The annual Coachella Music & Arts Festival is about to arrive! All lifestyle entrepreneurs know that first weekend of Coachella is always a celebrity marketing honeypot filled with VIP parties that provide endless opportunities for brands to connect with stars. Out of all the Coachella Weekend 1 parties, the top event all brands want to be a part of is taking place on Saturday: the annual Neon Carnival, headlined by the Levi’s® Brand.
Created by famed LA nightlife maven, Brent Bolthouse, the highly-anticipated Neon Carnival outdoors dance fête widely recognized as one of the most coveted after-parties of the year. Returning for its ninth consecutive year, Neon Carnival is breaking ground in a new location at the HITS Desert Park. Guests can expect new and exciting carnival style games and amusement park thrills, and Tequila Don Julio will be returning for their fourth consecutive year, providing guests with specialty Palomas.
Home Business Magazine had the chance to catch up with Neon Carnival founder Brent Bolthouse. The powerhouse nightlife entrepreneur was happy to share what sets this year’s Neon Carnival apart from past years’ events, what inspired him to create this opulent affair, and more:
HBM: What inspired you to create the renowned Neon Carnival?
Brent: “As the story goes, I did a party for the launch of a ride at Magic Mountain about 15 years ago. At that party, we closed down Magic Mountain and had DJ AM as our DJ. It was an amazing Hollywood party at Magic Mountain for 3 or 4 thousand people and it was so much fun! I just saw the euphoria on people’s faces and I thought to myself ‘God, I really need to do a party that sort of builds around games and rides!’
So then, when I was at Coachella and my friends (early Coachella, I think it was the second year) and people were looking for an after-party, I really started thinking that I needed to have a party after Coachella because the entire world was out there and we had nothing to do. So I came up with the idea of doing a carnival, built around a dance floor and that is how Neon Carnival came into existence.”
HBM: What sets Neon Carnival apart from other Coachella pre and post parties?
Brent: “Well, we are actually one of the very first parties that happened at Coachella. I think it was myself and Jeremy Scott who were the first people to do parties. Nobody was doing them yet. Jeremy may have done one the year prior, but I don’t remember. We actually always laugh with each other over who did it first. We’ve been doing this for a long long time and I think what makes Neon Carnival special is that it is this melting pot where I see friends from New York, London, Miami, Tokyo, LA – they all go to Coachella. You take 5 or 6 thousand people from all of those great cities and it brings together a bunch of individuals that know each other from all over the world.
Neon Carnival has evolved into this place where after the music festival, you can run into your friends, since when you’re at the festival everyone is seeing different bands and running around. We became this amazing melting pot where everyone gets together and can be on the dance floor having a great night. One of the things that makes Neon Carnival special is that it happens once a year–it doesn’t happen every weekend. Everyone is excited after having the best time all day seeing their favorite artists and were all sort of on a mini holiday. People take a 4-day weekend for Coachella, so we all have a blast.”
HBM: This year is at an all-new location! Could you tell us more about it? What inspired the change in venues?
Brent: “So we were at the Thermal airport for almost ten years and we basically out grew it and it came time for us to look for a venue that could accommodate all the people and parking. Last year we had to do off-site parking and people shuttled to the party on buses. We had a great relationship with the county and the air field out there and it was just time for us to graduate to a space that could accommodate all of our needs and give us the ability to have all guests park in one place, on one campus. By moving next door to HITS, we are anticipating it to be much easier and a much smoother flow.”
HBM: Levis Brand is back to headline the event this year. Why are they such a perfect brand partner for the event?
Brent: “You know, I always point to Levis when I sort of use analogies, because you kind of know what you’re going to get when you put on a pair of 501’s. You know you’re not trying to have skinny jeans or stretchy jeans. You know what you’re getting and you put those on because you know exactly what you’re going to get. I feel in some ways that’s what Neon Carnival is – you know there’s going to be nightlife DJ’s and not headlining artists. You really go there to dance and have a great time and that’s why you’re there.
We’ve become this thing that people kind of look to and anticipate, like ‘Ok, I don’t know what’s happening all weekend but I know when I get there were going to have fun.’ Levis is the perfect brand for us because it’s iconic and American. They work really well and we love being partners with them. They’re a great partner, they’re easy to work with, and they’re a fantastic brand–the team at Levis is just one of my all time favorites.”
HBM: What else can attendees expect at this year’s Neon Carnival?
Brent: “There are going to be some surprises this year but were not going to talk about them. It’s a new location. There’s going to be some additional new surprises, but I want that to unveil itself as people get there. It is different, it’s a different location and the set up is similar but not exactly the same. We were at the old location for almost 10 years so we’re very excited about the new change.”
Home Business Magazine will be attending and covering Neon Carnival 2018. Stay tuned for the exclusive inside look at the fête!
