I’ve been thinking seriously about an eco-festival in New Orleans for about six months now. With the green movement gaining significant traction nationally, these environmentally friendly festivals have begun to pop up across the landscape. The concept for these festivals is fairly simple. You gather experts in fields related to sustainable living, green building practices, and alternative energy and provide a forum where they can share their knowledge and practical insight with the public. Successful eco-fests generally program a combination of hands-on exhibits, participatory workshops, lectures and energy neutral entertainment. The ultimate goal is to entertain and educate the general public, without having an impact on the immediate environment.
In December, my wife and I traveled back to my hometown of Kutztown Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with my family. While we were visiting I had the opportunity to speak with Archie Follweiler, the president of MAREA (Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association). MAREA is a non-profit group based in southeastern Pennsylvania, which programs regular educational workshops related to renewable energy and sustainable living with an annual eco-fair, The Pennsylvania Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Festival.
Archie started throwing the fest five years ago. Each year it has gotten bigger, more popular and more informative. There is a huge appetite for all things related to the environment right now. People are interested. That’s not to say that Archie doesn’t put a ton of time and effort into creating an informative festival. This year’s line-up includes over 100 presenters, weighing in on topics that range from community solar farms to cooking with hydrogen. A lot huge effort goes into making it all happen, but the rewards, a cleaner safer Earth, make it all worth it.
I passed the time on the long drive back to the bayou thinking about an energy festival in New Orleans. By the time I crossed the Mason-Dixon line, my mind was set and I had started planning the thing out in my head. Over the next six months I played with different ideas, scouted different locations and began setting up the non-profit corporation Gulf Coast Green Living.
Conceptually, I found it easier to address some of the things that would have to be different from the festival in PA, as well as those in other places. First and foremost, New Orleans has a culture and an appetite for community festivities unique unto herself. To have a festival in New Orleans presumes there will be some delicious eats and some funky music. Festivals occur on a weekly basis in this place and there are certain standards that need to be upheld. That being said, what needs to separate the Gulf Coast Green Living Festival from so many of the others is the eco-science-fair aspect of it. The science needs to be as big of a draw as the food and the music, which will be one of our great programming challenges.
Beyond the festival culture, we’re dealing with two totally different environments. Kempton Pennsylvania is a very rural town with one traffic signal, surrounded by rolling hills of scattered woods and farmland. The region faces a whole different set of environmental challenges. A festival in nola would have to focus on it’s own series of environmental issues that are unique to the region like coastal restoration, hurricane protection and the ongoing rebuilding of the entire gulf south.
As the idea took shape, I began recruiting some of my ingenious and creative friends to give me a hand with the planning. In June we officially incorporated, elected a founding board of directors and adopted bylaws. We intend to kick off the 1st Annual Gulf Coast Green Living Festival in June of 2010, but we’re going to need a ton of help getting there. So if you want to get involved with a cool community project on the ground level, drop us a line via e-mail charliebrown6@mac.com
We’re looking for anyone with an interest in any of the following:
- Renewable Energy
- Urban Farming
- Hurricane Protection & Preparedness
- Coastal Restoration
- Energy Efficient Transportation
- Green Design & Building
- Recycling
- Organic Lifestyles
- Community Gardening
- Non-profit Management
- Fundraising
- Event Planning
- Accounting
- Graphic Design
- Web Design
- Writing Content
- Video Production
- Editing
- Community Activism
