March 28, 2024

Sweet Earth Arts and Music Festival

April 8, 2016
Celebrate Earth Day at NMC Q:

What’s free for everyone, features great music, poetry and art, and also includes a worm petting zoo?

A:

The Fifth Annual Sweet Earth Arts and Music Festival, an Earth Day celebration at Northwestern Michigan College’s Hagerty Center overlooking West Bay in Traverse City.

FESTIVAL FOUNDATION

Mara Penfil was a student majoring in freshwater studies and working in the Student Life Office at Northwestern Michigan College when she decided to try organizing some free events on campus.

"I noticed that there was lots of great music in the area, but that it was kind of limited to people who wanted to go to the bars, otherwise you didn’t get much of a chance to hear it," she explained.

She put together her first big event five years ago for Earth Day 2011; the inaugural event was called Dirt Fest and featured a live performance from singer Blake Elliott, who had just started to catch the attention of Traverse City audiences.

"It was actually one of the first big music events at NMC, which is, of course, a smaller college, so we usually just host things like lectures and small speakers," Penfil explained.

UPSCALED EVENT

That first year, roughly 150 people showed up for the event; this year, with it renamed and featuring a full lineup of music, Penfil is expecting to see more than 400 attendees.

"There’s been a steady growth, which is so great," she said.

The first fest was held at the health and science building on campus; the latest incarnation is going to be hosted at the Hagerty Center to accommodate the increased crowds. Also increased are the activities on the festival roster; there will be poetry and hip-hop/spoken word performances, an Earth Day learning lab, the Sweet Earth Artist Market, lots of local foods, a big door prize drawing – and, of course, music.

MORE MUSIC

Each year, more regional musicians are invited to perform and this year’s lineup may be the best yet. There will be live sets from harmonyfilled brother-sister duo Oh Brother Big Sister, vintage-meetscurrent Americana singer Charlie Millard, popular Ann Arbor band The Ragbirds, gospel singing group The Drinkard Sisters and, also from Ann Arbor, the funk/ soul band Third Coast Kings.

"There will also be a spokenword performance by NMC student Maya James, who founded the NMC Black Student Union," Penfil said, "and a hip-hop performance by Mark Wilson, who is on the council of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and who is known for his workshops empowering youth through hip-hop and poetry."

EATS AND ARTS

To complement those sweet sounds, food options will be offered by a range of local vendors, including Oryana Natural Food Coop, Light of Day Tea, Morsels, Great Lakes Potato Chips and Cherry Republic. And the artist market will feature an equally eclectic selection of earth-friendly products.

"The market will feature people like Sierra Bingham of Bear Earth Herbal, she’s bringing her herbal teas and salves, and Rowan Grey of Violet Star Clothing," Penfil said. "We’ll also have a metalsmith, jewelry, some painters; it’s all people who work with recycled materials and other things related to Earth Day, plus people who have an environmental business mindset."

And don’t forget to buy tickets for the door prize drawing, with swag up for grabs from some great vendors.

"Including Inhabitect, who are donating one of their great green roof dog houses!" Penfil shared.

REWARDING DAY

As if the above weren’t enough, attendees can also enjoy seed-ball making, an arts n’ crafts table using recyclable materials, a learning lab and that aforementioned worm petting zoo.

"The zoo is a project of Carter’s Compost," explained Penfil. "It’s a fun way to teach people about composting."

There will also be upcycled art from Scrap TC, interactive games about solar power from Seeds, and a "kale seeding," courtesy of Groundworks, so guests can take a kale plant home, an appropriate souvenir since this is a festival that’s really grown.

"This will be my last Sweet Earth Festival, as I’m leaving the area," Penfil said. "I’m moving back to Oak Park (near Detroit) to start my own herbal medicine company, but seeing an event that I started grow and expand as much as it has has been really rewarding."

The Fifth Annual will take place Saturday, Apr. 16 from 1–6pm at the Hagerty Center on the NMC Great Lakes Campus at 715 E. Front Street. Admission is free.

ALL ABOUT EARTH DAY!

- Earth Day is an annual spring celebration during which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for the planet’s natural resources and for environmental protection.

- The first official Earth Day took place on Apr. 22, 1970. 3 U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day as we know it today; the idea for a similar event started with peace activist John McConnell.

- Predictions from that first Earth Day in 1970 included impending mass starvation and widespread famine, the reduction of sunlight to Earth by half by 1985, the looming disappearance of crude oil and an 11-degree decrease in planet temperature by the year 2000.

- The 2016 Sweet Earth Fest at NMC is celebrating early; this year’s Earth Day actually falls on Apr. 22. 3 Some communities celebrate Earth Day for a full week to draw more attention to the planet and the cause.

- On Earth Day 2011, 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan; on Earth Day 2012, 100,000 people rode bikes in China to reduce CO2 emissions; in 2014, NASA participated in Earth Day by asking people to post a photo of themselves outdoors to social media with the #GlobalSelfie hashtag.

- Earth Day is now considered the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than 1 billion people each year.

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