When the first-ever Landmark Music Festival was announced in April, I immediately took an interest in it’s development. The premise simple, but effective — in order to raise money to support the restoration and curation of the National Mall, The Trust for the National Mall would host a music festival to kick off a massive fundraising effort, the Landmark Campaign.
An ambitious idea, but one at the intersection of my interests–music and philanthropy–I had to see if they could put on a profitable, one-of-a-kind festival. But with so many music festivals crowding the music sphere, amongst many other obstacles, how would the Landmark Music Festival stand out, how would it succeed?
“It sometimes takes years of development to get these events into profitability,”says Bob Roux, Live Nation’s copresident of U.S. concerts. In the earlier days of U.S. festivals, it was easier for independent companies to build a festival on niche music, like jam bands or electronic-dance DJs. That’s not the case today. “There’s a lot more politics and a lot more investment to make something happen,” says Insomniac’s Rotella. (Rolling Stone, 2014)
The Cause
Landmark Music Festival kicks off [a] monumental national campaign to bring awareness and funds to America’s Front Yard — all in a single Festival weekend unlike any other. (landmarkfestival.org)
It’s All in the details
- Free tickets, including VIP! Landmark provided MANY opportunties for people to win tickets, through their own campaigns and affiliates (i.e. radio) leading up to the event. Luckily for me, I won a pair!
- Curated menu by Chef Jose Andres. Loved the mix of traditional and non-traditional “live event” food available, and the promotion the festival provided for local DC eats.
- #MakeYourMark Tent. In case you were unfamilar with the events cause, this fun setup had interactive info about the mall and the cause, while also serving as a lounge, flash tat distributor, a phone charging station, and photo booth!
- Space to breathe! The event was held at West Potomac Park, which had more than enough acreage for the reported 50,000 attendees to sprawl out. Of course crowds were tight directly in front of the stage, but you could easily take a few steps back to stand comfortably on the outskirts, with a great view of the performers.
“A” for Effort, “S” for Execution
- Despite a great menu, long (long) lines for food and drink definitely put a damper on the day for many festival goers.
@B_Serius lines, lines, lines some music. pic.twitter.com/UPwBo8Eea5
— LT Goodluck (@theguvna505) September 26, 2015
- Inclement weather. When it began to rain (which was not forecasted), conveniently, all the tents, booths, etc. closed down a bit early, and the few ponchos available from a vendor were quickly distributed and unavailable. The majority of the crowd (awaiting Drake) were left to vend on their own.
But really, it’s all about the music…
- Wale. My first performance of the day, Wale definitely got things going in a hurry. His set was all about showing love to the city that made him. He may (or may not) have had one too many before the set — things got weird at the end of the set as he ran into the crowd, and sproadically changed the set list as he went along, but overall Wale’s performance, an Wale himself, were endearing, entertaining, and infectious.
- Miguel. As much as I love his voice, records he’s written, his first album — I never really connected with 2015’s Wildheart and wasn’t familiar with many of the songs he performed; from a few looks around at the audience, there were many others who didn’t either. Nonetheless, he performed his heart out and who doesn’t love his voice?
- Drake. The below tweet pretty much covers it.
What I Want to See Next Year
As the Trust for the National Mall begins to plan for next year’s festival, they have to continue to cultivate an identity, specifically around the music. I was attracted to the bigger names (moreso based on genre rather than the mass appeal), however I had much less incentive to attend on Sunday which featured more niche acts.
From the looks of the attendance number (again, 50,000 people!) and the amount raised ($570,000), it seems the festival was a success! (Editor’s Note: I stand corrected, festival organizers had originally anticipated much larger crowds, and the profits were on the low end for music festivals, which often make millions. 10/5/15) Hopefully on to bigger and better — great to see the development of the DC music scene!