AMERICAN EXPRESS CONTINUES TO DELIVER UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES AT THE 2023 AMERICAN EXPRESS PRESENTS BST HYDE PARK
American Express will return to BST Hyde Park for a second year, offering a range of on-site benefits for both Cardmembers and festival goers attending the event. The festival, which features headliners including Lana Del Rey, BLACKPINK, Guns N’ Roses, P!nk, and Take That and more, will run from Friday 23 June to Sunday 9 July.
American Express has been delivering unforgettable experiences at music festivals across the globe for nearly a decade. This year, Amex is showing what’s old is new again at festivals across the US and UK. As part of BST Hyde Park, The Amex Experience returns with an exciting new makeover, guaranteed to transport festival goers back to the nineties and noughties. Inspired by the quintessential shopping mall of Y2K, The Amex Experience, is a haven of retro food, fashion, tech and beauty, all with a modern twist.
Amex Cardmembers also have access to a wealth of experiences and benefits across the festival, including an exclusive Cardmember discount of 5% off all purchases site wide (24 – 25 June, 30 – 2 July and 6 – 9 July)1, a complimentary re-usable water bottle that can be collected from any Amex kiosk2, and access to Cardmember-only merch lanes at merch tents3.
The Amex Experience at BST Hyde Park
Aaron Burke, VP Global Brand Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing at American Express, said: “We’re excited to return to American Express presents BST Hyde Park for a second year. It’s one of the key moments in the festival calendar and allows us to showcase a range of benefits to fans including unique experiences and Cardmember offers, as well as our exclusive BLACKPINK merchandise available onsite at The Amex Experience on Sunday 2 July. Today’s festival-going generation craves authenticity, nostalgia and in-the-moment experiences – a theme we’re reflecting across our Global festival partnerships this summer. The Amex Experience will immerse festival goers in some of the most popular cultural trends and activities from past decades.”
American Express’ relationship with BST Hyde Park was forged with AEG Europe’s Global Partnerships team, which oversees sponsorships across AEG’s global portfolio of assets. Building customised marketing programs for established and emerging brands, AEG Global Partnerships has created some of the most iconic brand partnerships in the entertainment industry.
The Amex Experience
The Amex Experience will offer “newstalgia” experiences for festival-goers such as a Y2K inspired Photo Lab, a retro arcade and a slushy bar.
On the ground floor, open to all festival goers, there will be:
- The Photo Lab: An epic photo experience where festival goers can capture themselves against an array of Y2K-themed backdrops each with an 80’s/90’s/00’s inspired aesthetic before customising with stickers and printing their picture to take home as a souvenir.
- Arcade City: A favourite noughties past-time with some modern additions, festival goers can play games including Pacman, Space Invaders and Guitar Hero4
- Customised Store: Festival goers can get the ultimate noughties look with bucket hats available to purchase and personalise on site, in addition to exclusive merchandise.
On an exclusive Mezzanine level, for Cardmembers and up to three of their guests, there will be:
- Club Soda Cocktail Bar: Cardmembers and their guests get access to an exclusive bar, serving classic cocktails as well as an iconic noughties classic; slushies. There will also be a slushy bar open to all festival goers.
- Y2K Food Court: Cardmembers and their guests can tuck into a delicious array of food and snacks from small businesses, as well as a retro Pick-N-Mix station filled with nostalgic treats.
- Exclusive Mezzanine Viewing Platform: With amazing views over the Great Oak stage, Cardmembers and their guests can enjoy their drinks and the music with an extra special view.
- The Y2K Hair Bar (more below)
The Amex Experience can be found on the BST Hyde Park site map.
The Amex Experience: Hair Bar
Cardmembers and up to three of their guests at American Express presents BST Hyde Park will be able to visit the exclusive Y2K Hair Bar found in The Amex Experience on site. Those keen to put the finishing touch to their festival look will be able to choose from six nineties and noughties inspired hair styles. They will also be available to other festival goers at a kiosk during a pop-up happy hour.
The hair styles on offer have been inspired by designs created exclusively for Amex by celebrity hair stylist, Peter Lux. Ahead of American Express presents BST Hyde Park, Amex and Peter Lux collaborated on three of the summer’s hottest festival hair styles inspired by the Y2K era, including Space Buns, Colourful Crimps, and Spiky Zig Zags.
Exclusive BLACKPINK merch
Cardmembers who are fans of global superstars BLACKPINK are in luck with access to exclusive BLACKPINK merch on the day the band headlines the festival, Sunday 2 July. The merch will be available to Cardmembers onsite at BST Hyde Park in The Amex Experience.
VIP Summer Garden
In addition to the Amex Experience, American Express VIP Summer Garden ticket holders can experience premium bars, food outlets, and space away from the central festival crowds in a separate VIP garden.
Depop partnership
Community-powered fashion resale marketplace, Depop, and American Express have announced a collaboration with rising pop star Caity Baser, offering Depop users in the UK the opportunity to shop a curated edit of her Depop picks and festival looks, available on the Depop app and website.
The six-month partnership across the US and UK will see Depop and Amex collaborate with talent performing at headline festivals to bring their personal style to festival-goers worldwide and show them that what’s old can be new again.
Rising star Caity Baser is currently preparing for an exciting summer of new music and festivals, including a performance at American Express presents BST Hyde Park.
