For all the little (and big) girls who dream of living in a Barbie world, fantasy is about to get one step closer to reality.
Earlier this month, Mattel joined forces with the fan convention company Mischief Management to put on Barbie Dream Fest, dubbed “the ultimate Barbie fan event.” The three-day Barbie extravaganza, which is set to take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in March 2026, will feature attractions for attendees young and old, including themed play zones, collector showcases, interactive activations, panels, and more.
The festival is designed to extend the long-lasting love for Barbie beyond the toy or screen, Melissa Anelli, founder and CEO of Mischief Management, told us, and it’s the latest high-profile event in the booming experiential marketing industry.
“It came out of conversations with our friends at Mattel about wanting to bring this incredibly rich and diverse world into the [real] world in a greater way,” Anelli said. “Let people step into it, let people touch it, let people live in the Barbie world for a little while.”
Life is plastic, it’s fantastic
Barbie Dream Fest isn’t the first time Barbie has gone to the real world (other than, you know, the entire plot of the movie). In 2023, around the time of the film premiere of Barbie, a pop-up Malibu Barbie Café came to New York City serving Barbie-inspired bites and offering plenty of merch and photo ops; it’s since popped up in cities including Houston, Austin, and San Diego. A Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse has periodically been available on Airbnb to book for overnight stays. And in 2022, an immersive experience, called World of Barbie, debuted in Toronto before touring across the US.
Anelli said that for Barbie Dream Fest, she’s aiming to adapt the traditional fan convention format and its appeal for the unique Barbie audience. Though plans are yet to be finalized, ideas for attractions so far include a job fair to represent Barbie’s many careers, as well as panels that explore Barbie’s impact on fashion and culture.
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“Most conventions historically have been more geared toward the male fan,” Anelli said. “Making sure that we are very intentional about including families is very different from other conventions.”
In addition to families, kidults are part of the Dream Fest target audience, and Mischief Management is aiming to incorporate influencers and panelists that appeal to the older-but-playful crowd. Since the brand has been around since 1959, Barbie has plenty of adult fans looking to engage with the IP. Beyond that, the kidult market as a whole is only growing: According to the research firm Circana, toy sales among adults 18 and older grew 12% in the first quarter of this year. Anelli is hoping that Dream Fest can serve as a place where adults can continue to indulge in such childlike joy.
“It is a very strong and beneficial thing to remind adults that there is a place for your imagination and a place for you in the world of play, that your life isn’t all taxes and mortgages,” Anelli said.
Outside of Barbie, Anelli has seen demand for experiential events continue to grow. It’s a strategy that several entertainment companies have employed to expand their IP, like Netflix’s popular Bridgerton-themed ball, Stranger Things theater lobby activation, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building escape-room extravaganza, and a re-created apartment for And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City spinoff series. As experiential expands, Anelli says it’s only getting better.
“People want more,” she said. “They want to be involved, and we want them to be involved, because we have found that when you make memorable experiences, memorable interactions, fun zones…when that starts to come together, it creates so much more than the sum of its parts.”
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