The Dreams Come True: Music & Arts Festival
Project Name: The Dreams Come True: Music & Arts Festival
Planned: Summer 2020
Role: Creative Director, Producer, Show Writer, Graphics, Character Performer
Overview: In July 2020, the DCT Music and Arts Festival was poised to bring the joys of a music festival trip with friends to the heart of the Disneyland Resort. This exclusive, invite-only event promised to take guests on a whimsical journey through the parks as attendees, donned their unique festival personalities, ready to explore, engage, and create unforgettable memories with one another. Though the music may be paused for now, stay tuned for you never know, the beat may still drop...
Planned: Summer 2020
Role: Creative Director, Producer, Show Writer, Graphics, Character Performer
Overview: In July 2020, the DCT Music and Arts Festival was poised to bring the joys of a music festival trip with friends to the heart of the Disneyland Resort. This exclusive, invite-only event promised to take guests on a whimsical journey through the parks as attendees, donned their unique festival personalities, ready to explore, engage, and create unforgettable memories with one another. Though the music may be paused for now, stay tuned for you never know, the beat may still drop...
A Festival of Pure Imagination
The ability of themed experiences to bring individuals together from across disasporatic friend groups to create cherished memories that last a lifetime is my favourite thing about what I do both in my work life. I love blending creativity, planning, and a touch of whimsy to transform ideas into unforgettable experiences and I find this often sneaks into my personal life.
In the summer of 2019, the spark for The DCT: Music and Arts Festival was ignited by a simple request. One of my best friends, Megan's, younger sister asked if we would all be down for day at Disneyland, but with one caveat—she wanted to DisneyBound in a unique, coordinated, and Instagram-worthy fashion. After some extensive brainstorming in the group chat we settled what had initially seemed like one of my more outlandish ideas: DisneyBounding as the iconic lands of Disneyland—Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland— but reimagined as if they were headed to a Coachella style music festival.
Once we got into the park that day the idea quickly ballooned into a farcical parody of Instagram/Vlogging culture and modern celebrity while also proving a fun and novel way of engaging with a place we had had the privilege of visiting so many times before. Soon we had friends reaching out in our DMs saying they wanted in the next time we did it, some even said they would fly in from the East Coast for it, and so the idea for an epic reunion of our friends was born.
In the summer of 2019, the spark for The DCT: Music and Arts Festival was ignited by a simple request. One of my best friends, Megan's, younger sister asked if we would all be down for day at Disneyland, but with one caveat—she wanted to DisneyBound in a unique, coordinated, and Instagram-worthy fashion. After some extensive brainstorming in the group chat we settled what had initially seemed like one of my more outlandish ideas: DisneyBounding as the iconic lands of Disneyland—Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland— but reimagined as if they were headed to a Coachella style music festival.
Once we got into the park that day the idea quickly ballooned into a farcical parody of Instagram/Vlogging culture and modern celebrity while also proving a fun and novel way of engaging with a place we had had the privilege of visiting so many times before. Soon we had friends reaching out in our DMs saying they wanted in the next time we did it, some even said they would fly in from the East Coast for it, and so the idea for an epic reunion of our friends was born.
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So... what is it?
With enthusiasm running high, Megan and I quickly set about developing an event that would bring our friends from all corners of California and beyond, together for a weekend of Disneyland Theme Park Magic.
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The Dreams Come True Music & Arts Festival, abbreviated DCT, would be a weekend long chosen family reunion in which guests would be encouraged to pick an inanimate Disney Parks Property (think lands, attractions, restaurants, retail locations, resorts etc.), develop a fictitious personality based on that place (think the animated series Hetalia) and then embody that persona for the course of the weekend while meeting and exploring the parks with new friends and acquaintances from across our many friend groups.
The weekend would begin on Friday with everyone doing the overnight experience checking in to the hotel, picking up their SWAG bags, and then enjoying an acoustic concert in the hotel gardens. From there Saturday would be "seeing" the many "musical artists" of Disneyland Park and Sunday would be doing the same at Disney California Adventure. |
On The Road to Anaheim
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In order to help bring The DCT to life we first set about crafting a unique brand identity including a new logo, brand colors, brand voice. From there, it quickly became all about putting together a website that, in partnership with our social media accounts, would provide our guests with their primary points of interaction with the festival in the months, weeks, and days leading up the festival.
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Our digital presence also heavily relied on interaction with some of the other fictional personalities that would be attending the festival and who would regularly engage with the prospective guests and festival social accounts while fully in character. After months of photoshoots and photoshopping, site development and discussing hotel blocks with various sites, the DCT launched to much fanfare and anticipation the first week of March 2020...
The Sun Will Come Out, Tom Morrow
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Despite strong initial interest and dozens of sign ups from interested friends and acquaintances across the country nobody was anticipating the devastating effects of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and the wide scale shutdowns it would cause. The Disneyland Resort closed its doors, travel came to a standstill, and the event was put on ice just as it was gaining momentum.
While the event may not have occurred, yet, I remain exceptionally grateful for the experience I gained even if the project did not get to see its production phase through to opening. Conversations with the other event organizers are ongoing and we do hope to one day bring DCT back though Changing regulations and rising costs have posed challenges the original event outline. Despite these obstacles, the passion and creativity behind the festival remain strong and we continue to believe that one day, this extraordinary event will come to life. |