The weekend of Nov. 15, the sun shined over Dallas, Texas, as Sunniefest opened its doors for the very first time. Sunnie is a media and lifestyle brand stemming from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, and serves as a space for young Gen Zers to be creative and express themselves in the world. Think of everything you love about being a creative, curious young woman today, and Sunnie embodies all of that!
I had the awesome experience of attending the first ever Sunniefest on Nov. 15 at Pegasus Park with my friend Mariam, and nothing could have prepared us for all that was in store. The day was packed with keynote speakers, activities, and IRL experiences that really let us decompress and relax from a busy week as college students. I wanted to take in every moment of it, so here’s what it’s like to spend the day at Sunniefest 2025.
8 a.m.: Wake Up & Get Ready
I am not a morning person at all, but when it comes to a new adventure, I’ll be up before the sun comes up. My outfit was laid out the night before, so I got dressed and ready, then headed out to scoop up my partner-in-crime: Mariam!
9 a.m.: Drive to Dallas
The UNT campus is about an hour away from Pegasus Park, and baby, that Dallas traffic wasn’t playing any games with us. It was like everyone in the city knew we were heading to a huge event and decided to hop on the road to join us.
10.15 a.m: Arrived at Pegasus Park
After a long journey, we finally arrived at the venue. Once we saw the huge yellow Sunnie sign outside, we knew we were in the right place. As we walked down the pathway, we looked at the beautiful orange statues of women and girls like they were greeting us. Then, we grabbed a drink at the Dunkin caravan waiting right by the door — the Glow Getter refresher was insane.
10:30 a.m.: Check In
The stairs had the Sunniefest logo painted on it, and we climbed up to the check in table. From the moment we walked in, we noticed the e.l.f. Cosmetics and Coach activations waiting at the glass doors. I was about to lose my mind. After check-in, we grabbed our name tags, then took the elevator to the 12th floor, walking into a beautiful arrangement of white fluffy cloud couches on a purple stage.
11 a.m: Performance & Speakers
The experience started with a musical performance by Pressley and introductions from our hosts, Marley Dias and Raegan Revord. Then, we had three keynote panels:
- Untether yourself: This was a discussion with Sophie Flay and Kiernan Shipka about redefining what ambition looks like keeping meaningful friendships.
- Next-Gen Intelligence: Powered by You + AI: An amazing talk with Dr. Kasie Roberson and Neha Shukla about the impact of AI in our world, and what it’s going to become.
- A New Legacy: A talk with Chandler Kinney, Gabrielle Policano, Lexi Minetree, and Dai Time all about leaving your mark in the world, and their upcoming Prime Video series, Elle.
12.15 p.m: Lunch & Exploring
After the speakers, we went to the cafeteria to grab lunch — some of the crispiest chicken tenders I’ve ever had. Mariam and I had the opportunity to take some pictures and after we looked around.
We grabbed makeup caboodles from e.l.f. Cosmetics, made custom bookmarks with Coach, took professional photos with Invisalign, won lip gloss at the Victoria’s Secret claw machine, and took photos with my high school friend Angelina at the Purdue University booth.
1.30 p.m.: Breakout sessions
We were then split into groups, and our group rotated through three stations:
- Friendship session led by Dr. Sara Kuburic that talked about the ingredients to real, authentic friendships.
- Science by Sunnie Workshop presented in partnership with IF/THEN, where we learned about the art of scent-making.
- The CraftCore Collective was an arts and craft station, and I made a super cute travel journal.
4 p.m.: Panel & Closing
Our last panel talk was called A Winning Mindset, and we heard from Sloane Weinstein, Ashton Lansdell, and Brooke Johnson about staying positive through challenges and having the confidence to achieve your goals.
We closed out such an epic day with a performance by Francesca Tarantino and had one last wander around the venue.
5 p.m.: Headed back to Denton
It was a long day, but definitely an unreal experience. We left Dallas carrying bags upon bags of goodies, and even got enormous tote bags with so many gifts inside.
The ride back was endless yapping about unboxing our bags at home, editing the pictures and videos, and looking back on an unforgettable day.