The first ever Agenda Festival was held on Saturday in Long Beach, California.
After 14 years of producing business-to-business trade only experiences, the Agenda Long Beach show opened its doors to the public.
Over 15,000 people of all ages and interests showed up for the music and shopping experience across the skate, surf, street culture, food and art communities.
The event hosted over 500 pop-up shops and brand activations featuring Levi’s, Hurley, Champion, Converse, New Balance, Patagonia, Mitchell & Ness, adidas Skateboarding, Nixon, Herschel Supply Co., Stance, Poler, Rip N Dip, Staple, and RVCA, as well as the first ever “Dream Battles” live skate contest hosted by The Berrics and featuring Paul Rodriguez and PJ Ladd.
The main stage, presented by Hurley, included performances from Tyler, the Creator, Ludacris, Cam’ron, Lil Dicky, The Beat Junkies, YesJulz, and DJ House Shoes. The second stage, presented by Volcom and hosted by Burger Records, and featured performances from The Garden, Nobunny, No Parents, Fat Tony, and Cowgirl Clue. RVCA also brought in local bands, giving them a chance to perform at a crowded event.
Aaron Levant of Agenda said the goal behind the Agenda Festival was to create a “Blockbuster to Netflix” moment for the trade show model. With today’s evolving technology and media landscape, the trade show and retail industries are changing rapidly, and the consumer component was a way to try a new format.
The festival was also aimed to get a new generation of kids excited about the industry. Agenda offered free admission to retail floor staff from PacSun, Active Ride Shop, Zumiez, as well as many smaller surf and skate shops.
While some brands weren’t sure what to expect leading up to the event, all of the brands we spoke with on Saturday had positive feedback and thought it was a great addition to the tradeshow.
Check out photos from the Festival in the slideshow.
