Revolve Festival A.K.A. Fyre Festival
If you looked at your Instagram, TikTok, or any form of social media this past weekend, you were probably bombarded with all things Coachella and Revolve Festival. There has been a ton of confusion about the Revolve festival, specifically how it is connected to the infamous Coachella. The truth is, it isn’t. As a part of Revolve’s marketing strategy, they put on a festival every year purposefully on the same weekend as Coachella in a neighboring area. The festival has a variety of free vendors, A-list music performances, and a ton of opportunities for content. However, it is invite-only. For the average influencer, Revolve will invite them and a plus one to attend the event and receive a two thousand dollar credit at the website to have the perfect desert fit. But, there’s a catch. In order to go, influencers must complete a number of deliverables. These include around ten Instagram feed posts, a number of Instagram stories, several Instagram reels and TikToks, and an integrated YouTube video. For most, these deliverables are definitely worth the coveted experience, as long as they make it to the festival.
Historically, the Revolve Festival is super successful. Revolve sees its peak in revenue in quarter two, unlike other clothing websites. Normally, Black Friday and other holiday sales offer the most sales for online brands, but not Revolve. Instead, they peak during the spring. More specifically, Coachella season. So, they decided to take advantage of this by having hundreds, if not thousands, of influencers promote their store. Revolve Festival has been consistently successful as an event and as a marketing scheme in the past. Attendees this year included Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner (and an area for 818), Remi Bader, as well as other celebrities and influencers. Performers included Jack Harlow and Post Malone.
Unlike in past years, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the festival this year. This year, there were a lot more attendees due to the hype of Coachella returning after Covid-19 cancellations. As a result, there were many issues getting to the Revolve Festival. In order to get to the event, those invited must meet a shuttle to take them to the grounds. There is no other way to get there, as no one is given the address. Attendees waited for the shuttles for hours upon hours, sweltering in the desert with no water. I have seen videos where attendees waited seven hours to get on a shuttle but never even made it. And when the buses finally arrived, everyone mobbed to get on. It was complete and utter chaos. Tons of influencers have flocked to TikTok to reveal these issues. As a result, the Revolve Festival has been compared to the infamous Fyre Festival and is in a lot of heat.
The Revolve team shut down these allegations by having a representative speak directly to E! News. The representative explained, "With an event of this magnitude, city regulations mandate an off-site location for guest check-in and parking and licensed shuttle transportation to and from the venue. The off-site lot was set up with guest parking, as well as rideshare drop-off and pickup access with added WIFI for car booking, restrooms, shade, water, medics, and security." Despite allegations, Revolve is sticking to the story that they did supply amenities but rather ran out sooner than expected. The representative concluded by saying, "We sincerely apologize to all the impacted guests," the representative adds. "We always strive to provide a great experience, and we promise to do better."
Despite these issues, Revolve has definitely promoted its name in the media by using these influencers. They have reached the masses through these various influencers with their own followings. I, for one, hope that Revolve fixes these mishaps next year for not only their reputation but for the experience of attendees who are supposed to create content for the brand. If their experience is negative, those deliverables lack genuineness.
