WYSIWYG [Music, Food & Arts Festival]

WYSIWYG (pronounced wiz-ee-wig and meaning “what you see is what you get”) is a music, food, and arts festival with a simple mission: to shine a light on the continued best practices of our local farmers, food providers, and those contributing to the healthy existence of our living environment. The festival focuses on interactive participation between attendees, sponsors, artists, educators, breweries, restaurants, and other mission-driven brands all collaboratively contributing to the event’s programming in an effort to provide a greater perspective on our community’s relationship to the land, our food, and the arts.

We worked with a team of amazing people who are behind some of the country’s biggest music festivals (Bonnaroo, The Governors Ball, and Outside Lands to name a few) to design the brand from conception. We created a beautiful outdoor venue among the old growth woods near Burlington College. We paired Vermont’s best chefs and farmers together to produce meals using only locally sourced ingredients while a multitude of bands, speakers, and educators entertained throughout the day (including wonderful performances by the “Wys Kids” student bands). We developed partnerships with forward-thinking brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Healthy Living, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Magic Hat, and many more. We worked with our partners to create tasteful environmental design and branding opportunities, but more importantly to get involved and create programming like the “Farmstead Tent” where Healthy Living held classes about using a home garden to cook for your family (visit WYSIWYGfestival.com for more).

The event drew an incredibly engaged crowd full of people ready to enjoy and participate in a festival that connected to some of their most deeply held beliefs about community and the environment. It was truly an experience like we’ve never had before. The collaboration between farmers, chefs, artists, and other mission-driven brands resulted in many amazing moments that helped solidify the potential for the concept of the festival. Stay tuned, because we’ve got big plans for the next installment.