Gil Cunningham, president of Neste Live!, may be hard to beat when it comes to booking the largest number of festivals in the U.S. He handles 18 festivals including WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, all of the editions of Country Thunder (three in Canada and four in the U.S.) and Country Jam Colorado, along with booking entertainment for a number of fairs including the L.A. County Fair and Utah State Fair.
Cunningham has been working in the business since 1988. Neste Event Marketing was formed in 1995 as a corporate sponsorship and event marketing agency, later adding talent buying and event production services. Live Nation acquired a majority stake in the company in 2019 and established Neste Live!
“As a Live Nation joint venture, I know there are some people that still don’t understand – we’re outside the box, we’re talent buyers, not promoters,” Cunningham says. “Live Nation wanted a company that was in that soft ticket, fair, festival business. It made for a natural partnership and it’s been a major, positive advantage. Live Nation provides a lot of access to information … and basically handed over Country Jam and Headwaters Country Jam to produce. That was a great addition.”
Pollstar caught up with Cunningham – who has been awarded the Academy of Country Music Talent Buyer of the Year Award multiple times – to discuss talent buying, the country market and WE Fest’s 40th anniversary.
