SXSW may be cancelled, but the commodification and commingling of multinational corporations and youth and street culture is assured to be alive and well in the COVID-19 era thanks to events like TRANSFER, the new virtual festival from NTWRK — GenZ’s answer to the Home Shopping Network.

The FootLocker, Live Nation, and Main Street Advisors-backed company is working with Edison Chen and his 3125c agency on styling the event. Street artists Futura 2000 is going to serve as the artistic director for the virtual festival slated to take place July 28 and 29, according to a statement from the company.

Image Credits: Futura 2000/Image courtesy of The NTWRK (opens in a new window)

The festival will feature 30 brands and artists pitching exclusive products across NTWRK’s distribution channels. The company is hoping as many 240,000 shoppers and 10 million viewers will show up for the event.

But NTWRK’s virtual festival is more than just a chance to shop til consumers virtually drop, it’s also going to be a conference featuring panels and interviews, along with virtual DJ sets and musical performances.

Futura 2000 will architect the visual experience and his business will sell branded merchandise in a virtual gift shop while Zack Bia will be the musical director and perform multimedia DJ sets as part of the event.

“I am excited to present TRANSFER alongside partner Aaron Levant [NTWRK CEO],” said Edison Chen.

“We will work together to curate a menu of moments, objects, and vibes to inspire and touch the many corners and pillars of our culture. Creatives from east and west will be selected to bring memories and excitement to touch all corners of youth culture lifestyle. We are happy to have a mix of the old school and new school with our artistic and musical directors, Futura 2000 and Zach Bia. We promise to bring you drops and content to blow minds,” Chen said.