Rewind: Why festivals are the ultimate stage for brand nostalgia
With a summer dominated by a 90s music phenomenon, and Generations Z and A looking backwards in order to find their way, 'nostalgia' has been this year's watchword. But how best to harness this feeling? Damilola Onamusi, Head of Client Strategy & Delivery at Pulse, believes music festivals are the perfect stage.
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It seems as though we’re feeling nostalgic at every turn these days, from Pulp and Oasis being the soundtrack of our summer (and rumours of a relaunched Knebworth festival), to vintage football shirts and baggy jeans sales booming and, of course, the return of Topshop.
When times are difficult, brands across categories tap into a mood of ‘the good old days’. Whether that’s supermarket aisles filling with limited edition 90s-style packaging, retro brands rereleasing old snack favourites, or Britpop merch – including a 275% spike in UK sales of bucket hats.
Retro cues are showing up across brand campaigns, but one environment where nostalgia marketing feels most poignant is at music festivals.
Retro cues are showing up across brand campaigns, but one environment where nostalgia marketing feels most poignant is at music festivals. These offer collective experiences built on memory and rituals, making them the prime environment for brands to engage audiences through nostalgia.
But what does this look like and how can brands show up at festivals authentically?
Above: Liam and Noel Gallagher dominated the summer's music scene with the Oasis Live 25 reunion tour, brining back bucket hats and 90s nostalgia.
Tapping into the past
At the heart of nostalgia marketing is emotion. It offers access to a feeling that people want to hold on to. In a world that feels as though it’s moving faster than ever, audiences are drawn to nostalgia as it counters the inexorable march of time by providing comfort and familiarity. That might be through people or products that we once loved, like a football shirt they couldn’t afford as a kid but can now buy as an adult. Or through design cues, like limited-run retro packaging that sparks memories of afterschool snacks the second you see it on the shelf.
What makes nostalgia effective is that it doesn’t just revive the past but helps create new memories.
These moments go beyond products and trigger connection and happiness to a past era - one that the person pining for may not have ever experienced first-time round. What makes nostalgia effective is that it doesn’t just revive the past but helps create new memories. A brand releasing a retro capsule or limited-edition design isn’t about living in the past, it combines the familiar with the new in a way that feels reassuring yet fresh.
Festivals make the perfect context to amplify this sentiment. They are immersive and charged with cultural meaning and, unlike other touchpoints, festivals are multi-sensory environments where memories are made collectively, in an entirely different way to walking around a shopping centre. Music has a special way of anchoring memories and creating strong associations with times and places, with festivals already feeling nostalgic from the second you step foot through the gates. Put these factors together and you have the perfect context where brands can make nostalgia feel not only relevant but powerful.
Above: Brands such as Bacardi and 7-Eleven have used music festivals and nostalgic branding or activations to attract consumers.
Don’t look back in-authentically
However, festivals aren’t sponsorship platforms. Brands can’t just show up with a generic 90s activation and expect to reach audiences. People can instinctively tell the difference between a brand integrated into the experience and one that has just plastered a logo on a structure. So, execution and authenticity is key.
Brands shouldn’t transform themselves into retro throwbacks to fit in. The most effective activations strike a balance by reflecting what the brand is today, while weaving in nostalgic cues that spark recognition. There are plenty of ways to do this well and avoid seeming passé. For example, look at Barcadi’s Casa Barcadi activation at multiple festivals, which taps into the spontaneity of a retro Caribbean beach bar with colourful styling, multiple bars, photo moments, surprise dance performances and high-energy DJ sets.
Brands can’t just show up with a generic 90s activation and expect to reach audiences.
Or got2b at Mighty Hoopla and Pride on the Park, which helped bring back 2000s-style dance mats as part of an activation at Pride – bringing old school fun and gamification into a modern context. And 7-Eleven, which teamed up with Live Nation to deliver a nostalgia-driven brand activation at the pop-punk-themed When We Were Young, with the 7-Eleven Hangout and the 7-Eleven Stage.
Sometimes the simplest of elements can trigger the strongest of emotions. Think Polaroid-style photo opportunities, analogue games, vintage filters or playground-inspired activations like hopscotch. While seemingly low-effort, they can tap into nostalgia in ways that feel participatory rather than passive. These approaches work because they invite people to take part and not just walk past. They create memories tied to the festival experience rather than the product sample. And with festivals priming people to connect and share, the impact can last far longer than a single interaction.
Above: Using nostalgic games and objects might seem low-effort, but "can tap into nostalgia in ways that feel participatory rather than passive".
Bringing 2006 to 2026
Nostalgia won’t remain static, especially in brand marketing. Just as the 90s wave has dominated in recent years, the 2000s are returning – from cargo trousers to glitter eyeshadow.
At Coachella last year, drinks brand Poppi brought noughties house-party vibes to the desert with its retro Desert Kickback activation. Before long, the 2010s and 2020s will come around again and brands can continue the cycle for a new era.
Nostalgia won’t remain static, especially in brand marketing.
Festivals still remain one of the strongest platforms to tap into what’s next. They’re spaces where memory and belonging are heightened, and often where the cultural zeitgeist is most obvious. For brands, the opportunity is not just to borrow nostalgia but to help audiences experience it again, or even for the first time. By doing so they can create new, powerful memories that will stick with audiences well beyond the final set.
