Rockwell Helps New Festival with Set Design and Talent

The festival’s Hamageddon pig roaster was created by Charlie Smith of Sparseland Studios and his crew in Atlanta.

As ICFF took Manhattan by storm earlier this month, farther afield the first-ever Great GoogaMooga – a grassroots music, food, and drink festival – was held on May 19 and 20 in Prospect Park’s Neathermead Meadow in Brooklyn. Touted as an all-encompassing sensory experience, the show was run by Superfly Productions, the New Orleans-based creators of the Bonnaroo music festival, and featured approximately 67 food booths, 35 brewers, 30 winemakers, and 20 live music performances. Architect David Rockwell collaborated on much of the set design with Superfly Presents co-founder Jonathan Mayers. Drawing on Rockwell Group’s 25 years of experience working with the restaurant industry, the firm brought in talents such as Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver and chef Anthony Bourdain. Since the festival hopes to travel nationally and return to Prospect Park next year, Rockwell built portable structures meant to be easily dismantled, packed, and transported to the next location. Low-cost, eco-friendly, and found materials were translated into a vernacular channeling New York’s neighborhood storefronts and industrial buildings – with a touch of a old-timey circus vibe. Highlights included a dual-sided, 120-foot-long wine tent and a beer tent with beer-bottle chandeliers. While the performances and organization received mixed reviews, the design was, well, great.