We left the shop at 4 a.m., easing the RV onto the interstate in the dark and headed south. With our poster tubes, prints and a piñata in tow, we were officially Bonnaroo bound.

For seven years we’ve made the flatstock festival rounds, slangin’ prints and merch at music fests like SXSW, Bonnaroo, Forecastle, Bunbury, Pitchfork and MidPoint Music Festival.  We travel to these events not only to sell our wares, but to stay in tune with and immersed in a music scene that is distilled in its purest form in these highly charged environments.

Every festival is its own unique experience, each with individual characteristics—not unlike the fans that attend them—that help define and differentiate them from the rest. From a rural festival set on a farm in Middle-of-Nowhere, Tennessee like Bonnaroo to the ultimate urban festival experience in downtown Chicago like Pitchfork, each festival serves as its own micro climate of music culture, populated with the most devout music fans.

While there, our transactions are measured in more than dollars, as we use the opportunity to observe cultural markers, record trend observations and glean insights that help inform our quarterly trend reports. These trend reports are distributed throughout our organization and translated into actionable insights for clients, to help brands better position themselves to more authentically connect with their consumers.

Be sure to stay tuned for the our Bonnaroo trend report and find more photos from our trip to Bonnaroo here.