A new type of arts and music festival
Music festivals are popular events all around the world; music and art usually manage to bring people together in a very unique way, no matter what the economic or politic situation is. In Canada, music lovers can choose amongst a variety of festivals including various Jazz Festivals, the Canadian Music Week and more. Americans can enjoy Coachella and SXSW amongst others. Europeans put together such a wide variety of music festivals each year that it’s impossible to count them. However, in the last few years many music enthusiasts have started to realize that many of those festivals are more of a marketing machine put together by big corporations rather than an event bringing people together. One of those music enthusiasts is Mark Levine, of Zeitgeist Enterprises in Houston, Texas. Levine has worked in the entertainment industry for over 15 years and his resume includes some of the biggest names in rock and roll.
Through his attendance at many renowned music festivals over the past 20 years, Levine has discovered that US-based music festivals are missing one very important aspect of festivals: community. Levine says that the experience he had at many European festivals is unlike anything found on American grounds and decided to take it upon himself to bring the European music festival recipe overseas in the States by creating FoolsFest, a music and art festival focused on bringing the audience together as a community through a multiple day festival in the heart of Texas.
What is FoolsFest?
As aforementioned, FoolsFest is described as a music and art festival. While the main component driving the festival will be music – through 2 amphitheater size stages, 2 smaller tent stages and 2 club-sized stages – Levine is trying to incorporate other artistic elements in the mix in order to make it more than a place to go see concert. Attendees may run into stilt walkers, poi-dancers and jugglers on the festival grounds or even play arcades, visit a sculpture garden and take part in other active entertainment. Clothing and art vendors will be welcomed to exhibit on the festival grounds and attendees will have the possibility choose amongst various accommodation options (tent, tipi, hut, RVs and more).
FoolsFest is basically designed to be an entertainment overload for music fans, providing a unique environment for everyone to come together as a community and share the experience collectively.
A Kickstarter Project
Due to the unique nature of the project – a festival created by the people for the people, Levine has had little luck with investors and subsequently decided to take the project to Kickstarter. This approach is meant to get the financial support from individuals who will get the most out of the festival and who will be experiencing what their financial pledge has built:
FoolsFest is the peoples’ festival. It is a festival for the individual. One built upon the essence of creating a judge free community; a community that represents the people in attendance looking to be amazed by a unique environment while expanding their musical horizons.
You can pledge as little as $1, for which you will get updates, special announcements and other freebies related to FoolsFest. If on the other hand you really want to get invested in the project, you are welcomed to pledge amounts ranging from $10 to $10,000. Each pledge will allow you to be a part of the festival in various ways and receive VIP tickets, access to a launch party, freebies, your name on a permanent fixture on a path leading to the festival grounds and much more.
Want to be part of it?
If you are interested in joining the FoolsFest community and pledging for the amount, make sure to head over to Levine’s Kickstarter page before August 20th, the deadline for the Kickstarter campaign. As of July 23rd, FoolsFest has 92 backers who have collectively pledged $18,159. There are 27 days to go to bring this amount up to $2,500,000 – the targeted goal.
You can make your pledge and learn more about the festival by clicking on this link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/649016477/foolsfest-annual-music-and-arts-festival-in-texas