Captivating 26 Million at First World Culture Fest in the U.S.

July 26, 2024

Objective

The World Culture Festival is held to bring people together through a celebration of diverse, global cultures, sharing messages of unity and joy. When the Art of Living Foundation, which sponsors the event, brought the fourth edition to the U.S. for the first time, it decided to host the experience at the nation’s capital, Washington, DC.

Creating the large-scale affair on the National Mall presented unique challenges and layers of complexity — specifically to logistics and infrastructure planning. Luckily, the foundation teamed up with Encore and its subsidiary brand Hargrove to bring the vibrant festival of cultures to life.

Solution

Producing an event of this scale required building out the entire infrastructure from scratch to span the event space’s 3,000,000 square feet, while navigating the National Mall’s rules, regulations and multiple permits. Seeing opportunities in every challenge, Encore and Hargrove flexed the full breadth of their capabilities:

Encore supported foundational services such as power and internet needs for in-person attendees and the live streaming broadcast with expansive technical infrastructure
Encore enhanced inclusion with remote, simultaneous ASL interpretation
Hargrove served as the general services contractor
Hargrove provided creative, design, fabrication,graphics, tenting, logistics and labor services, including over five acres of matrix flooring

Result

Leveraging its full scope of production services, the Encore umbrella of organizations delivered an unforgettable cultural extravaganza.

The event featured over 17,000 performers representing more than 180 countries around the world. Their breathtaking performances showcased incredible and diverse voices, talent and creativity on one central stage. It also engaged attendees with hands-on activities like workshops on meditation, culturally inspired crafts for kids and a wide array of cuisine.

Over the three days, the festival welcomed one million attendees with an additional 25 million viewers who watched the live stream, serving as a testament to the power of unity and the magic that Encore can create on a global stage.