Miva Day

Miva Day Festival — A mental health experience designed for engagement, not awareness

Problem

Young adults were not attending mental health events, despite high need, due to stigma and unengaging formats. Traditional formats—panels, seminars, resource fairs—created friction: • Felt clinical, formal, and emotionally heavy • Failed to resonate with modern, culturally-driven audiences • Required users to admit they needed help before attending Core failure: Mental health experiences were designed for awareness, not engagement, causing the most impacted audience (18–35) to avoid them entirely.

Primary User

Young adults (18–35) in modern music & creative culture • Festival-goers, artists, and community-driven individuals • Emotionally expressive, but resistant to clinical environments • More likely to engage through music, culture, and shared experience than formal support systems

Constraints

• No external funding — Fully reliant on sponsorships and partnerships • Venue dependency — Required alignment with an existing winery audience and brand • High operational complexity — Multi-day, multi-stage event with logistics across large physical space �� Safety & liability requirements — EMS, security, accessibility planning • Small team (10 people) — Founder-led execution across design, operations, partnerships • Stakeholder pressure — Venue pushed for format changes (2-day event, pricing concerns) These constraints required balancing: experience quality, safety, brand alignment, and financial risk.

Miva Day festival experience design

Options Considered

Option A — Traditional Mental Health Event Panels, speakers, workshops. Pros: Clear messaging, familiar format. Cons: Low engagement, high stigma. Option B — Hybrid Event Mix of education + light entertainment. Pros: Balanced approach. Cons: Still feels structured and forced. Option C — Digital Campaign Content, social media, awareness push. Pros: Scalable, lower risk. Cons: Lacks emotional connection and real-world impact. Option D — Culture-First Festival (Chosen) Design a music-driven experience where mental health is felt, not taught. Pros: High engagement potential, removes stigma through environment, aligns with target audience behavior. Cons: Risk of message dilution, high operational complexity.

Tradeoffs

• Celebration-first experience → Risk of minimizing mental health seriousness • Subtle messaging → Some users may miss the purpose entirely • Hosting at a winery → Potential conflict with mental health values (alcohol context) • Multi-day event (venue-driven) → Increased complexity and resource strain Strategy: Lower the barrier to entry → introduce awareness through experience.

Green Room & VIP Lounge — Backstage hospitality design for performers and partners

The Critical Decision: Postponement

10 days before launch, the event was postponed. Context: • Extreme heatwave conditions • High physical strain due to event layout • Safety risks for attendees and staff • Internal stakeholder conflicts with venue Options: Proceed as planned, scale down, or postpone. Decision: Prioritize safety and experience over momentum. Tradeoff: Financial loss, operational reset, risk to credibility. Outcome: Sponsors supported the decision, community trust increased, long-term vision preserved.

What Didn't Work

• Venue alignment broke down late in the process • Pricing and format disagreements impacted execution • Overextension as a single lead across all functions Key insight: Execution risk increases exponentially without full control of environment and resources.

Key Learnings

• Safety > momentum • Experience design requires operational control • Culture is a stronger entry point than instruction • Systems and infrastructure matter as much as vision • One person cannot scale complex experiences alone

Evolution

The problem with mental health engagement isn't awareness—it's how the experience is designed. By shifting from: • Instruction → Experience • Pressure → Discovery • Isolation → Community The event redefines how mental health can be introduced to modern audiences.