NORTHERN NIGHTS x DIRTYBIRD CAMPOUT  2026

___ Creative Direction / Visual Identity / Event Marketing

Northern Nights began in 2013 at Cook’s Valley Campground, where the redwoods meet the South Fork of the Eel River on the Humboldt and Mendocino county line. Over more than a decade, the independently produced festival grew from a 3,500-person gathering into a 10,000-person Northern California institution, bringing together electronic music, art, camping, wellness and the culture of the Emerald Triangle in a setting that is inseparable from the festival itself.

Dirtybird came from a different corner of the same Northern California culture. Founded in San Francisco in 2005, the label built an international following around an irreverent take on underground house music and a community that extended far beyond its releases. In 2015, that community became Dirtybird Campout: part music festival, part adult summer camp, with DJs sharing the weekend with campers through games, activities, costumes and the kind of participatory rituals that turned Campout into one of Dirtybird’s defining experiences.

After joining forces for the first time in 2025, Northern Nights and Dirtybird Campout returned to Cook’s Valley in July 2026 for the second edition of their collaboration. The three-day festival brought both communities together under the redwoods with a lineup led by CloZee, Tape B, Walker & Royce b2b VNSSA, Hamdi, Justin Martin and LP Giobbi, alongside more than 80 artists across house, bass, garage, grime and live electronic music.

More than a conventional festival partnership, the collaboration brought together two independent worlds with deep roots in Northern California. Northern Nights contributed its connection to the river, redwoods and Emerald Triangle; Dirtybird brought two decades of Bay Area dance-music culture and the playful mythology of Campout. Together, they created something specific to the place: part underground music festival, part camping trip, part summer camp and part community gathering.

We developed the visual identity and creative direction for the 2026 edition, creating a system that could hold those worlds together without flattening either of them. Across a nine-month campaign, the identity moved through lineup announcements, digital communications, web, maps, schedules, signage, merchandise and print, eventually leaving the screen and becoming part of the festival itself.

Brand: Northern Nights
Company: Empire Records
Industry: Music / Festival Culture
Location: Northern California, USA

Marketing Director & Project Manager: Matt Whitlock
Creative Director: Chris Bernay
Associate Designer: Jon Bernay
Typography: Taylor Penton
Photography: Courtesy of Northern Nights

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