Photo by © Tim McG Photo & Video
Last year, Snowta NYE took the festival community by surprise when it suddenly released a killer lineup. And this year, this MinneSNOWTA-based festival has done the same. Snowta announced headliners Excision and Pretty Lights (Live) as well as Gucci Mane, Post Malone and Ganja White Night. But how did this festival, tucked in Minneapolis, a city that has a growing electronic scene, pave its way to the top? Festival Squad decided to have a chat with Zack Chazin, a partner and the talent buyer behind the festival, to find out how Snowta came to be the “little” festival that could.
Recognizing The Possibilities
Zack and the rest of the Snowta team began to realize that there was no electronic/hip-hop festival in Minnesota, even with a growing interest in the culture and scene. Rather than build off of other festivals in neighboring cities, Snowta took on the challenge to be unique and bring names that weren’t necessarily at every major summer festival. The organizers decided to go the independent route to carefully craft the perfect NYE celebration.
Chazin explained, “We aren’t a cookie cutter corporate festival that is booking headliners that are recycled through a dozen festivals a year. Snowta’s main objective is to be experiential. Our approach is to assemble a mind blowing lineup with jaw dropping activities. Hand picked and curated in house. We are fans of music first and foremost so every little detail that goes into our event is straight from our imagination. Whereas some and most festivals are booked and programmed through a corporate ladder, from the top down.With imagination and passion pushed to the side because there are financial constraints that are the main focus. We just book the shit and figure out how to make it work financially later.”
Snowta 2016 was born from this, and after rigorous years of planning, the inaugural 2016 festival felt like home to its attendees.
Going Big For 2017
After an overwhelming positive response in 2016 from the fans, Chazin and the Snowta team decided they needed to go bigger and better for NYE 2017. The knew that Excision needed to be on the bill because he was unable to make it in 2016. And the rest? “The rest of the lineup kind of just fell into place like a trippy/hard to describe puzzle.” Chazin said they wanted to turn heads this year, and with a lineup like the one below, they did exactly that.
What Makes Snowta NYE Different From Any Other NYE Festival?
Snowta prides itself in being more than just a festival. Snowta is an experience and makes sure that the festival goer has plenty to do besides get their groove on to some great tunes.
- Alien Laser Tag (we don’t know what that is, but we want to find out)
- Get your Squad together for a group of human bowling (how cool is that?)
- Test your skills in an arcade
- Send it on the snowboarding rail jam
- Live the good years in the skatepark
Whats Next for Snowta?
After two strong years of lineups for an infant festival, we had to ask Chazin, whats next? “Check back with me on this topic closer to the event and I may be at liberty to discuss the revolutionary additions coming to Snowta 2018.” Woah Minnesota, seems like there’s a lot coming your way.
SPOILER ALERT FOR 2017:
Chazin did let Festival Squad in on some pretty exclusive information. Excision’s Paradox team is curating the sound and lighting production for both days of the festival on main stage. So what does that mean? That means that every artist playing main stage will be rocking on 150k+ watts of PK sound… and yes, with all the video and lighting elements that come with the Paradox. Of course, the team will be saving a couple tricks for Excision’s 2017 send off and the ring of the New Year. Imagine what the Pretty Lights production will look like on top of the Paradox production. MIND = BLOWN.
Ready to grab your tickets? You can do so right here. See you there!