Shiny Hippies started at Bonnaroo 2024, somewhere between Tennessee dust, a packed RV from New York, and a mixed group of friends, friends-of-friends, and random college buddies who somehow all ended up on the same trip.

Our First Totem

Our totem was… honestly a disaster. Just a cardboard tube with a horse-head stuffed animal duct-taped to the top. Heavy. Inconvenient. Completely chaotic.
And for some reason, we named her Jenny. She became the running joke of the entire trip. Anytime we saw that ridiculous horse head bobbing above the crowd, we’d lose it laughing. But it also worked. Jenny became our beacon. The thing that always brought us back together.
I’ll never forget the moment during Seven Lions when me and a friend were searching everywhere for one of our “sidequest” friends. We looked around, scanning the crowd and suddenly we spotted him front left, holding Jenny high, absolutely vibing alone like he owned the place.
We yelled, we laughed, we sprinted over. Instant relief. Instant joy. The kind of reunion that only happens at festivals.
Community is everything. And the totem, as chaotic as it was helped build that.

We got comments all weekend. People pointing, laughing and taking photos. It was dumb, hilarious, and honestly magical. And the vibe stuck with me.

How Shiny Hippies Was Born

Over the next festivals, I kept thinking: How do we make that same chaotic, memory-making energy... but easier? Lighter? Cooler? Something literally anyone can build?
That’s how Shiny Hippies was born.
I want every person using our Totem Kit to have that, “there they are!” moment: the hype, the goofy joy, the creative freedom. I want people to make their own Jennys. Their friends’ faces. Inside jokes. Memes. Whatever feels like your festival story.
Every Shiny Hippie should be unique. Clever. Funny. Nostalgic. A little chaotic, in the best way.
And most importantly, a beacon that helps you find your people.