Last weekend, I had a blast at the inaugural
OZY Fusion Fest, a menagerie of music, food, pop culture and activism in the heart of Central Park. OZY
is one of many
magazines venturing into the live festival space—
New York Magazine holds the
Vulture Festival every year,
Entertainment Weekly is hosting its first-ever
Popfest in October, and
Complex is hosting its inaugural
ComplexCon in November. I’m investigating the motivations behind and trajectory of this trend for an upcoming article.
In advertising OZY Fusion Fest, OZY aggressively pushed forward the mantra “THINKING IS A LOST ART.” Indeed, the world is so diverse, yet many of us seem to be consuming news and information with even more discretion (read: prejudice), embracing echo chambers, thinking narrowly rather than openly. Life becomes most exciting in the form of a giant game of connect-the-dots, a quest for common ground, rather than for conflict or isolation.
In this vein, the OZY lineup was super eclectic; at one point, Senator Cory Booker was giving a talk about inequality on my left, Top Chef Alex Guarnaschelli was doing a dessert demo on my right, the
XQ Super School Movement was advocating for high-school reform behind me, and in front of me was neo-soul singer Andra Day belting her heart out onstage. It was reminiscent of
Pop-Up Magazine, except tailored for the quintessentially scatterbrained, idea-hungry OZY staff writers and audiences.
Tweet
Share