SANTA MONICA PIER Some people recycle. Some drive fuel efficient vehicles. Organizers of the Green Apple Festival would rather rock to save the environment.
To celebrate Earth Day, an all-star line-up of acts will make the Santa Monica Pier ground zero for saving the planet on Sunday afternoon. Taj Mahal, Ziggy Marley and Juliette and the Licks headline the festival that will also include a number of non-profits all touting the need to take action to save the environment.
“My savage animal of a rock band is a force to be reckoned with,” said Juliette Lewis, lead singer of Juliette and the Licks. “We definitely won’t be doing an acoustic set [at the festival]. We’re going to do a muscular form or rock ‘n’ roll.”
While the festival is designed to entertain the masses, it has a more serious side as well.
Tim Donnelly, co-producer of the festival which will also hold shows in Washington D.C., New York, Miami, Chicago, Denver, Dallas and San Francisco, hopes events like these will help lead to solutions to problems plaguing the planet. The festival has invited groups including Heal the Bay and Santa Monica Baykeeper to set up booths in what’s been dubbed the eco-village to dispense information to the public. There will also be a number of “green” businesses plying their wares during the festival.
“We wanted natural settings first and foremost,” Donnelly said. “In New York City we picked Central Park. In Los Angeles we fell in love with the Santa Monica Pier. Doing something near the ocean attracted a lot of support.”
He said that the iconic nature of the pier and Santa Monica’s history of being on the cutting edge of the environmental movement cemented the organization’s choice. This will be the first year the festival has expanded to include a Los Angeles location.
“We really just want to raise awareness,” Donnelly said. “Santa Monica is a little different. The city is a shining example of what city government can do with environmental organizations. What happens here is a template for what can happen around the country. Things usually begin on the West Coast and later spread across the country.”
Donnelly said the Green Apple Festival, which got its start in NYC three years ago, partnered with the Earthday Network two years ago because it seemed like a logical fit. The Earthday Network is the driving force behind Earth Day and has been driving the green movement for decades.
The festival originally sprung from the mind of founder Peter Shapiro, a night-club owner in NYC, as a natural outgrowth of his own beliefs on the environment. His club, Wet Lands Preserve, had a long history of featuring acts that were ecologically minded.
“The roots of the festival started with the environmental awareness he had with the club,” Donnelly said. “(Shapiro) wanted the event to be inclusive rather than exclusive. He wanted the event to be free and to be held in a natural setting.”
Putting the festival together has occupied Donnelly and other organizers for the better part of the last six months. He said that putting the event together was like assembling a puzzle. Finding the right mix of acts and non-profits was a challenge, but he feels like the festival embodies the festival’s spirit.
“We just want to keep the ball moving,” said Donnelly. “We want to keep riding this green wave.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 18, 2008. Read the original PDF.