Justyn Cánovas is turning his idea of a good weekend into a festival business

Justyn Cánovas (LinkedIn) started in events at 16 and worked his way to the London 2012 Olympics. Now he’s turning his idea of a good weekend into a business. The South African-raised event designer is building MOC27 — the Motor, Outdoor & Camping Festival — around the UAE’s winter outdoor season.

The business depends on turning those weekend adventurers into festivalgoers. MOC27 combines an exhibition with entertainment that gives visitors a reason to stay. Exhibitors will be required to run live demonstrations, with visitors able to test equipment before buying — including pitching a rooftop tent or taking a 4x4 over sand with an instructor, according to its launch announcement (pdf). Cánovas estimates an initial investment of AED 4-5 mn, several times what he would normally start with. The first edition is scheduled for 14-17 January 2027.

First, he has to sell people on an event they haven’t experienced yet. Cánovas says the team spent roughly six months establishing the brand and adapting its European festival concept to the UAE.

Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of business questions just for fun. This week, we spoke with Cánovas, CEO and senior partner of MOC27 and JBCM Event Architects, about the economics of launching a festival and finding a daily rhythm when the hours keep changing. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

EnterpriseAM: Take us back to the beginning. How did you get from working as a technician to building an outdoor festival?

Justyn Cánovas (JC): My parents are Spanish, but I was born and raised in South Africa where there’s a big outdoor lifestyle. At about 16, I got into events and started as a technician. I dreamt of working on the Olympics and at London 2012, I managed to have a major role. I also moved into large-scale events like FIFA World Cups and Formula One, and festivals.

I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors. We saw an opportunity to create an environment where like-minded outdoor and adventure people could come together. We started similar programs in Europe, called Four Points Festivals. When I moved to the region with my family a few years ago, we saw the opportunity to do something similar here.

E: Why Dubai, and what makes you confident there’s a market for it?

JC: Dubai has a lot of lifestyle festivals, but we saw a gap in the market for outdoor adventure and camping. More families are looking at local travel now, and getting out of the city, particularly where there’s uncertainty around international travel.

E: How does the business model work — and how much does it take to get the first edition off the ground?

JC: Festivals are generally a high-risk environment. You’re counting on three main areas of revenue: visitors paying for tickets, sponsors, and exhibitors. Rather than having just a few of those components, we have everything: the exhibition, music, ticket-paying guests, and sponsors.

We’re going big on purpose. Normally, we’d look at about AED 1 mn to get everything started but for this, we’re probably four or five times that amount as an initial investment because it’s much bigger than normal.

E: What does Oryx Signature bring to the partnership?

JC: At JBCM Event Architects, we’re event designers, festival designers, and IP designers. We do the market research and build the concept. That’s our strength. When we come to a new region, we look for a partner with the same passion, but also deep local knowledge: suppliers, venues, laws, and an understanding of the market. The partnership is probably the most important thing in the entire business setup. We probably spend more time trying to find the right partner than looking for a venue.

E: What has Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism’s involvement meant in practice?

JC: They’ve become a major supporter and brought MOC27 onto the Dubai Shopping Festival calendar. They’re trying to attract families and get people to explore the UAE more and, after a number of conversations, they came on as our principal sponsor.

E: What happens after January?

JC: We intend to make it an annual festival and the highlight of the outdoor season in the UAE. We’re also developing two more MOC properties. One is MOC RV, focused on vans, caravans, and camping — a three-day festival with music and actual camping. The other is MOC Marine, for outdoor lifestyle on the water.

E: What takes up most of your day — and what’s been the hardest part of launching?

JC: My number one role is developing and looking after the brand. Every supplier and everyone working on marketing, media, production, artists, entertainment, and food needs to be in line with it. Our job is to make sure what’s selected fits.

In year one, more than half our time is spent meeting people face-to-face: local brands, suppliers, venues, government, police — everybody from a small exhibitor to the major brands. People think that if they advertise an event on social media, they’ll reach their market, but we’ve learnt it starts with meeting the players and building relationships.

E: Tell us about your morning routine. How does your day begin?

JC: I’m an early riser, although sometimes we have events happening late at night. First, a cup of coffee. Then I like to look through the day and identify when I need to be focused and on the ball, and when I can sit down and do admin.

I don’t believe you can run at 1,000% all day, every day. You have to be at your best when you need to be, and know when to relax. I like to understand my day before it starts, do the family routine if I can, and then let the day begin.

Events aren’t nine-to-five. Sometimes you’re up at 5am or finishing at 2am. You work weekends and holidays. If I’m on-site for three weeks for a major festival, there’s no morning routine. It’s a question of what we’re dealing with today and which big decisions need to be made.

E: How do you stay on top of so many moving parts without getting overwhelmed?

JC: I like the analogy of small stones and big stones in a jar. If you put the small stones in first, you won’t fit the big ones. It’s about highlighting the big things that have to be done today. I’ll often ask my team: is that a today problem or a tomorrow problem? We work to very firm deadlines. There’s no pushing the project to next week or next month. Sometimes there are 50 decisions in a day, but you have to make sure you’re making the right ones.

And you have to keep calm. If someone cancels your entire transport plan, how do we fix it? If a massive storm is coming, what do we do? You have to take it piece by piece and approach it calmly.

E: When the work is done, how do you disconnect?

JC: My absolute favorite is going for a ride on the motorbike. That’s my quick disconnection. For a longer break, I like to go camping, either solo or with the family. Go into the mountains or to the beach for two or three days and disconnect.

Justyn’s recommendations

A book he returns to: The Art of War. I know it’s a cliché, but read it as a business book. When you see “army,” think “company”; when you see “general,” think “CEO.” I probably read it once a year as I find it helps me look at a situation and understand the problem.

Best advice he’s received: Don’t make your dream your job. Make your job your dream. Find out what you’re good at and what you enjoy, then build that into your dream life. I realized I love doing events, so the goal became getting to the point where my job was the life I wanted.