Weekend festival to celebrate environment through music

Earth Day comes a bit early this year with the annual Earth and Music Festival, hosted by the IU Student Environmental Action Coalition. The festival, which will take place Saturday in Dunn Meadow, is a chance for IU students and the Bloomington community to come together and celebrate the environment through activities and music. The admission-free event will run from 10:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. \nSenior Sarah Butler, coordinator of SEAC, said the nine bands performing throughout the day were chosen from a pool of about 30 applicants. Ranging from Blue Moon Revue and Alma Azul Blues Band to Soul Shine and Percival Potts, the groups were selected for their diversity. Entertainment other than the bands includes a DJ, techno spinner "Frazh." \nFamilies are also welcome at the festival, with special activities planned for children, like making watering cans out of reused and recycled materials and potting plants. \n"In the past, we've had music, plays, poetry; it's a great way to help educate and bring everyone together," Butler said.\nAt 6 p.m., featured speaker Andy Mahler will give a speech designed to inspire the audience to take positive action in protecting the forests of the Midwest. Mahler is co-founder of Heartwood, a regional forest activist group with an office in Bloomington. \nInformational booths set up around the meadow will also seek to educate, although not solely about environmental concerns. Senior Courtney Gavin, member of SEAC, said groups on and off campus pay a small fee to be in contact with the public all day. Bloomington organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Boxcar Books will have tables to let attendees know how they can offer support. IU groups, including the Indiana Student Public Interest Research Group and the Council for Environmental Stewardship, both with an interest in engaging the public to take action, will be tabling as well. \n"It's something to give back to IU and the community," Gavin said.\nIn case of uncooperative weather, the festival will be moved indoors to the Fine Arts Building. Bands will still play, in Fine Arts Room 015, and informational booths will be stationed in Room 102. Mahler will speak at 7 p.m. instead of 6 if the event is moved inside.\nEarth Day began in 1970 as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. More than 20 million people took part in teach-ins that April 22, and the event inspired lawmakers to pass clean air and water acts. \nA first-year SEAC member, senior Christina Pruett said the festival is the culmination of a year's worth of work for the SEAC. The club has a group of about 10 core members who take charge of planning and have been working for months to organize this event. The festival is an effort to extend the reach of environmentally concerned students to the local area. Pruett said Saturday will be a learning experience for Bloomington.\n"It's going to be a lot of fun and raise awareness about the environment in Bloomington," she said.