Once upon a time, perhaps a decade or so ago, Goafest was the annual pilgrimage for advertising, branding and communication professionals, brand mavens and creative dreamers.
It started with a bang as a mela of creativity, with the vibrant, rich, and pulsating energy of young professionals, who hoped that India’s advertising fraternity would find its moment of innovation, excitement, and inspiration.
Fast forward to today, and well, it’s more like an annual family reunion with a few additional members, and the marketers are still mostly absent. Everyone wears the same boring look, walk with the same briskness and jams the corridor of the venue smelling of staleness of schedule and expectations, occasionally sipping beer in otherwise sterile environment as they continue to explore and attempt to redefine the business directions, fending off the existential dread of AI and consultants stealing away the golden pie.
I say this with a heavy dose of nostalgia because I’ve been there. I have attended as a delegate, a winner, a sponsor and even as a journalist covering it with tinted glasses. My judgment is based on Goafest reporting in industry portals, a few magazines, and talking with a few attendees. I am open to getting people to comment and share their experiences.
Goafest has been around as long as IPL, and both have been as unpredictable and exciting as a rain delay in the middle of a final match. The initial magic, the promise of groundbreaking ideas, the “aha” moments during those fireside chats are all still on the menu, right? Well, almost.
Let’s be honest: Goafest has been steadily wearing a straitjacket of sameness. Good talks, debates, some boozy camaraderie, and maybe smoke some beer smoke. An attempt to stamp its authority as a leading spectacle of a tsunami of innovative ideas and creativity. However, it remained more “madness than envious marvel with the avalanche of awards coming faster than the sixes by Suryavanshi. And the business rivalries and self-interest have muffled the cheers a bit, as awards have become a ritual, a mere tick in the box for survival, rather than a genuine celebration of the spirit.
The industry’s leadership is ageing with time. The same set of balding, white-haired professionals are grappling with a rapidly changing business landscape, digital upheavals, social media storms, and shifts in consumer behaviour.
The industry is stuck in the last decade. No impact players stepping onto the field, no fresh faces leading the charge, just a tired, familiar troupe running the same plays. Innovation remains a distant dream—more like a mirage at the beach than an oasis of opportunity. However, let me be honest, I have heard some good things about this edition- that there was a serious attempt at a meaty discussion of relevance – it is different that the rain played a bit of spoilsport, and yes, the celebrity glamour quotient was kept high.
So, what’s next for Goafest? Is there a future?
Honestly, I sometimes wonder, but am optimistic that the festival can rediscover its lost charm if the business it represents finds another crest as it continues to evolve within the constraints of new challenges.
If you meet die-hard fans of Goafest, who have experienced it maturing with time, it’s time to reimagine and inject fresh energy, which at this stage seems like promising rain in the desert. And this year, the unusual monsoons didn’t help the festival.
Here, I promise to myself, as a not-so-old, jaded, or out-of-sync advertising professional, I might, just might, attend Goafest one more time —if I feel that the festival is ready to adopt one fearless new mantra: “Alive at that Moment”. Because if Goafest can embrace the chaos, the moment-to-moment spontaneity, and throw out the rulebook that prizes predictability of format and discussion, if it can be the new adventure park where they blindfold you to have a fresher experience, perhaps it can still hold onto its relevance.
As I sit here, waiting for the pre-monsoon rains, I pen my thoughts based on all the coverage of Goafest, which seems to be dwindling even in the industry portals. There are no controversies, no sparkling eyes noting the industry rediscoveries or some hidden stories brewing in the corners. The non-delegates fail to appreciate what they have missed, and that is a failure of the festival. The focus has shifted from advertising and marketing to survival, which is sad. It’s as if the industry has taken itself too seriously, maybe for the right reasons. However, the fun, the creative freedom, sheer excitement, and the joy of simply being innovative are missing. And so are the stories that took birth at Goafest.
Goafest’s future hangs in an uncharted balance—a legacy festival seeking a new pulse, a fresh beat that might breathe life into its wings. Or maybe it can learn to laugh again, dance again, and live again- be the festival it always promised to be.
So, I would make a plea, next year, Goafest, be the festival I remember, not the festival I’ve come to forget. Let’s see if you can surprise the industry, disrupt us, and most importantly, make us feel alive at that moment. Because, after all, isn’t that what advertising and marketing are truly about? Making people feel and think, not just award-winning slow burns or snoozefest panels.
I keep my nostalgic hopes high, not saying the earlier editions were the best, but hoping that Goafest will step out of its shadows and dazzle once more. But for now, I’ll just content myself with the memories of those good old days, and a hope that next year, Goafest would dare to be different, I’ll be there. Watching. Waiting. And maybe, just maybe, believing again.
Cheers to the festival of ideas, Innovation, and illusions- may it find its spark soon. Sometimes, you have to break the cart to rediscover the magic moments.
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