One of the most popular events from this year's Vulture Festival was a conversation with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The reality TV duo promoted their upcoming Peacock original series, Paris & Nicole: The Encore. Attendees were encouraged to dress in their favorite Paris-and-Nicole-Y2K-inspired attire.Photo: Harp Digital Media
LOS ANGELES—Vulture Festival has always been about celebrating pop culture superfans. That messaging was no different at this year's 10th iteration, which took place Nov. 16-17 in Los Angeles at nya EAST for the second year in a row. The media brand says 6,000 attendees came through over the course of the weekend for actors in conversation, screenings, and special events within the event.
Top talent on hand at the festival included Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader celebrating 10 years since their cult hit The Skeleton Twins, Elizabeth Olsen in conversation about her versatile career and her recent Netflix film His Three Daughters, and reality TV dream team Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie chatting about their upcoming Peacock original series Paris & Nicole: The Encore. The event also featured sponsor activations from brands like Dyson, Bulleit, and vitaminwater.
"Bringing Vulture Festival back to nya EAST in the heart of Hollywood for our second year in a row was an easy choice for our team," says Courtney Given, executive director of experiential and partnerships at Vox Media (the parent company of Vulture). "The venue’s layout creates the perfect hub for guests to gather, whether they’re gearing up for an event or excited to chat about what they just experienced. This communal energy among superfans is the heart of Vulture Festival. Additionally, with two large stages and space to build out a third, this allowed us to grow our programming seamlessly as the lineup took shape."
Given adds that the goal of the event is to bring Vulture's quippy editorial voice to life and utilize innovative formats. For example, this year's event featured a "cooking and eating" demonstration with former Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, who ate some of her favorite LA foods while talking about her history of eating and cooking, both on screen and off, and how food has shaped how she’s seen the world.
Other programming included a multiformat improv show and a pajama brunch celebrating the hit show The Sex Lives of College Girls. Attendees arrived in their pajamas, sipped coffee, then watched the new season’s first episode and heard from the cast.
"The goal was to give our audience something fresh, bold, and uniquely Vulture—live experiences they can’t find anywhere else," Given says.
Popular programming included the Paris and Nicole panel, Mike Myers receiving Vulture’s Honorary Degree, a candid chat with Katt Williams, and the live oral history performance of The Simpsons.
Given says that programming exceeded attendance expectations this year, which meant the events team quickly ran out of availability in their two indoor spaces.
"To adapt, we built an outdoor stage and strategically shifted the more intimate events—like Henry Winkler’s acting class—to the open-air setting," she explains. "This allowed us to build out a robust list of fan-favorite events at the festival while maintaining the high-quality experience attendees have come to expect from Vulture Festival."
Keep scrolling to see photos and read more insights from inside Vulture Festival 2024...
