The late-night Neon Carnival returned to a regional airport in Thermal, California, on April 15 for the eighth consecutive year. Conceived by event producer Brent Bolthouse, the carnival brought new games and amusement-park rides. Tinder paired guests with a match for a bumper-car ride.
An oversize Absolut Lite-Brite-style installation allowed guests to interact by placing pieces into different slots to create their own patterns and art. The green palette was a nod to Absolut’s lime flavor.
A tent activation for sponsor HomeAway was meant to evoke the comfy, residential feel of the rental booking site's properties at the Lucky Lounge, produced by BMF Media.
An elaborate setup of 11 cameras simultaneously captured guests' poses for a surreal, frozen-in-time-like photo result.
At Pandora’s fourth annual Indio Invasion, staffers' shirts and drink cups matched the bold graphic logo repeated throughout the event.
InControl Simulation Solutions works with planners to prepare for crowd flow and evacuation routes at large events. The company creates computer models using site- and event-specific data, drawings, and emergency plans to “forecast” potential problem areas. The 3-D simulation models can be used to evaluate emergency scenarios with security staff and local law enforcement officials, and to determine solutions for issues such as where to put ticket booths, bathrooms, and food stands. They can also be used to train event staff and volunteers on how to handle various situations.
Crowd Connected offers a suite of location-based solutions for events known as Colocator. The system can be integrated into an event’s mobile app to manage security as well as other location-based analytics and communications. Colocator uses GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth to track attendee location and behavior. For indoor events it may also use beacons. Organizers can use the system to see a heat map of where attendees are congregating, how long it is taking people to move from one area to the next, or where there might be issues. “For example if you see people moving away very fast from an area, that could indicate a security issue,” said Mark Maydon, commercial director for Crowd Connected.
Planners get a real-time view of their event that can be customized to focus on certain areas if necessary. They can also use the system to send messages to specific subsets of attendees, for example sending instructions on the location of the nearest exits.
Chatbots are becoming a common communication tool for events, and SpyChain uses that technology to crowdsource security threats. The bot can be embedded in a mobile app, or used on its own via Facebook Messenger. Attendees can use SpyChain to report any security concerns, such as a suspicious package, unusual behavior from fellow attendees, fights, etc., and all submissions are anonymous. “Research has told us that people don’t want to get involved directly into situations, but they wouldn’t mind reporting things that can help resolve issues,” says Vish Ramakrishnan, C.E.O. of CogniFrame, maker of the SpyChain bot.
Users can upload photos and videos in addition to text, and every entry is tagged with a GPS location. SpyChain can also be used to communicate with attendees in emergency situations. Ramakrishnan says the system uses machine-learning algorithms so over time it will be able to predict the severity of various security concerns and make suggestions for preventive measures.
As part of the vacation rental company’s backstage area, HomeAway used furniture from West Elm to create a lounge for those wishing to relax while watching the concerts. Scattered around the space were signs directing guests to specific rentals though the website.
Austin Tiny Homes built a custom house in the area that guests could explore. People were encouraged to take a nap in the lofted bedroom, which had mattresses and bedding provided by Casper.
To help the home improvement company appeal to a younger generation, Lowe's open-air lounge offered cozy seating, shade, and Wi-Fi to festivalgoers. Guests and the artists who performed acoustic sets within the space were encouraged to sign the giant Texas Star, which will be on display at Lowe’s headquarters in North Carolina.
Mixing music and home improvement, Lowe’s also created a paint drum station. As visitors struck each drum, different colored paints splashed up within giant tubes. The harder they hit, the higher the paint would jump. Guests could also pose with instruments for 180-degree gifs.
Miller Lite offered a game hall with shade to guests. For fun, there were branded games from arcade video games to foosball, all free to play. The centerpiece of the Miller Lite’s hall was the giant ACL mural made up of the beer cans. MAC Presents produced the activation.
Guests also scribbled their theme song picks onto a wall. Keeping guest comfort in mind, tables at the activation had a condiment-holder filled with an array of sunscreen lotions and sprays.
Lines were very long for Tito’s Plinko board, where people contended to win potential prizes like coveted fanny packs, book bags, and bandanas.
Next door, people were able to pose with the local vodka company’s version of Austin’s iconic mural, “I Love You So Much.” Tito’s will donate $1 to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals with every photo published on social media using the hashtag “lovetitos.”
About 75,000 fans flocked to Zilker Park daily to see headlining acts such as Radiohead, Kendrick Lamar, and LCD Soundsystem.
Within the Artists Village, clothing company Aviator Nation built a teepee for its pop-up shop. Inside, guests could buy specially branded ACL apparel—including trucker caps, T-shirts, and tank tops—at a discounted rate, or decide to play one of several instruments for an impromptu musical session.
New to this year’s festival grounds were the ACL Bodegas, convenience stores of sorts that sold fruits, snacks, and other essentials from $2 to $5.
Samsung's public lounge, #GalaxyLife, showcased its products and offered a vending machine accessible through the company’s phones. Throughout the festival grounds were Samsung’s wireless charging stations.
Within the separate Samsung Lounge, available to Samsung-owners who waited for wristbands, guests were able to experience the sensation of riding Six Flags’ Magic Mountain roller coaster with its special virtual-reality product using Oculus Rift. Users sat in chairs that moved and vibrated during the ride. For those not attending the festival, Samsung also partnered with Red Bull TV to offer essentially a live stream virtual-reality experience of select concerts using the energy drink brand’s live broadcast combined with Samsung Gear powered by Oculus. Users were able to immerse themselves in the show with a 360-degree experience with their phones and the app.
Guests also posed in the lounge’s photo booth using Samsung's Gear 360 camera inside a festive reflective space.
State Farm’s #HeretoHelp lounge offered attendees a place to cool down in an air-conditioned area with comfortable seats and televisions screening the live stages. Guests could scan their festival wristbands for giveaways.
Outside the State Farm lounge were free lockers for people to place items for safekeeping. Additionally, the insurance company encouraged guest to use the hashtag for lost or found items and general help.
Since Lyft and Uber left Austin earlier this year, Honda partnered with the new personal driving app Ride Austin to offer free rides to festivalgoers. Participants were able to open the app on their phone and select the Hail-a-Honda option. The CR-Vs came from the Central Texas Honda dealerships, and were outfitted with bandanas and water for riders.
New to this year’s festival was the dedicated wine-on-tap bar featuring local wineries. To honor the fresh selections, one of those wineries, Troublemaker, created a giant wine bottle version of a mechanical bull dubbed the Trubull. Participants could sit on the bottle and pose for photos.
Salon brand OPI set a Guinness World Record for the longest manicure bar on October 21 at the 3rd Street Promenade shopping area in Santa Monica, California. To break the record, OPI created a 155-foot-long manicure bar, where more than 50 nail technicians gave attendees GelColor manicures with the brand’s new innovation, ProHealth Top and Base Coat. More than 500 manicures were completed.
Geffen Events designed and produced a Halloween party for Jessica Seinfeld’s charity, Good+ Foundation, on October 22 at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. The family-friendly event featured a variety of on-theme area from sponsors, including a Dia De Los Muertos-inspired station from Delta and AeroMexico. The station offered a coloring table with a festive skull centerpiece.
Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute hosted its inaugural fund-raiser on September 28 at the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in Washington. The event entrance had a green carpet with orangutan foot and hand prints.
To celebrate its 16th anniversary, New York-based Dylan’s Candy Bar invited celebrities to create custom candy mosaics for charity, which were displayed in the store’s flagship location on the Upper East Side on October 17. Martha Stewart’s floral candy mosaic was crafted using M&Ms, jelly beans, licorice wheels, licorice, gummy berries, gummy bears, sour patch kids, orange slices, rock candy, gummy worms, and candy wrapper foil.
Rethink Breast Cancer hosted its 16th annual Boobyball benefit on October 13 at Rebel in Toronto. The fitness-inspired event, which paid homage to the ’80s and ‘90s, offered a number of on-theme photo ops, including a structure created with giant Rubik’s Cubes in the event’s pink, blue, yellow, and white color scheme.
On-theme graphics from print sponsor 4XM were displayed around the venue, including a DJ booth that offered music from DJs Brains 4 Brkfst and Nick Marshall.
The Home Base Program, which benefits combat veterans, service members, and their families, hosted its annual fund-raising gala on October 5 at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. The event, which was produced by Tyger Productions, featured a lighting design that illuminated a cloud ceiling treatment over guests, mimicking the sunset outdoors. Situated in front of 10-foot tall signage boards was a second cocktail area flanked by two large bars.
The 21st edition of the Knot Gala took place October 9 at the New York Public Library. The wedding industry event, which was designed by Emily Clarke Events, had an enchanted forest theme. Floral statue entertainers from Scarlett Entertainment greeted attendees at the entrance and posed for photos.
To create a dark woodlands fantasy theme, Emily Clarke Events designed a setup that included a variety of florals and greenery illuminated with purple and blue lighting. Animated butterflies surrounding the Astor Hall stage added to the event aesthetic.
Building on the woodlands theme, catering labels at certain stations resembled tree stumps. Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning handled catering.
Spotify hosted a summer block party for its 750 employees on June 8. Held at the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York, the event featured basketball courts, a disco ball, a roller rink, a 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille photo booth, and a performance by T-Pain. An interactive graffiti wall allowed guest to spray paint their own designs. The event was planned and produced by Tinsel & Twine.
An edible garden by Sweet Guilt allowed attendees to pick floral treats at Sweet-Moves: Late-Night Desserts & Dancing hosted by chef Bobby Flay and his daughter, Sophie. The event took place at Loews Miami Beach Hotel.
A new event from Salty Donut, the master class took guests to the back of house to see how the craft doughnuts are made, followed by a tasting. There were two separate seatings for the afternoon event.
Taking over Española Way, the late-night Midnight Eats from Thrillist featured dishes and cocktails from local restaurants. DJ Action Bronson and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten teamed up to host the new event.
At Oyster Bash, chef Michael Cerny from Truluck’s showcased Kusshi oysters from Vancouver. Set on a custom ice bar and served on the half-shell, the oysters were topped with quick-pickled vegetables and cucumber caviar. The event took place at Lure Fishbar.
The first floor, which was open to the public, evoked an artist’s lounge. People could design their own flags, screenprint bandanas, and purchase apparel that could be customized with embroidery designs. There was a custom luggage-tag station and a corner with makeup from Milk Makeup.
The vacation rental site HomeAway, which sponsored a stage at the festival, fashioned an upside-down house as a photo opportunity in which fans pretended to hang from the ceiling. The brand gave away a free backstage pass every day to random fans.
The insurance company State Farm set up a lounge called "Here to Help" that promoted volunteerism. It featured guest-comfort amenities like charging stations and storage lockers, and offered free gear such as hats, miniature fans, and fanny packs. The space hosted intimate performances from bands and musicians playing the festival, who also talked about their volunteering experiences.
Local distillery Tito's brought back its plinko game where participants could win swag. Next to the game was the Love, Tito’s mural where people were encouraged to post images on social media with the hashtag #LoveTitos. The company donated $2 per post to pet nonprofit Emancipet, which offers affordable spay/neuter services and veterinary care. People were also encouraged to write out what they love on the mural.
Along with two performance stages and a DJ dome, the festival provided attendees with a daylong, misted, open-air dance party that had continuous DJ sets. At night, hanging LED lights above the checkered dance floor turned different colors.
“Boolean Planet,” an interactive installation created by Future Wife with music by Max Cooper, invited attendees to play with a giant inflatable sphere. By touching the outside of the sphere, people could create sound and moving visuals.
A third photo op involved a swing set that was designed to look like the Brooklyn Bridge.
As domes were once again a big theme at this year’s festival, sponsor HP activated its own blue dome in the middle of the festival grounds.
Inside the dome, guests were invited to participate in a number of immersive art activities. These included designing and printing custom scarfs using on the HP Pavilion X360 using Windows Ink, taking 120-degree light painting photos designed by artist Eric Park, dancing to manipulate virtual reality by artist Android Jones, and creating kaleidoscope patterns that were reflected in laser light shows on the dome.
Returning sponsor Macy’s hosted a pool party-inspired activation, which include a blue ball pit that resembled a pool and colorful pool floats. The activation was produced by Macy's and LeadDog Marketing Group.
Similar to last year’s inaugural edition, the festival’s main stage broadcast a variety of imagery on three massive screens throughout the weekend. In between performances, the stage adhered to its New York theme with images of the city.
One of the most visual performances of the weekend came from psychedelic rock band Tame Impala, whose set featured a multicolor laser show.
Sponsored by HP and curated by Meta.is, the Lab showcased new digital art exhibits including “Future Portrait,” a motion-capture art installation that welcomed attendees into the experience. Created by Brooklyn-based creative studio Prism, the exhibit translated a participants movement into animation using HP technology.
A photo booth at the beginning of the experience allowed attendees to take holographic-inspired shots in a box created with mirrors and neon lights that changed colors.
SoftLab, a New York-based design studio, created “Volume,” an interactive cube of responsive mirrors that redirected light and sound as a volume that reflected the excitement of attendees surrounding the cube.
HP and Intel featured a room with a number of connected pods where attendees could play virtual-reality games.
“Dream Machine” by Emilie Baltz invited people to play olfactory organs for a performance that combined smell with sound, light, and touch.
“Heartfelt,” a participatory installation created by artist and designer Ekene Ijeoma, invited participants to use their bodies as conductors by touching various poles. When each pole was touched, the installation created a heart with lights.
The Lab’s 90-foot dome held more than 200 festivalgoers at a time to experience a 360-degree show called “The Ark.” The show, which depicted a mythic journey of intergalactic survival in the search for a new home, was created by Brooklyn-based content design and experiential production company Dirt Empire.
For its second year, American Express showcased its two-story experiential space, which included New York- and music-theme stations on the first floor for all festival attendees, as well as a branded viewing area and lounge on the second floor for card members, influencers, and media. The activation, which was produced by Momentum Worldwide, included a photo backdrop of hanging microphone replicas and the experience hashtag in blue.
Another photo op offered a branded replica of a New York subway car.
A Plinko-inspired game, which mimicked a subway map, gave attendees a chance to win prizes.
The activation’s music- and city-inspired design incorporated water refill stations that were created to look like fire hydrants.
The animated interactive Mic Drop station invited attendees to dance and pose based on changing animations.
Momentum Worldwide also produced a Hendrick’s Gin activation that offered attendees gin cocktails and a photo booth that reflected the brand’s theatrical circus-inspired style, inviting festivalgoers to pose on a motorcycle in front of a backdrop of greenery and roses.
A branded wall displayed a curated "Press Play: Festival Fashion" product collection, while a lifeguard chair served as a seating option for attendees.
Barefoot Wine celebrated the popular summer wine rosé with a branded mini lounge, a bar that served drinks include “frosé,” and viewing deck.
Antioxidant-infused beverage brand Bai returned as a festival sponsor, hosting a V.I.P. lounge that included a photo booth depicting a variety of fruit in the brand's black-and-white color scheme. Patrick J Clayton Productions designed the lounge, and Jordana Schrager created personalized polaroids for attendees.
The lounge also invited guests to charge their phones at a branded phone-charging locker.
Beauty brand Sephora returned with its massive tent that featured a variety of stations, including beauty and braid bars and a mask lounge. Illuminated neon silhouettes added to the festival atmosphere. The experience was designed in-house.
A giant, branded black marker board invited guests to write what beauty meant to them by filling in the blanks.
Mosaic produced Bud Light’s activation, which featured a shaded, branded lounge and a bar.
The “Gathering Tree,” which was designed using the brand’s blue and white colors, invited attendees to play a game with paper fortune tellers for a chance to win festival wearables and swag. Fortunes were placed in jars that were strung from the structure.
Whiskey brand Glenfiddich hosted a sensory experience in a dome that invited guests to sample unique cocktails, learn about how whiskey colors influence taste, and discover how whiskey texture influences smell.
