By Mike Fordham
For a city as musically inclined as New York City, it’s surprising that it hosts only one giant music festival – the College Music Journal (CMJ) Music Marathon. That will change, however, come April, with the inaugural edition of the Green Apple Music Festival, scheduled to run Thursday, April 20 to Sunday, April 23.
The festival aims to raise awareness for the environment. “The goal is really to raise awareness for Earth Day,” said festival producer Peter Shapiro, it “was huge 15, 20 years ago, yet today if you look around, it’s not as visible as it used to be. Yet, the issues related to the environment are more pressing and more relevant than 20 years ago. I really felt there was a need to do something that highlighted Earth Day and made people more aware of it. I felt that maybe a music festival would be a way to reach a lot of people.”
Putting together a festival on this scale has not been easy. “Any time you do a first year thing, it’s very difficult,” Shapiro commented, “but we’re going to learn a lot, and it’s going to be pretty cool.” Most major venues in New York have come aboard, including the Bowery Ballroom, Irving Plaza, Blue Note and the Knitting Factory.
The festival kicks off with the Jammys, the annual award show for jamband/improvisational music. Over the course of the weekend, there will also be a film festival, various children’s events and a free daytime concert dubbed Earth Fair. The fair, which will take place outside of Grand Central Station, will have free music as well as tables run by environmental organizations.
“We’re trying to make it multi-faceted,” Shapiro said, “the real goal is simple. We’re not trying to push one issue. It’s just to raise the awareness of Earth Day overall, and we think that will hopefully benefit all the different issues.”
While the full schedule of artists has not yet been released, Shapiro promises musicians from all genres. Some of the participating artists include the New York Philharmonic, reggae legends Toots and the Maytals, fusion jazz masters Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, hardcore legends Avail, as well as Guster, Little Feat, and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.
For all the electricity used to power the concerts, the festival will purchase wind and energy credit, in addition to planting trees.
If all goes well, the Festival may expand to other cities next year.
(Chronicle Staff Photo)