Lollapalooza India Unites Global Icons, Local Talents & Leading Brands

Russell Wallach (RW): Tell us how Lollapalooza India evolved for its second year. What learnings did you take from last year to enhance this year’s experience?

Ashish Hemrajani (AH): Our inaugural year served as a testing ground after extensive research, ensuring we brought Lolla to India when we knew the country would be ready for its scale. Now, ​after experiencing the grandeur of Lolla India last year, fans returned with heightened expectations, and we delivered an unparalleled festival experience. 

Lolla India was a visual treat, blending the culture of the global Lolla brand with India through various elements, design techniques, and colors. Beyond these visual elements, the festival’s physical space featured stages, installations, onsite activations from brand partners and art displays that contributed to a vibrant experience beyond the music. Noteworthy installations at the festival included the Lolla Ferris Wheel, offering fans a panoramic 360-degree view of the festival, various engaging games, and the ‘Big Top & Small Top’ tents, which provided a comfortable retreat for fans to recharge in between sets.

As we look ahead, we’re continuing to find new ways to elevate the fan experience, enhancing offerings such as on-ground engagements, F&B and hospitality, parking, and seamless ingress management.

RW: Known as a multi-genre festival, Lolla India returned this year with global superstars like Sting, the Jonas Brothers, and Halsey, alongside homegrown talents like When Chai Met Toast and Parvaaz. How does a carefully curated lineup contribute to creating a diverse and inclusive experience for fans?

AH: Curating the lineup for Lolla India involves numerous moving parts and is the fruit of long months of labor. It keeps our teams occupied for nearly an entire year! Global touring routes, new sounds and performers, the Indian fan palate and appetite, and artists’ streaming popularity are key consideration factors. Lolla India 2024 was a summation of all of this, amplifying the exposure of global talent from various genres to Indian and Asian audiences and vice versa. Its sheer scale makes Lollapalooza the largest and most diverse music festival ever to enter India.

RW: Brands across categories like Budweiser, Nexa, Maybelline, Levi’s, CRED, and Johnnie Walker, among others, created head-turning, innovative experiences for fans. What makes brand activations successful and stand out with Indian fans?

AH: Live events have become integral to marketing strategies across India’s B2B, B2B2C, and B2C brands, reflecting a trend likely to persist as long brands want to align with their customer’s greatest passion – music.

Some of the biggest brands worldwide and India collaborated with Lolla India to curate integrated, immersive experiences and unforgettable moments that resonated with fans.

Budweiser Beats Energy Drink co-presented the main stage, BUDX, where headliners like the Jonas Brothers and Sting performed. Their ‘Brew District’ activation onsite brought fans immersive attractions like Bud’s iconic Ferris Wheel, a viewing deck, tattoo and hairstyling stations, arcade arenas, and more.

Johnnie Walker, also a co-presenting sponsor for Lollapalooza India, featured headliners Halsey and OneRepublic at The Walkers & Co. stage and lounge, featuring their refreshing non-alcoholic mixer combined interactivity and visually stunning displays created in collaboration with Aashna Malik.

NEXA, a co-presenting sponsor of Lollapalooza India, brought the NEXA Stage and Lounge to fans, featuring curated culinary experiences, front stage access, and more. NEXA also collaborated with renowned artist Anime, who added an urban touch by creating a graffiti art canvas that perfectly blends NEXA’s brand ethos with Lollapalooza India. 

Levi’s® returned triumphantly to Lollapalooza India 2024, offering festival-goers the chance to personalize their denim with limited-edition designs by renowned artists at the exclusive Levi’s® Tailorshop.

Maybelline New York brought fans the vibrant Makeup Playground offering Lolla Looks inspired by festival artists, alongside launching their new Tattoo Liner PLAY collection. 

CRED, the Indian-based rewards club, introduced The Claw Arcade at Lollapalooza India, offering their members exclusive chances to win rewards like top-ups, vouchers, watches, accessories and more using CRED coins earned through bill payments.

RW: This year, you introduced LollaforChange – a charity initiative that promotes action around sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility. What inspired LollaforChange? How did you identify these areas of impact and measure the effectiveness of your initiatives?

AH: Our charity initiative BookASmile spearheads pivotal principles of impact as part of the #LollaForChange initiative:

Sustainability: Urging festival-goers to make eco-conscious choices and positively impact the venue with initiatives like a zero-garbage festival, efforts to minimize waste through recycling, redistribution of excess food amongst underprivileged communities, and much more.  

Inclusivity: We worked with partner organizations to make the festival a safe space for individuals across the LGBTQIA+ community by educating staff, providing gender-neutral facilities, and offering on-ground assistance, embodying its commitment to inclusivity and equality for all festival-goers. Lollapalooza India is an equal stage for all.

Accessibility: We prioritized accessibility for all festival-goers, collaborating with disability support organizations to provide services like risers and wheelchair access, along with offering safe spaces and Sign Language Interpreters for hearing-impaired attendees.