Last year, Wolfgang Puck Catering and Soiree Events hosted a Mardi Gras brunch at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The daytime affair offered a clean, sophisticated presentation of the traditional Mardi Gras king cake treat. The cake was served atop a silver platter.
In a photo booth, guests posted with chalkboard signage bearing elegant French phrases.
Guests sat in gold chairs amid modern art at tables swathed in deep green linens. Centerpieces were tall and lush, and the leafy arrangements evoked feathers, which are emblematic of Mardi Gras.
In Chicago, Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event recently designed a private party with a Mardi Gras theme. Feathers were used in subtle places, such as on gift boxes that held colorful candies.
Instead of bright colors and plastic beads galore, the table was set with flowers in delicate shades of pink and purple, marbled-Italian-paper runners, and gilded rentals from Tablescapes.
In January, A Perfect Event designed the opening of event space City View Loft. The event had a Venetian carnival theme that had plenty of ideas for a Mardi Gras bash—including a "hangover bar." Decked in candelabra and prop coral branches, the cheeky station held aspirin, antacid, coconut water, and Emergen-C.
Pure Kitchen catering set up several interactive tasting bars, including one where guests could make a fizzy sangria. Staff wore feathered masks.
One station had a drink dubbed "the Jam." Guests could drop pure fruit preserves into glasses of sparkling wine.
Upstairs, a dessert lounge was lit in shades of pink, purple, and blue. Toni Patisserie and Cafe had a colorful, thematic sweets table that included mask-shaped cookies and a tower of macarons.
Adding to the evening's whimsical, carnival-like vibe, Jo Snow had a "boozy snow cone" station. Guests ordered the treats in flavors such as grapefruit-rosemary with vodka.
Instead of tossing masks throughout the venue, planners put a neatly stacked array on table at the photo booth. Guests posed with the festive props.
Elysia Root Cakes offered mini cupcakes topped with sugared masks.
On small, illuminated stages throughout the venue, performers from Angela Eve and Eve's Parlor Cabaret did tricks and stunts.
Swift's performance took place at Club Nomadic, a 62,500-square-foot, custom-designed pop-up venue. “This gives us more flexibility to build the structure around Taylor Swift’s show, making the space entirely custom-designed to our needs,” said Roger Hyde, senior vice president of advertising and creative services at AT&T.
As with past years of the festival, a major draw for attendees was the Lab—a group of digital, immersive art installations created by New York artists and designed and curated by Meta.is. Whereas previously guests had to experience each installation chronologically in a giant dome, this year installations were housed outside and in three mini domes. Attendees were able to explore the area in "choose your own adventure" style. "Infinite Wild," an outdoor installation created by artist collective Smooth Technology, was created with 60,000 LED cables that drew power from solar panels.
"As Above, So Below," another outdoor installation, was created by Kate Raudenbush and inspired by the Sierpinski triangle. Festivalgoers could pose for photos in the structure, which also had an interactive audiovisual floor design programmed by Eric Chang.
Pixel Vortex, created by Brooklyn-based collective Windmill Factory, invited guests to play with LED balloons that swirled in a wind vortex. The installation was also accompanied by an aura-reading box, where guests could place their hands under a metal pad that was connected to a camera. Once the camera flashed a picture of the participant, the colors inside the installation changed based on that person's aura reading.
The aura-reading box produced polaroids, which were hung outside the installation for guests to take home.
Superbright, a company that specializes in augmented- and virtual-reality production, created "Dance For Us," an immersive dance floor experience that invited attendees to dance in front of changing digital graphics. Dancers were recorded with motion capture data, and their silhouettes could be viewed outside of the installation in an accompanying A.R. app.
"Portal to Flatland," created by Brooklyn-based duo Magenta Field, was housed in a tunnel and served as a “pre-show” to the film screened in the Lab’s main dome. A combination of sound and lights that changed in different patterns and colors were meant to “transport” guests to the presentation.
After walking through the tunnel, festivalgoers could watch Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, this year’s 360-degree short film. A contemporary take on a satirical novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott, the film follows a cube that discovers hidden dimensions. The film was adapted and directed by Meta.is founder Justin Bolognino and featured a musical score by St. Vincent, who also performed at the festival.
American Express returned with its two-story cardmember club and hospitality space, which was produced by Momentum Worldwide. This year, the space had an island theme inspired by the festival venue of Randall’s Island. Guests could pose in a hammock attached to palm tree cuts, in front of a floral sign featuring the name of the brand's latest campaign.
An installation of fabricated palm trees with streamers in multiple colors invited guests to write their best advice for living a happy life.
Guests who wanted to stay active indoors could play a game of mini bowling.
The brand provided a fresh take on water refill stations, with three that resembled outdoor showers. The space also featured a custom mural with colorful, cartoon illustrations depicting New York.
Cardmembers were given branded beach mats to use at the festival.
New to the festival this year was a branded ferry, which transported guests to Randall’s Island.
Bud Light brought its traveling dive bar activation to the festival, which provided a small stage for intimate sessions from up-and-coming artists and a rooftop viewing deck for fans. Mosaic conceptualized the activation, which was executed by experiential marketing agency Engine Shop at the festival.
The brand sold customized merchandise at an onsite stitch shop.
A multicolored marquee sign welcomed guests to the activation and also served as a popular Instagram moment.
The activation's dive bar aesthetic incorporated arcade games such as N.B.A. Jam and Ms. Pac-Man.
While cans of Bud Light were served throughout the festival grounds, guests could also get cans at a custom vending machine.
Eyewear brand Zenni activated a branded lounge and onsite glasses shop at the festival for the first time. Relevent led the concept and buildout of the activation, which featured details that included oversize yellow sunglasses with rainbow string art in the frames. The lounge is slated to travel to numerous U.S. festivals through the remainder of summer and into the fall.
Hendrick’s Gin activated a three-story bar that served specialty cocktails. Actors dressed in early 20th-century garb, blew bubbles, and interacted with guests. The bar was produced by Momentum Worldwide.
Bar decor included cucumbers and roses in branded vases.
Deep Eddy Vodka served signature cocktails from a retro-style, refurbished 1940s Spartan trailer, which had a full bar, lounge, and custom sound system. The trailer, which was created by Timeless Travel Trailers, will also go to the Summer Melton Music Festival in Darrington, Washington, the Elements Music and Art Festival in the Bronx, and the Crave Food & Music Festival in Lexington, Kentucky, all of which take place later this month.
Festival beauty sponsor Sephora went heavy on the glitter this year, with a galactic rainbow-color tent that offered full-service hairstyling, D.I.Y. temporary hair coloring, glitter makeovers, and makeup touchups. One hair station gave guests “holographic space buns,” and featured salon mirrors with the quote “Festival vibes as good as my hair” in purple letters.
People could pose for photos in a life-size, glittery compact mirror. Additional props included a giant makeup brush and lipstick.
Riffing off a popular meme on social media, a sign invited guests to pose with their new festival hairdos.
