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A Fest That Invests
Monday Jul 24, 2006.
By Ben Rubenstein
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Perry Farrell may have started out with Porno for Pyros, but now he's more concerned with parks, people and politics. This year's Lollapalooza is one of the more community-friendly festivals yet, and nowhere is this more evident than the Causapalooza initiative. Austin-based festival organizers Capital Sports and Entertainment are overseeing an area of Grant Park that will help to educate festival-goers on many of the issues that should be important to them. Lollapalooza will cover the costs for several organizations to promote their campaigns, and you don't have to worry about being badgered for your beer money; soliciting will be prohibited. Who you can expect to see: The NRDC Action Fund An affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council, this environmental action group is leading the charge to reduce this country's reliance on oil. The Move America Beyond Oil campaign is already 80,000 strong, and if you sign the petition to G-Dub, you'll not only get a sense of satisfaction that you've done your part to improve America's self-sufficiency, but you'll also snag a free backpack. StopGlobalWarming.org This is pretty straightforward; SGW wants people to start acknowledging the "inconvenient truth" that is global warming. You may hear the term "virtual march" bandied about at this booth; don't worry, there are no cheesy cheers or armbands of solidarity involved. Heck, you don't even need to be wearing shoes. Music for America C3 Michael Franti once wrote, "If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics, I would tell you that the personal revolution is far more difficult, and is the first step in any revolution." Well, Music for America must've been listening, because its goal is to create many personal revolutions through the inspiring power of music. Through its many concert promotions and other creative events, MFA is creating the opportunity for young people to "reinvent progressive politics." (Surprisingly, this means more than simply putting a fist in the air when your favorite artist says "Fuck Bush!") Engineers for a Sustainable World You know all those engineer friends you had in college? Well, now they're working to save the resources you're so frivolously using (at least, the ones who aren't living it up in cushy government research jobs). ESW has all sorts of ideas about how to keep the world in clean water, food and shelter for the foreseeable future; plus they plan to have some cool solar panels at their booth. Parkways Foundation Of course, we can't forget Lollapalooza's biggest partner (and main beneficiary), Chicago's Parkways Foundation, which funds restoration projects and programs benefiting children and families in the city's most underserved neighborhoods. The relationship between the two began last year, with a portion of the proceeds ($400,000) dedicated to the foundation for several projects and a guarantee of $600,000 this year. This money will go towards a number of projects, including ongoing donations to the Alvin Ailey Dance Camp and day camp scholarships for families who can't afford them. New projects include the expansion of Haas Park in Logan Square and the development of a mobile recording studio that will travel around to different parks in the city. Organizers have also made a special effort to keep Grant Park green post-Lolla. Vendors will be strongly encouraged to recycle (and you'll know who's following Lolla's "Green Guidelines" by the special earth icons on the booths), as will patrons, who will be hard-pressed to walk more than a few seconds without bumping into a recycling container. Organizers are also buying "renewable energy credits" in an effort to offset the carbon dioxide that's produced to put on Lollapalooza. All this is done for one reason: to ensure that Chicago invites the festival back again and again. It seems like everyone involved will be happy if this relationship continues...and we'd be wise to keep Perry happy. You never know when he might return to his arson-obsessed ways. For more information on Causapalooza and the other environmentally-friendly projects at Lollapalooza, head to www.lollapalooza.com.
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