Winning Festivals.
We guided a festival to 70,000 fans and worked on an industry-leading team, delivering the knowledge and network to help your team lead and succeed.
Branding
Branding is your DNA. It separates and differentiates. Creating a unique, distinct and proprietary brand identity is the blueprint for an instantly recognizable festival.
Branding
Branding is your DNA. It separates and differentiates. Creating a unique, distinct and proprietary brand identity is the blueprint for an instantly recognizable festival.
Budgeting
From permits to power, mapping to medical, catering to concessions, all bases must be covered to deliver successful festivals. Budgets easily exceed when wants overwhelm needs, and as festival consultant, we provide clients the clarity they need.
Budgeting
From permits to power, mapping to medical, catering to concessions, all bases must be covered to deliver successful festivals. Budgets easily exceed when wants overwhelm needs, and as festival consultant, we provide clients the clarity they need.
Booking
Like a timeless recipe, successful festivals feature the right talent mix that resonates with the right audience. From chefs, musicians, speakers and more, there is a creative, data-driven equation to the formula, and process to procurement.
Booking
Like a timeless recipe, successful festivals feature the right talent mix that resonates with the right audience. From chefs, musicians, speakers and more, there is a creative, data-driven equation to the formula, and process to procurement.
Staffing
Team is everything. From booking to accounting, marketing to management, networking to security, festival staffing is a critical piece of festival development you can’t afford to mishandle.
Staffing
Team is everything. From booking to accounting, marketing to management, networking to security, festival staffing is a critical piece of festival development you can’t afford to mishandle.
PR & Marketing
Building your dream is one thing, selling it another. As a festival consultant, we help clients design a festival marketing strategy and public relations plan, deploying the right resources to the right areas, and measuring them daily using data analytics platforms.
PR & Marketing
Building your dream is one thing, selling it another. As a festival consultant, we help clients design a festival marketing strategy and public relations plan, deploying the right resources to the right areas, and measuring them daily using data analytics platforms.
Sponsors & Partners
Seeking festival sponsors and strategic partners? One of the most impactful revenue streams, we bring over 350 brand partnerships to your team, plus expertise on staffing, sales tools, proposals, contracting, client management, brand activations and other festival sponsorship essentials.
Sponsors & Partners
Seeking festival sponsors and strategic partners? One of the most impactful revenue streams, we bring over 350 brand partnerships to your team, plus expertise on staffing, sales tools, proposals, contracting, client management, brand activations and other festival sponsorship essentials.
Production
Successful festivals are designed like well architected cities, and there is math and science to everything you need, where you need it, and how much you should pay for it. With 20 years of festival development experience, we help your team plan what it needs.
Production
Successful festivals are designed like well architected cities, and there is math and science to everything you need, where you need it, and how much you should pay for it. With 20 years of festival development experience, we help your team plan what it needs.
Concessions
One of the “Top 5” features that make or break any festival experience, festival concessions are a recipe of brands, products, pricing and locations, that must be matched and presented precisely. As your festival consultant, we help you formulate the perfect mix of offerings.
Concessions
One of the “Top 5” features that make or break any festival experience, festival concessions are a recipe of brands, products, pricing and locations, that must be matched and presented precisely. As your festival consultant, we help you formulate the perfect mix of offerings.
Ticketing
Closing patron commitment early and consistently is a critical component to creating experiences successfully. We guide clients through the crowded landscape of ticketing types, service providers, pricing strategy, data-driven technology, and more.
Ticketing
Closing patron commitment early and consistently is a critical component to creating experiences successfully. We guide clients through the crowded landscape of ticketing types, service providers, pricing strategy, data-driven technology, and more.
Case Studies
We’ve spent our lives creating experiences that foster genuine connection. Having built our own festival and worked on an industry-leading festival management teams, we know what makes the best festivals succeed. As your festival development consultant, we deliver that experience and knowledge to your team.
Activism
Forecastle
Mission:
Music.Art.Activism®. The Forecastle Festival, created in 2002 in Louisville’s award-winning Olmsted park system (Central Park, Biltmore Estate, US Capital), was one of the first contemporary music festival models to make sustainability a core pillar of its DNA, shifting the industry flywheel towards a more socially-conscious, environmentally-friendly direction.
Strategy:
Start small, dream big. Place music, art, and activism on equal footing, investing in each equally. Think differently. Focus on creating experiences you would not find in a traditional festival environment, merging education and entertainment, while weaving in local culture. Create an authentic, innovative, immersive environment where the culmination of experiential brand activations and locally-sourced micro experiences forged a distinctive identity and stimulating journey of artistic and cultural discovery.
Results:
Forecastle scaled quickly, as did its environmental Foundation, drawing audiences from over 2400 cities and 13 countries, and featured an eclectic mix of artists, including The Black Keys, Jack White, Beck, Sam Smith, Outkast, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Chris Stapleton, My Morning Jacket, Sturgill Simpson, and over 500 more. It outgrew five venues on its way to 85-acre Waterfront Park – the largest and most scenic outdoor venue in Louisville, KY. From 0 to 70,000 attendees, the smallest city park to one of the largest, the festival was acquired by AC Entertainment in 2013 and Live Nation in 2016.
Ocean Stage
Activism
Forecastle
Mission:
Music.Art.Activism®. The Forecastle Festival, created in 2002 in Louisville’s award-winning Olmsted park system (Central Park, Biltmore Estate, US Capital), was one of the first contemporary music festival models to make sustainability a core pillar of its DNA, shifting the industry flywheel towards a more socially-conscious, environmentally-friendly direction.
Strategy:
Start small, dream big. Place music, art, and activism on equal footing, investing in each equally. Think differently. Focus on creating experiences you would not find in a traditional festival environment, merging education and entertainment, while weaving in local culture. Create an authentic, innovative, immersive environment where the culmination of experiential brand activations and locally-sourced micro experiences forged a distinctive identity and stimulating journey of artistic and cultural discovery.
Results:
Forecastle scaled quickly, as did its environmental Foundation, drawing audiences from over 2400 cities and 13 countries, and featured an eclectic mix of artists, including The Black Keys, Jack White, Beck, Sam Smith, Outkast, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Chris Stapleton, My Morning Jacket, Sturgill Simpson, and over 500 more. It outgrew five venues on its way to 85-acre Waterfront Park – the largest and most scenic outdoor venue in Louisville, KY. From 0 to 70,000 attendees, the smallest city park to one of the largest, the festival was acquired by AC Entertainment in 2013 and Live Nation in 2016.
Ocean Stage
Culture
High Water
Mission:
Bring Charleston, SC’s storied history and southern culture to the music festival masses. A two-day waterfront celebration of music, food and libations, curated by homegrown artists Shovels & Rope and featuring purveyors of Carolina lowcountry cuisine and culture.
Strategy:
Focus on sense of place. Understand what makes Charleston unique and distinct, and showcase it with creative freedom. Feature a world-class lineup that highlights its flavorful food, handcrafted libations, philanthropic passions, and colorful artistic visual art. Create experiences anchored by native culture bearers like Band of Horses (music), Rodney Scott (culinary), Garden & Gun (lifestyle), and more. Art of Impact’s JK McKnight used his experience in festival sponsorships and strategic partnerships to facilitate impactful brand partnerships that add value to the patron experience by delivering unique sets of locally-grown micro experiences with festival sponsors like Lagunitas, Tito’s, Four Roses and many more.
Results:
Delivering on our brand promise with an eclectic menagerie of lowcountry culture and cuisine, High Water checked all the festival essential boxes and sold out in its debut at nearly 10,000 patrons per day. It went onto become a staple of the southern festival circuit, merging history, music, arts, culture, camaraderie and hospitality in a beautiful waterfront setting that attracted fans from 45 states, 5 countries, and nearly 1500 cities.
World Tour Launch
Culture
High Water
Mission:
Bring Charleston, SC’s storied history and southern culture to the music festival masses. A two-day waterfront celebration of music, food and libations, curated by homegrown artists Shovels & Rope and featuring purveyors of Carolina lowcountry cuisine and culture.
Strategy:
Focus on sense of place. Understand what makes Charleston unique and distinct, and showcase it with creative freedom. Feature a world-class lineup that highlights its flavorful food, handcrafted libations, philanthropic passions, and colorful artistic visual art. Create experiences anchored by native culture bearers like Band of Horses (music), Rodney Scott (culinary), Garden & Gun (lifestyle), and more. Art of Impact’s JK McKnight used his experience in festival sponsorships and strategic partnerships to facilitate impactful brand partnerships that add value to the patron experience by delivering unique sets of locally-grown micro experiences with festival sponsors like Lagunitas, Tito’s, Four Roses and many more.
Results:
Delivering on our brand promise with an eclectic menagerie of lowcountry culture and cuisine, High Water checked all the festival essential boxes and sold out in its debut at nearly 10,000 patrons per day. It went onto become a staple of the southern festival circuit, merging history, music, arts, culture, camaraderie and hospitality in a beautiful waterfront setting that attracted fans from 45 states, 5 countries, and nearly 1500 cities.
World Tour Launch
Music
Moogfest
Mission:
Celebrate the enduring legacy of American entrepreneur and innovator Bob Moog – creator of the Moog synthesizer – and redefine what a music festival could be. Blend technology, arts, and education to create experiences the New York Times would label an epicenter of “untamed sounds” featuring “electronics that stimulate ears and emotions.” Riding a wave of renewed interest in the analog synthesizer, Moogfest would be a celebration of sights and sounds tucked inside the beautiful mountains and scenic outlooks of western North Carolina.
Strategy:
Host Moogfest in Bob Moog’s adopted hometown of Asheville, NC on Halloween weekend. Activate a creative array of commercial and mixed use spaces throughout downtown. Deliver a genre-bending, instrument-blending assortment and spectacle of Moog-influenced exhibitions and performances. Merge entertainment and technology to capture the spirit of Bob Moog and the massive influence his inventions inspired and artists he drove to creative heights. From the Beatles and Beach Boys, Brian Eno and Kraftwerk, Flaming Lips to MGMT and more, the Moog synthesizer is a staple of innovative instrumentation, and Moogfest would be the melting pot of his work and global fanbase. I was privileged to work on a multitude of foundation laying facets, including community relations, festival sponsors, brand activations, artistic installations, hospitality and other festival essential amenities.
Results:
Fans and artists from around the world descended upon Asheville, NC, to pay their respects to one of the world’s most influential and inventive icons. Artists from Brian Eno to DEVO, innovators from Kraftwerk to Orbital, and composers like Terry Riley fused together with contemporary pop stars like MIA, GZA, Moby and more. Drawing over 7,500 fans per day to the scenic, mountain home of Bob Moog, Moogfest was hailed by NPR as “One of the most eclectic festivals in the country” with additional accolades by the New York TImes, Wall Street Journal, and many more.
World Tour Launch
Music.
Moogfest.
Mission:
Celebrate the enduring legacy of American entrepreneur and innovator Bob Moog – creator of the Moog synthesizer – and redefine what a music festival could be. Blend technology, arts, and education to create experiences the New York Times would label an epicenter of “untamed sounds” featuring “electronics that stimulate ears and emotions.” Riding a wave of renewed interest in the analog synthesizer, Moogfest would be a celebration of sights and sounds tucked inside the beautiful mountains and scenic outlooks of western North Carolina.
Strategy:
Host Moogfest in Bob Moog’s adopted hometown of Asheville, NC on Halloween weekend. Activate a creative array of commercial and mixed use spaces throughout downtown. Deliver a genre-bending, instrument-blending assortment and spectacle of Moog-influenced exhibitions and performances. Merge entertainment and technology to capture the spirit of Bob Moog and the massive influence his inventions inspired and artists he drove to creative heights. From the Beatles and Beach Boys, Brian Eno and Kraftwerk, Flaming Lips to MGMT and more, the Moog synthesizer is a staple of innovative instrumentation, and Moogfest would be the melting pot of his work and global fanbase. I was privileged to work on a multitude of foundation laying facets, including community relations, festival sponsors, brand activations, artistic installations, hospitality and other festival essential amenities.
Results:
Fans and artists from around the world descended upon Asheville, NC, to pay their respects to one of the world’s most influential and inventive icons. Artists from Brian Eno to DEVO, innovators from Kraftwerk to Orbital, and composers like Terry Riley fused together with contemporary pop stars like MIA, GZA, Moby and more. Drawing over 7,500 fans per day to the scenic, mountain home of Bob Moog, Moogfest was hailed by NPR as “One of the most eclectic festivals in the country” with additional accolades by the New York TImes, Wall Street Journal, and many more.
Brand Alliances
Why it works:
Worldwide Surge
Festivals have experienced a worldwide surge in the past decade, and Gen Z data suggests the trend will only continue climbing. Millennials and Gen Z share a strong affinity for social, shareable, sensory experiences that festivals deliver more than any other experiential platform..
Passionate Fanbase
Festivals capture passionate fans in a contained environment of shared values and common interests, opening the door to a unique and unprecedented level of engagement and motivation.
Shape and Mold
Festivals provide a cathartic platform to stimulate, inspire, shape and mold audiences. A place where fans are more open and eager to step outside their comfort zone and boundaries, and change happens naturally.
Future Forward
New, innovative festival models and technologies are being developed to bolster and augment the industry. As your festival consultant, I make sure your team is prepared to capture these unique opportunities. Physically and virtually, festivals will remain a driver of our creative economy, culture, health and well-being.
"JK turned a gathering in a local park into one of the premiere festivals in the country. In doing so, he found a way to pair his entrepreneurial mind with his activist heart by creating a foundation to leave the planet in better shape than he found it. His amazing combination of intellect, vision, compassion, and relentless drive keeps him moving at a frenetic pace...and we’re all better for it.”
:: Morgan McGarvey, Minority Floor Leader, State Senate (KY-19)