Picture this: A group of people who are dedicated to a certain lifestyle, spend hundreds –potentially thousands – of dollars on it every year, and whose main ethos is based around connecting with others on a deeper level. This isn’t an imaginary group. There are hundreds of thousands of these people in the US alone, not to mention the international market and no one has managed to harness their power yet.

So who are they??

Can you guess? Think Burning Man, Electric Forest, Electric Zoo… You got it, they’re music festivalgoers! With the worldwide explosive popularity of electronic dance music (EDM), festivals have taken off in a big way. Suddenly, everyone is buying spirit hoods and painting their faces with glow in the dark the paint and jumping up and down like crazy people.

While I can’t tell you why no one has succeeded in uniting this infinitely unitable group, I can point you to someone who I think just might have a chance. I’m pleased to introduce Tucker Gumber and his app FestEvo as this week’s Pick of the Crowd.

First of all, let’s talk about this video.

I love, love, love the (what I’m assuming is) purposely low-tech quality of this vid. It’s like an old-school infomercial wrapped in a weird educational video from the 90s, doused in a warm bath of raver love. Tucker’s energy is contagious and I don’t know about you but I was feeling like clicking that donate button by the time he was done.

So what does it offer?

FestEvo aims to be your hub for festivals, starting with before you even get there (car pools) and ending with your post-festival experience (letting you write reviews). In between, it can help you form your camp, figure out what’s going on where, and – this is my favorite part – put down a pin so your friends can find you in the sea of colorful, friendly folks that you’ve inevitably lost yourself in.

They’re also hoping to team up with Spotify to help you check out artists before you arrive and keep grooving on them after the fun is over. Basically, FestEvo wants to make your festival experience more organized, more fun, and, ultimately, a whole lot safer.

Donation perks

No matter how much you donate to FestEvo, you get the designation of “founding member.” That means you’ll be a beta tester (if you want) and have first access to registering your own FestEvo URL with your name. On top of that, you also get a FestEvo token for every five dollars you donate. Accumulate tokens to score FestEvo swag that’s created for festivalgoers by a seasoned festivalgoer: reusable water bottles, fanny packs, rechargeable batteries, and even those adorable spirit hoods.

If not you’re still not sold, check out this list of what “FestPros” do:

1. Plan ways to improve the experience of those around them.

2. Dance: There is no such thing as a bad dancer.

3. Buy reusable: Water bottles, glow wire, plate sets, and batteries.

4. Recycle: In the festival and back at camp.

5. Pick up trash when they see it. If we all did our part, festivals would be much cleaner.

6. Practice Self-Care: Eat food, drink water, and get some sleep!

7. Plan to see a variety of artists, not just headliners, leaving room for discovery.

8. Keep their phone charged (but only use their phone when necessary).

9. Have something that lights up at night so you can be seen.

10. Take care of the people around you, whether you know them or not.

Truth moment (and I say this completely not sarcastically): I’m feeling the PLUR. Head over to the FestEvo Indiegogo campaign and help make this neon colored dream a reality!

Photo & Video Credits

FestEvo