A Digital Flurry of Holiday Hope

Underneath a canopy of twinkling lights and holiday cheer, Philadelphia’s Love park was transformed into a unique winter wonderland during the city’s annual Festival of Trees, a benefit for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Here, the Goodbeast team introduced a spark of interactive magic for the community, turning a holiday tradition into an immersive experience.

Making Snowflakes Social

The magic lived inside a sleek, web-based augmented reality (AR) application engineered for connection. At CHOP’s tree station, visitors scanned a unique QR code to instantly unlock the experience. Then, users snapped holiday selfies and typed out heartfelt messages of hope that were transformed into unique, digitally-drawn snowflakes launched virtually into the surrounding skies.

This environment became a social space where attendees could tap on floating snowflakes, read messages from their neighbors and watch the warmth of the community grow in real time, bringing smiles and wonder to each festival-goer.

The peak of the night? Swoop, the Philadelphia Eagles mascot, crashed the party. He made his own snowflake on the app and rallied the crowd, encouraging everyone to dive in and leave their mark as well.

Building a digital community

By turning a traditional holiday stroll into an interactive environment we intertwined the brand and digital engagement with the Philadelphia tradition.

It gave people a fun, meaningful reason to connect with CHOP, which gave them a space to share messages of hope, spreading joy to the universe. We captured emails from the crowd, turning casual attendees into a long-lasting digital community.

Reimagining Year Two

Building on the success of the 2024 and 2025 holiday seasons, we brought the concept back the following year with a heartfelt twist. For our third year, we adapted the AR experience for the hospital’s ongoing "I Heart CHOP" campaign, swapping winter snowflakes for digital hearts, and shifting the holiday theme into a celebration of love and support for the hospital's patients and families.