Find it in Canada

If you’ve been experience any of KIND’s events over the years, you’ll notice that our sponsors and participating brands have been following trend and elevating their presence year after year!

What started as name sponsors with signs displayed in the venue has turned into immersive and interactive set-ups like:

The Cannara Consumption Zone

ENDGAME’s Basketball Court and Video Game Area

The Potluck Snow Globe Photo Opp

So what will we see in festivals and brand involvement to come? We’re pretty excited to see, and in Toronto this July we’re going to get a taste at the KIND Summer Fair 2024! Tickets here