The best events don’t just happen, they’re built piece by piece, person by person, until something greater than the sum of its parts comes to life.
For Josh Holtzman and Grace Vesneske, the founders of Twenty6 Productions, building meaningful events and experiences from the ground up is something they know better than anyone.
Born out of COVID’s uncertainty and Buffalo’s toughness, Twenty6 Productions grew from a simple idea. There was a gap nobody was filling, not just in logistics, booking, or marketing, but in the space that connects all of them.
“We felt there was a need for it in this market.” – Josh
Josh and Grace saw the need before anyone else did, and they built something to fill it. A true one-stop shop where a client can hand over their vision and trust that every single piece, from the artist on stage to the person picking up trash at the end of the night, will be taken care of with the same level of intention.
Twenty6 Productions is Buffalo’s premier full-service event production company, and chances are you’ve already enjoyed their work without knowing it.
They are the team producing this year’s Taste of Buffalo, one of the largest food festivals in the Northeast. They produce the Highmark and M&T Bank activations at Bills games, and the Step Out Buffalo markets that have become staple of the local community calendar. That is just scratching the surface of what they do.
If there is a major moment happening in Western New York or beyond, Josh and Grace are likely the ones making sure every single piece of it runs without a hitch.
Their careers have taken them through productions across the country and around the world, producing activations for organizations like the Coca-Cola, the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and M&T Bank. They have worked on events ranging from intimate local productions to national activations.
They are not people who dabble in big events. They are the people organizations call when everything has to be done right.
But it was Buffalo that shaped them, Buffalo that tested them, and Buffalo that ultimately made them who they are.
For five years, Josh and Grace produced Cobblestone Live Music and Arts Festival, a beloved annual event that took over Illinois Street in downtown Buffalo. At its peak, the festival closed down several blocks, operated four stages, and drew over 5,000 people a day. It became one of the most ambitious independent music festivals the city had ever seen, and it was built entirely from the ground up by two people who believed Buffalo deserved something like it. When the festival eventually ended, those same streets grew quiet again, and people noticed what was gone.
“You live and die by your reputation here.” – Josh
That accountability isn’t something they resent, it’s something they’ve built their entire business around. When you earn Buffalo’s trust, you earn something with real value. And Twenty6 Productions has earned it, growing entirely through word of mouth without ever spending a single dollar on advertising. The work has always spoken for itself.
That’s exactly why Buffalo Pro Soccer caught their attention.
“When we saw the idea of a professional soccer team right here in Buffalo, it felt like it was for us, by us.” – Josh
They are proud Bills fans and Sabres season ticket holders, and they know firsthand what it means to have a professional team to rally behind. That shared pride is exactly what makes them so excited about what Buffalo Pro Soccer can add to this city, because Buffalo’s sports community always has room to grow, and a professional soccer club doesn’t compete with what already exists here, it builds on it.
“It’s going to be nice to have another hometown team.” – Grace
Buffalo is a melting pot, and it always has been. For families whose culture was built around soccer long before they ever arrived here, other sports may not always feel like theirs to claim. Professional soccer changes that, giving something to everyone regardless of background, prior experiences, or how long they’ve called this city home.
“It’s not going to take anything away from this city. It’s only going to add to it.” – Grace
What Josh and Grace want to see in that stadium is the same thing they’ve spent their entire careers creating, a professional experience that feels woven into the fabric of and built from the city itself. Local art, local food, full accessibility, and a genuine sense of belonging from the moment you walk through the gate. As people who have produced events for tens of thousands, managed major sponsor relationships, and pulled off moments that seemed impossible, they understand better than most what it takes to make a venue feel less like a stadium and more like home.
Josh and Grace have seen what happens when Buffalo gets behind something. They’ve watched it play out with their own events through the slow build and the skepticism. Then comes the moment it finally clicks. The city realizes what it almost missed, and everything changes. The people who have spent their careers building Buffalo’s biggest moments, who have poured their reputations and their passion into this city, are already in Buffalo Pro Soccer’s corner.
Buffalo has always shown up for the things that matter, and Buffalo Pro Soccer is ready to be one of those things.
49 Illinois St.
Buffalo, NY 14203