The 20-foot lighted fountain, known informally as the "mushroom," provided a cool break from the heat of the day, as well as a place to shower. There was also a Ferris wheel that offered attendees a fun ride and great views.
SXSWi sponsor Samsung had a large presence at this year's tech portion of the festival, with its first-ever Galaxy Life Fest music event and the Samsung Studio. The consumer hub allowed guests to purchase products, attend panels, and test out the brand's virtual reality experiences. The hub also featured the Samsung SmartThings Airstream pop-up, which invited visitors to view demos and interact with SmartThings products.
The festival featured colorful backdrops for photo ops throughout the grounds.Â
Keen to showcase its ability to personalize denim, American Eagle set up a two-story structure on festival grounds. The top floor offered Wi-Fi, phone chargers, and a hot festival commodity: shade. It also displayed customized jean styles.
Decor in the company's signature red color combined themes of volunteerism and music. An augmented-reality wall of posters highlighted different causes as well; staffers with iPads could activate the animations. The Marketing Arm produced the experience with video production from XI Media Productions.
Jeremy Scott’s Moschino party, produced by XA, had a colorful, kitschy, larger-than-life Candy Crush theme this year. Guests slid into a ball pit that was made of lucite and lit from the bottom in neon.Â
Tequila Don Julio poured specialty drinks from inside an Airstream.
Montreal
#4 Music Event (up from #6)
The festival, presented by Virgin Mobile, turned 10 this year and celebrated by hosting 116 artists—including 21 Canadian bands—on six stages, including the world’s biggest mobile stage. A faithful faction of the 135,000 fans arrived on a dedicated Via Rail train from Toronto. Next: July 29-31, 2016
The three-lane, three-story, neon-lit slide at IFC’s carnival allowed three people to glide down on burlap sacks. For those not partaking in the ride, there was a spot where they could take selfies.
