Diageo Fèis Ìle

Brief: Feis Ile is one of the world’s most revered whisky-festivals. A 10-day festival on the Isle of Islay, running for almost 40 years. Diageo asked Rogue Village to be their festival’s first agency to manage production and event management as the festival grew in scale and complexity. We were asked to look after event design/dressing, entertainment and food. This coupled with managing complex transportation & logistics, given its remote location and as they remain working distilleries throughout the live events. We delivered three festivals in four days at three different locations with short load-in and load-out periods.

Response: As a well-established and well-loved festival by both locals and international visitors, our role was not to be disruptive. Our first priority was take the production and logistical responsibilities from an already stretched Diageo team and allow them to focus on the customer experience and brand positioning. We were also responsible for increasing production values and elevating the customer experience through our extensive supplier networks.

We worked in close partnership with Diageo’s mainland, and localised distillery teams, over a 7 month period on the festival. Through detailed project management we ensured the complex logistics were managed carefully and task lists were suitably delegated and delivered on time. We ensured a slick onsite delivery of the event with several logistical improvements that allowed for smoother delivery than previous years. We were able to elevate the quality of live music & entertainment, food, design & decor and print & signage. Perhaps most satisfying, many of Diageo’s team were finally able to enjoy the event and wondered how they had ever managed without us. We have been running Fèis Ìle for Diageo for 3 years now.