My Bucket List of Incredible Events
Throughout the year, people from all over the world come together to celebrate and experience once-in-a-lifetime events en masse. Have you ever wanted to run with the bulls? Too adventurous? What about watching the world’s best soccer players shoot-out in the World Cup Final? Incredible events require immense logistical planning but also involve strategic communications. Let’s begin our tour of a few of the world’s coolest events – events on my personal bucket list – and consider their relationship to marketing and communications.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Indo, California – 1999-Present
Heralded by some as the king of American music festivals, Coachella showcases heavy-hitting artists as well as emerging talent in a unique desert setting. Tons of celebrities attend and huge brands host VIP parties, giving Coachella real star power largely unmatched by similar musical festivals like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo or Osheaga in Canada.
Early last year Coachella released this sneak preview to get people in the mood for the 2013 festival; check it out for yourself. This promotional video really brings to life the idea that this desert music festival promises a unique, unreal, and potentially mind-blowing experience. Trippy!
Oktoberfest
Munich, Germany – 1810-Present
Oktoberfest is a 16 day festival centered on beer that happens every fall, in September. Fodor’s contributor Karina Martinez-Carter explains the boozy event quite succinctly with this statement: “millions of people head to Munich to partake in Oktoberfest, visiting the grounds, merrymaking in the tents that fit thousands, and imbibing liters of beer from heavy glass mugs and boots.”
Oktoberfest has a seriously rich history so it’s no wonder that marketers look to the globally-renowned event for marketing tips, as demonstrated articles like this.
Holi Festival
India – “It is said that Holi existed several centuries before Christ.”-Present
Holi might just be the wildest celebration of all. The Hindu festival of Holi, a welcoming party for spring, begins on the last full moon of the lunar month Phalguna, typically falling in February or March. Celebrated primarily in northern India and Nepal, the “Festival of Colors” is essentially a messy three-day street-party-slash-water-balloon-fight. In cities and villages across the region, participants fill the streets and public squares armed with buckets, balloons and syringes filled with dyed water.
Although this started out in India, it has now caught on all over the world. People are now celebrating this festival in Los Angeles, London, Spanish Fork, Utah, and many more locations. Through word of mouth, social media, photographs and videos of this colourful, super-visual and super-fun celebration, participation has spread like wildfire across the globe! Check out this video of the World’s BIGGEST Holi colour party.
Which events are on your bucket list?
– Calina