If you were in a festival field, any gig or concert or even just listening to the radio in your kitchen, the love for Dolly following her passing on 25 August was everywhere.
As millions played ‘Jolene’ or swooned over ‘I Will Always Love You’, tributes poured in from politicians and the general public alike. She was everyone’s idol, a unifying voice and one of the last true celebrities. They simply don’t make them like Dolly anymore.
But tributes in many ways pose an interesting question, especially in a music industry that isn’t shy on capitalising on a legend’s legacy. Where is the line between respect and private reward?
We all remember Coachella 2012, when during a headline performance from Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg the two LA rappers were joined by a computer generated hologram of Tupac. This opened the door for others to question if other deceased superstars such as Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston could be brought to the stage again without their consent.
An artist’s passing sees their albums skyrocket up the charts and ‘best of’ albums released by major labels. Fans buy legacy merchandise, attend tribute tours and brands pay their respect through carefully curated public posts while the news is hot. If there’s money or PR to be made people will try make it, whatever the circumstances.
But this poses important ethical and moral questions. What is done in honest respect and adulation, or in financial reward?
These are questions DollyFest will have to think about. DollyFest will take place in Nashville and London across two consecutive weekends in 2027. The festival was originally penned for January 2026 to mark Dolly’s 80th birthday and planned to welcome her as both a performer and host. However, the weekenders have shifted to a celebration of a living legend to that of someone who’s no longer with us.
But at the end of the day any festival, whether DollyFest or otherwise, is a business that needs brand involvement. So how can festivals and brands partner up to get it right?
It’s a sensitive line that needs to be trodden carefully, and in our latest op-ed Hope O’Sulivan, festival and events director at Verve The Live Agency, shares how brands can do that and what they can learn from past misfires.
“It’s all taking and no giving – a snippet from Dolly Parton’s hit song ‘9 to 5’ that highlights exactly why her passing last month hit so hard. Catchy, relatable, but also grounded in working-class sentiment that, alongside her lifelong philanthropy and education initiatives, cemented her as a true People’s Champion.
Beyond social media posts, it can be hard for fans to pay their heroes a fitting tribute. For someone with Dolly Parton’s reach, channelling that love coherently in one place is almost impossible. The announcement of DollyFest, scheduled for next summer in London and Nashville, gives fans that platform. It also presents a great but delicate opportunity for brands.
DollyFest will, like all festivals, need brands. Sponsors can help fund and amplify it; food and drink stands can keep fans refreshed; merchandisers can give attendees something to take home. But in every other sense, DollyFest will not be like any other festival.
Brands that get involved are not simply supporting another summer event. They are helping facilitate the legacy of an icon. The acts will honour the music through tributes and covers, but Dolly was far more than that. She provided 300 million books to children worldwide, backed scholarships in her home county, funded paediatric and cancer research, championed environmentalism and stood as a staunch ally to the LGBTQ community. Fans will want those values felt throughout the festival.
Going back to that lyric – “it’s all taking and no giving” – is exactly the sentiment brands do not want attendees feeling. Any brand clearly there to sell a product will stand out immediately to a passionate and emotive crowd. Creative, authentic activations that tap into Dolly Parton’s spirit are essential for DollyFest to be the event fans want and she deserves.
Brands know buying a festival spot is no longer enough. Brilliant activations now integrate seamlessly into the atmosphere and elevate the experience. But artist-specific or value-led festivals are different: the audience is less broad, but often far more invested. These are fans who know the references, notice the details and can spot something lazy a mile off. Rather than giving people something everyone needs, brands need to provide something this fanbase really appreciates.
Take the tributes given to Dolly at Olivia Rodrigo’s women-led Daisy Chain Fields Festival. Sarah McLachlan called her the ‘OG matriarch’ while a full female line-up helped raise millions for charities supporting women’s, girls’ and labour rights. This made the festival feel rooted in Dolly’s values and offers a blueprint for what DollyFest could be.
This is not restricted to festivals, but equally residencies, gigs or wider brand partnerships. Lewis Capaldi’s partnership with counselling service BetterHelp felt credible because it followed his own public advocacy for mental health support, and later stories showed people seeking help after seeing the campaign.
Not all brands will be able to credibly claim the same values as a festival or artist, but that doesn’t mean they can’t participate authentically. Adidas drew on its genuine history with Oasis and 1990s Manchester football culture for a reunion-tour collection and pop-ups. Smirnoff’s partnership with Chase & Status also went beyond visibility, giving emerging DJs the chance to perform at Reading Festival through artists already known for championing new talent. In each case, the audience could see why the partners belonged together. Tapping into heritage and iconography is equally valid as matching value and purpose.
We’ve seen what happens when artists and festivals get it wrong. Stormzy’s McDonald’s collaboration drew backlash from fans who felt it conflicted with his activist profile. We’ve also seen festivals and brands distance themselves from artists who do not reflect their values; YE (formerly Kanye West) is an infamous recent example after Wireless cancelled their 2026 event due to political and sponsorship pressure over his headline booking.
Whatever the intent, audiences judge the whole relationship. Alignment has to be credible on both sides, not simply convenient at the point of sale.
For DollyFest, brands have plenty to play with. Dolly was the woman who joked that “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” Towering blonde wigs, rhinestone-studded outfits, butterfly emblems and all the glamour in-between are fair game for the right brands to use in design, merch and products. The trick is to treat those cues as a starting point, not a costume. Recycled activations won’t just let fans down; they will deny creative teams the chance to use a star’s iconography properly.
The brands that resonate at value-led events aren’t the ones asking what they can take from the crowd, but what they can give back to it. For an artist whose legacy was built on glamour and generosity, that should be the brief: show up with heart, add something honest, and leave fans feeling like Dolly’s spirit was honoured, not borrowed.“
