How Canva Used Creativity and Community to Reimagine the Typical Tech Conference

LOS ANGELES—On April 10, more than 4,500 attendees descended on Hollywood Park for Canva Create 2025—a creative, community-driven celebration that’s fast becoming one of the most buzzed-about gatherings in tech. With 100 speakers, 60 sessions, and headline names like Cynthia Erivo and Jon Batiste, the event marked a big leap from last year’s inaugural U.S. edition in both scale and ambition.

“With an event like Canva Create, we’re really allowed to take big swings and bring our brand to life in larger-than-life ways,” Jimmy Knowles, Canva’s global head of experiential marketing, told BizBash. “One of the things that is so fun about our brand is that it is colorful and loud and playful and whimsical—and so different from many other tech brands. It’s not about clean lines and slick surfaces and sharp edges. It’s all rounded corners, and thinking and coloring outside the box.” "Being at a venue like Hollywood Park gives us so much space and energy to breathe life into the event," said Knowles.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

The event’s festival-style approach is rooted in Canva’s internal culture. “Canva Create has gone through a really interesting evolution over the past three years,” Knowles explained. “That first edition actually stemmed from an internal program called Season Openers. At the beginning of each season, we’d bring the whole company together to talk about goals, product launches, and celebrate past wins."

What began as a companywide rallying cry soon became a public expression of Canva’s culture and values—and Canva Create was born. The first edition, held in Sydney, featured 2,000 Canva employees. In 2024, the brand made the jump to Los Angeles. “We sold tickets for the first time, brought in thought leaders, expanded the keynote and livestream," remembered Knowles. "Everything got leveled up, and it was such a success that we doubled down this year.” “Our CEO's [Melanie Perkins'] intent in creating Canva Create was to bring our internal culture to an external audience," said Knowles, noting that this year's event drew 4,500 people.Photo: Courtesy of Public School"Canva has leaders at the highest level who encourage us to play and have fun, and to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks," said Knowles. (Pictured: Canva's founders onstage during the keynote.)Photo: Courtesy of Public School

Canva Create 2025 featured more programming, more interactive spaces, and more opportunities to play. Produced by experiential agency Public School, the gathering was laid out like a theme park, complete with unique “worlds.” Attendees could explore Design School, Canva’s hands-on learning lab; the Create Commons, a central hub with food, drink, and branded merch; a Data Deep Dive Ball Pit; and even brainstorming sessions on seesaws. "The Data Deep Dive Ball Pit was a big hit," said Knowles.Photo: Courtesy of Public SchoolAnother popular spot? The "Balance & Brainstorm" seesaws.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

Users could guests submit their ideas for future products and features via a retro phone booth.Photo: Courtesy of Public SchoolOther spaces included “Canva Land,” which spotlighted all the brand’s major acquisitions—including Leonardo AI, Flourish, and Affinity, which each had its own activation area to show how it fits into the Canva ecosystem. There was also a Creator Studio from LinkedIn, and other sponsor activations like AWS’s App Marketplace, which highlighted apps that integrate with Canva. 

“One of my favorites areas was the Uncharted Studio, which gave folks a first look at newly launched products from the keynote,” added Knowles. Many of those features, he noted, were directly inspired by community feedback. In the studio, guests could submit their ideas for future products and features in writing or via a retro phone booth that recorded their voice messages, which were passed along to Canva’s user team. “It’s really fun to think about how, in the next Canva Create, there’s going to be a whole new group of individuals that will see their wishes brought to life onstage through the products and features we launch,” he pointed out. The "Canva Suite Shop" was another fun, colorful way to present the brand's products.Photo: Courtesy of Public School"What made this year really special was that everything—from the keynote to the installations—revolved around community wishes," said Knowles. "We’re really lucky to be nimble; we can listen to feedback from the community and quickly act on some of those tools and features they’re requesting.”Photo: Courtesy of Public School

That idea of community wishes culminated in what’s becoming Canva Create’s signature moment: the finale musical performance. Last year’s surprise rap battle drew millions of views and plenty of social media discourse. Some loved it, while others called it cringe—but Knowles stands by the creative risk. “What makes me so proud is that we did not change who we are. We didn’t change our personality, and we really stood in our identity.”

This year, the team doubled down on the concept. “There are two clear paths: We could either shrink and play it safe, or take a risk and be unapologetically who we are—and that’s exactly what we did,” he said. The new, musical theater-inspired number was built entirely from user comments, wishes, and feature requests. “Almost every word was literally just sung feedback and wishes from the community,” Knowles explained. “Throughout the course of the song, we launched 45 new tools and features, and through that process granted thousands of wishes. That’s so cool, and we did it our way.” The musical celebration featured a 42-person cast, a live band, and a full choir.Photo: Courtesy of Canva Create

The response to this year’s song—which is now available on Spotify—was overwhelmingly positive. “How can you be negative about something so joyful and fun and colorful?” Knowles asked. “The idea was, if you keep creating, we’ll keep getting better for you. Our community is the heartbeat of everything we do.” 

Canva Create’s collaborative approach extended to the event's execution. Behind the scenes, the team worked with more than 500 people—crew, vendors, and production partners—to bring the experience to life. “We had a really tight load-in timeline, with just four days to get it all up and running,” Knowles shared. “Coordinating that with SoFi Stadium and layering in rehearsals across multiple stages was a huge lift.”

That pressure only heightened the importance of listening to attendee feedback. “Last year, for example, there was a moment when 3,500 people rushed the lunch line after the keynote. It was chaos,” Knowles admitted. “This year, we staggered programming, extended F&B service, and made hospitality more accessible to prevent that. We really do take feedback seriously. We want the community to feel heard and reflected in what we build.”

Throughout it all, Public School remained a trusted creative partner. “This was our second year working with them, and they’ve been fantastic. We push each other, sometimes in challenging ways, but always in service of creating the best event possible,” he said. “The process is messy and creative, but that chaos is often where the best ideas are born.” "Public School has been amazing partners, and I’m excited to keep scaling Canva Create together," he added.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

For Knowles, Canva Create is more than a conference. “It’s the unconference conference," he said. "It’s really important to me that we’re doing things differently; that it doesn’t feel like every other tech conference you go to. When I see people arriving in colorful outfits, diving into the ball pit, on the seesaws, meeting new people, buying swag—I know we’ve built something different that people are really responding to. That’s all I could ask for.”

Scroll down to see the vendor list and more photos from Canva Create 2025...

VENDORS: 

In the Apps Marketplace powered by Amazon Web Services, attendees explored tools designed to simplify their workflows and elevate their content.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

A clever Canva "Appstand" also spotlighted new Canva apps and integrations.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

LinkedIn, which launched its new LinkedIn Ads app for Canva during the keynote, hosted an on-site content studio.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

Canva acquisitions like Leonardo AI also had their own activations within the event.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

An on-site print shop celebrated a new addition to Canva's Disney Collection, which will feature more than 180 customizable Star Wars templates.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

Jon Batiste joined Guy Raz for a conversation on the power of reinvention and the cultural impact of creativity.Photo: Courtesy of Public School

What's on tap for 2026? Knowles is excited to keep expanding across the massive Hollywood Park footprint.Photo: Courtesy of Public School