The strategy behind Cincinnati's newest festival

If you are near Cincinnati, you may have seen the name "America's River Roots" pop up recently. It's the region's newest and grandest festival, and it's coming up quick. Something this big doesn't come out of nowhere. Read more to peek behind the curtain at the digital strategy behind this historic event.

The Company: America’s River Roots Festival

A festival celebrating the music, food, and culture of America’s river cities in honor of our nation’s 250th birthday.

Location: Cincinnati, OH, Covington, KY, Newport, KY

Marketers: Chris Horn, Marketing Director & Susan Fisher, Executive Director

A festival celebrating the music, food, and culture of America’s river cities in honor of our nation’s 250th birthday.

In less than a year, the banks of the Ohio River will transform into the ultimate four-day celebration—a music, food, and culture festival unlike anything this region has ever seen. America’s River Roots Festival will bring the sights, sounds, flavors, and riverboats of our river cities to life, right in the heart of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, as part of America’s 250th birthday festivities.

The Challenge: Launching a festival website—fast

Launching a festival from the ground up is like assembling IKEA furniture without instructions or an Allen wrench. America's River Roots needed a captivating, fully functioning website that would not only build awareness and sell tickets, but set the tone for what this festival would feel like: immersive and inspiring. And they needed it fast.

The newly assembled America's River Roots team got word that USDP was the right digital partner to bring aboard for this journey, and our team didn't waste any time getting to work on the plan, designs, and code needed.

The Strategy: A phased approach

When time is short and stakes are high, you don’t overthink—you prioritize. Working shoulder to shoulder, we devised a phased approach:

1. Launch the essentials first. Awareness and booking riverboat cruises were priority one as we approached the holiday season.
2. Architect for growth. We built a site that could scale for the future, adding features and content as the festival gets closer. 
3. Create a choose-your-own-adventure vibe. We designed the site to let visitors curate their festival experience—whether it’s chef tastings, music acts, riverboat cruises, or cultural events. Some free, some ticketed, all worth the trip. Just wait until you hear about the music acts coming to town!

The website serves as the landing spot for billboards, radio ads, social and email campaigns, digital ads, and more.

The Tactics: Collaboration and rapid design

Thanks to consistent collaboration and prioritization, the website launched in just two months. Here's how the team pulled it off:

• Rapid UX and design. We created templates that balanced beauty with functionality, building on the evolving event brand.
• Svelte / Sanity build. A state-of-the-art "headless" website development framework was used to deliver the best experience.
• Ticketing integration. We integrated and customized an advanced ticketing platform to make booking boat cruises a breeze.

The Results: Momentum is building

When the site launched on November 15, the festival hit the ground running:

• Site traffic has been fantastic and continues to build excitement
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars in riverboat cruise tickets have been sold in the first few weeks. Get'm while you can!
• Visitors are signing up for email announcements

Great work Chris and the team. We are grateful for the partnership. See their work in action and order your tickets today!

Get the full scoop on America's River Roots Festival