5 Festivals Coming to FestForums 2026 to Talk About Their Epic 2025 Season
By: Holly Owen, FestForums | December 29th, 2025
Image: State of the Industry Panel at FestForums 12-14, 2025 | Featuring: ESSENCE Festival, Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, & Summerfest
1. Netflix Is A Joke Festival
Netflix Is A Joke Festival transformed Los Angeles into a comedy capital in 2024, presenting over 500 shows across 35 venues over 11 days (May 2-12). The biennial festival, a partnership between Netflix and Live Nation, featured over 400 comedians from legends like Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, and Larry David to rising stars performing across iconic venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Crypto.com Arena, the Comedy Store, and Laugh Factory. The festival introduced "Outside Joke," a festival-within-a-festival activation behind the Hollywood Palladium featuring roast battles, drag shows, trivia competitions, surprise stand-up lineups with major comedians dropping in, plus festival food, drinks, and Netflix-themed experiences. Major festival highlights included live-streamed events like The Roast of Tom Brady, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA (a six-episode live special), and Katt Williams' "Woke Foke" special at YouTube Theater—all broadcast live on Netflix.
Speaking at FestForums: Abbey Londer, Chief of Staff at Netflix is a Joke Fest
Coming to FestForums 2026 to talk about: Scaling multi-venue festival operations across an entire city, creating content for both live and streaming audiences simultaneously, and building festival experiences that extend beyond traditional venues.
2. Slamdance Film Festival
Slamdance celebrated its 31st year in 2025 with its historic move from Park City to Los Angeles. The festival showcased 113 independent films with budgets under $1 million, with 38% by BIPOC creators and 55% by female filmmakers. Major sponsors included Panasonic LUMIX, which provided hands-on workshops and camera demos to support emerging filmmakers with cutting-edge technology and production techniques. The festival also featured innovative programs like DIG (Digital, Interactive, Gaming) for experimental new media work and the Unstoppable program spotlighting creators with disabilities.
Speaking at FestForums: Peter Baxter, President & Co-Founder at Slamdance and Eddie Bernard, Marketing Consultant at Slamdance
Coming to FestForums 2026 to talk about: The state of independent film and navigating major festival transitions while maintaining artistic integrity.
3. SXSW (South by Southwest)
SXSW drew approximately 300,000 total participants in 2025. The festival featured dozens of major brand activations throughout downtown Austin, including FX's immersive "Alien: Earth" experience where attendees investigated a crashed spaceship, Hulu's Traveling Deli that recreated its series setting with free deli snacks and scratch-off tickets, and Whataburger's Museum of Art displaying over 200 fan-created artworks with a spicy ketchup ball pit. JBL served as Official Audio Partner with the JBL Campus and Sound Bodega activations, while Dubai's Museum of the Future offered cultural experiences and served viral Dubai chocolate. Paramount+ took over three floors at Clive Bar with themed experiences from shows like Yellowjackets and Gladiator II.
Speaking at FestForums: Stacie Cline, Music Festival Venues Manager at SXSW
Coming to FestForums 2026 to talk about: Operations and production of multi-format festivals and managing city-wide activations across multiple venues.
4. Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025, drawing over 165,000 attendees across three days in downtown Miami. The festival featured 170+ artists across eight stages including the Main Stage, RESISTANCE Megastructure,. Ultra partnered with Red Bull and Brightline to create "Next Stop: Ultra," transforming a festival-bound train into an immersive experience with beauty stations offering complimentary fairy hair extensions, face painting, and face gems, along with cocktails and the launch of Red Bull's new Spring Edition flavor. The festival's Eco Village provided educational sustainability activations and hands-on learning experiences. Ultra earned the "Greener Festival" certification by partnering with Clean Vibes to achieve 100% recycling acceptance for the fifth year running, and had nature-based glass recycling that transformed festival waste into sand for coastal restoration and flood mitigation in Florida.
Speaking at FestForums: Vivian Belzaguy, Director of Sustainability at Ultra Music Festival
Coming to FestForums 2026 to talk about: Achieving Greener Festival certification, 100% recycling acceptance, and innovative waste-to-sand coastal restoration programs.
5. Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival
Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2025, spanning three weekends across Hawai'i Island, Maui, and O'ahu at luxury resort locations. The festival brought together over 150 internationally renowned chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, and wine producers for signature experiences including the World of Wagyu, Wine & Whiskey grand tasting and Southern Seafood Sunday brunch hosted by celebrity chef Aarón Sánchez on Kā'anapali Beach. The festival launched a new FEAST Summit featuring 55 speakers across 11 discussion panels, plus a pitch competition and food innovation marketplace. All participating chefs were required to use at least one locally grown, raised, or caught Hawaiian ingredient, directly connecting local farmers, ranchers, and fishermen with thousands of attendees.
Speaking at FestForums: Denise Yamaguchi, Founder& CEO of Hawai’i Food & Wine Festival
Coming to FestForums 2026 to talk about: Connecting culinary tourism with agricultural sustainability and building multi-island festival operations.
Want to learn and connect with more festivals? FestForums is the leading B2B live conference gathering for festival organizers and industry leaders. The 9th iteration will be held February 11-13, 2026 in Santa Barbara, CA.
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