For nearly four decades, Zlatne Uste’s Golden Fest has turned the coldest weekend of the year into New York’s warmest celebration of music from the Balkans and beyond. The 39th edition, held January 17-18, 2025, welcomed a diverse and wide range of performers and fans—grandparents, toddlers, first-time ticket-buyers, and long-time devotees—proving that culture shared on a dance floor can bridge every age and background.
Golden Fest NYC has long enjoyed a loyal following among musicians and music fans of Balkan heritage from the New York area and around the country. In 2025, the festival was slated to return to its original January dates for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival team tasked SiPP Communications with raising awareness of the festival with a media relations campaign focused on the New York City area and to support the festival’s ticket sale efforts.
Our Approach
- Hyper-local, hyper-timely pitching – We positioned Golden Fest as “NYC’s cure to the winter blues” a post-holiday mood-booster that media could slot straight into “What’s On” line-ups.
- Listings first, features second – Festival details were immediately submitted to online event calendars, then the SiPP team focused on pitching music, culture and local reporters for features and event mentions.
- Friction-free press kits – B-roll and photos from past editions, a 2025 press release, and suggested social media captions made social sharing turnkey.
- Social-proof storylines – We highlighted the festival’s under-30 discount, joyful celebrations and charitable proceeds to frame it as both accessible and purposeful.
Coverage Highlights
This campaign strictly focused on earned-media opportunities, with no additional budget spent on advertising.
- NY1 “Things to Do” Weekend Planner online and TV segment
- Time Out New York
- FOX5 (WNYW)
- WNYC Gig Alert
- El País US
Campaign Results
- In just one month, SiPP Communications secured 38 broadcast, digital, and radio placements, delivering 46.5 million impressions across the NYC-area.
- The festival exceeded their ticket sale goals by 11% on Friday and 20% on Saturday, with a late-purchase surge coinciding with the final push of media coverage.
- The campaign results had an estimated publicity value of $623,358, a 24,834% return on investment.
