When someone heads to a festival with family or friends, they’re immersing themselves in music, art, food, or other engaging experiences. And when they’re having a good time, they’ll want a memento to capture the experience. Make sure they can find a souvenir or merchandise that will help keep the memories and your brand alive.
Give attendees stylish products that won’t be tossed aside after they get home. You’ll help build loyalty to your festival and encourage them to attend other events. Read on to find festival merch ideas that attendees will actually want to keep.
Create Well-Designed Clothing
Festival attendees always love a fashionable T-shirt, sweatshirt, or stocking cap. And if you’re smart about design choices, you can ensure that the merch they buy or receive at your festival provides ample visibility for your brand.
Think of branded clothing as an opportunity to share your logo or event details with a new audience. While you don’t want to design something that’s too heavy-handed as a marketing tool, you do want to design something that represents your brand. Look to the colors, imagery, and text that define your event.
Go with small text or a logo on a shirt pocket as an understated way to showcase your brand. But offer other options where your brand is bigger and more visible. Thoughtful designs will earn someone’s interest, and they’ll be happy to add a hat, bandana, or hoodie from your festival to their permanent wardrobe.
Choose Merch with a Longer Lifespan
Cheap keychains, stickers, and wristbands aren’t exactly items you can use for very long. And if you’re selling or handing out these items at your festival, they’ll be tossed into the wastebasket quickly. You’ll get more mileage out of reusable merch that can help maintain visibility for your brand.
Instead, go with cork notebooks, drink holders, bucket hats, and tote bags. During an October film festival, an insulated tumbler featuring your brand name would be an ideal accessory. If you’re hosting an outdoor event in July, reusable water bottles will be a welcome addition to the merch lineup.
Additionally, you’ll appeal to sustainability-minded attendees when you offer reusable merch. They’ll appreciate your interest in providing products that last beyond the event. And you can emphasize your commitment to eco-friendly practices by going with recycled water bottles, organic cotton shirts, and hemp headwear.
Consider Bags Tailored to Your Event
Tote bags are always a practical choice when you’re looking for in-demand merch. As attendees load up on brochures and other materials from the festival, they’ll have an easy place to store them.
Once the event is over, they can take their tote bags home and use it to carry laptops, notebooks, or groceries. Whether you go with a tote bag, drawstring bag, or crossbody, you’ll have the perfect space to share your brand.
Consider the nature of your event as you determine which lightweight promotional bags are best. At festivals, a drawstring bag is light and easy to wear, and bags with a separate compartment for a drink or wallet will be especially appealing. When your bag is attractive and well-designed, you can feel confident it will be used long after the event has ended.
Introduce Small and Useful Merch
While clothing and bags will always be well-received at your event, not everything has to be large. Offer some smaller merch that you can give away to attendees easily.
Choose sunglasses stamped with your logo, high-quality vinyl stickers, clothing patches, and mini fans. These examples of merch are simple and fun choices to enhance the festival experience.
Just be mindful of when and where your festival occurs. Sunglasses and mini fans would make sense during a hot summer music festival, for instance. At a winter festival, go with touchscreen gloves, lip balm, beanies, or socks.
When small merch is well-matched to the festival’s tone and time of year, you’ll give attendees a practical item that enhances the experience. Items like high-quality wool socks or beanies will become permanent parts of attendees’ wardrobes.
Invest in Memorable Festival Merch
Remember that festival merch is more than a collection of trinkets or advertisements. When you invest in high-quality materials and thoughtful visuals, you can offer merch that will remain popular even after the event ends. Create attractive designs for T-shirts, tumblers, socks, and stickers to ensure attendees are eager to take them home.
With a smart approach to design, you can extend your brand’s visibility beyond the length of your festival.
