We're Being: Thailand's first mental health festival - for you, me and everyone we know.

My first task as the Creative Director at Love Frankie social impact agency was to launch a mental health festival in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Having no experience in launching a festival nor even feel remotely comfortable in places where crowds gather, I knew it was going to be a challenge I would never forget with plenty of lessons to be learned along the way. 

Despite mental health being one of my passion points, I wasn’t certain if I would be able to successfully accomplish it with satisfying results. Still, I marched on with a team I’ve never worked with and a brief that I didn’t think I was ready for. 

The result was “We’re Being เป็น อยู่ คือ (เรา)” festival that placed the topic of mental health and all its spectrums in the forefront of the conversation. The name of the festival, at first glance may seem like a simple play on words of “Well-Being” but in its spirit is the intention to create a safe space for everyone to come as they are to be who they want to be. 

Mental health in Thailand is something that is still tainted with taboo and is usually tucked away under other issues like addiction and abuse. What we aimed to do was to make mental health accessible to all — easy to swallow and therefore easy to digest. In my opinion, this was an opportunity to bring mental health to the mainstream where it belongs because it’s an issue that can effect anyone. So I made this goal my creative strategy that spanned across all creative materials.

This was the first-ever mental health festival in Thailand so we carefully crafted it with every intention to flip the script on how people feel and talk about mental health. We had sponsorships from prominent brands like Toms shoes, Maybelline, BDMS and many more. We created a program of over 80 workshops facilitated by all the top experts in mental health spanning across the last two weekends of March 2024.

We also got a chance to create a video to promote some specific workshops like this one below that was sponsored by Toms. Even though the budget was low, my creative ambition for it was high. This video was produced to promote a workshop called "Life's Footprints" which I drew inspiration from the nature of the workshop and Toms product itself. Beyond coming up with the creative idea, it was also an exciting experience to step up into the role of the director, wardrobe stylist and the editor for this as well.

I also had an opportunity to design a small interactive exhibition that wasn’t just inspired by the partnered brands, but also holds the ambition of reimagining what an invisible thing like mental health could look to eyes and feel to the touch. 

For example, this is our No-OK room that's sponsored by essential oils giant, Sabai Arom, that holds a lesson in the importance of self-soothing. Feeling no-ok? Immerse yourself into one of the lanterns to get a scent that instantly calms and uplifts - an instagram-worthy testament to the idea that yes, you can self-soothe and absolutely, it's empowering to be able to do so. This reframes mental discomfort as the norm of being human, not a monster that makes you its prey through placing the power to tackle these feelings into the participants' hands.

Another example is The Insomnia Room which we hoped would educate festival go-ers on the fundamental of good mental health: a good night sleep. It's an entire room packed with a mural done by me to advice people on the perfect environment for a good night sleep which includes everything from light, sound and temperature. This was sponsored by the sleep expert, BDMS and again, another Instagram-able moment with a side of education.

Next to the relevant element in the mural, I've placed frames filled with information on the perfect environment for a good night sleep all over the Insomnia Room so as attendees walk around, they'll find a wealth of information surround them.

The outcome of the festival exceeded all of our expectations, especially mine. We had over 2000 attendees over the 2 weekend period and countless positive feedback that tells us there's a need in the market for this kind of activation that supports all spectrums and aspects of mental health.

As the festival came to an end, I couldn't help but feel proud of what we as a team had accomplished and couldn't be more overjoyed that we've managed to push the perception and conversation surrounding mental health just a little further towards understanding, acceptance and awareness.