Fostering environmental and community wellness through the power of live music, Earthday Everyday seeks to serve as a low-waste, high-impact festival that invites the community to envision and plan for a more sustainable future. While the officially sanctioned Earth Day may have already passed on Apr. 22, Earthday Everyday reminds us that protecting the planet requires an ongoing commitment to more ethical practices year-round.
Earthday Everyday was launched in 2022 as the flagship event of Afterglo, an event production company co-founded by Izzy Morrow and Zeina Khalife as a project for UGA’s Music Business Program.
“We were inspired to create Earthday not only by the amount of waste created at festivals, but by the power that live music environments can curate,” says Morrow. “We believe that live music has the unique power to empower and uplift individuals, regardless of their differences or beliefs, to come together and help make a positive impact in our community. We want to utilize this to empower our attendees at Earthday to make even just a small change in their lives to make a big change in our community.”
Using its platform to inspire positive change, the majority of Afterglo’s events raise both visibility and funds for different causes, such as a recent Valentine’s Day-themed rave benefiting The Cottage and a fairy-themed techno night that provided aid to families in Gaza. This year, Earthday Everyday will donate a portion of proceeds to the Athens Land Trust, a nonprofit with the mission of “preserving, protecting, and strengthening the fabric of the community through education and the stewardship of land for purposes of affordable housing, conservation, agriculture, and economic development.”
Earthday Everyday leads by example to challenge the norms of large-scale events. Recognizing that the most significant source of waste is often cans, bottles and plastic cups failing to be reused or properly recycled, organizers plan to provide compostable cups at the bar, as well as compostable utensils for food vendors at the festival. Morrow also points out how the simple act of providing bins with clear signage for compost, recycling and trash can significantly cut down on waste at venues.
“I think the biggest thing festivals can do for sustainability is directing all of the positive energy from a community towards a goal,” says Morrow. “We’ll be doing that by raising money for Athens Land Trust, garnering petition signatures for various environmental causes and educating our attendees through workshops.”
Staying true to its roots, this year’s festival will warm up with a variety of educational workshops and healing arts activities throughout the afternoon before transitioning into a night of high-energy music representing the Athens and Atlanta scenes. Alongside yoga, meditation and ecology walks, workshops will offer crash courses in composting, tomato seed planting and invasive plant identification. In addition to performances by drag and flow artists, the festival will also include a market with Bear Hug Honey, Loving Botanicals, Urban Greenhouse, jewelry by Kat Littlepage, multi-media artwork by ing.bit designs, face painting by Kyra Horton and other local artists, food vendors and eco-friendly businesses.
Ranging from EDM, hip hop and punk to rock and roll, folk and funk, the festival’s multi-genre approach to booking aims to more fully represent the local music scene as a whole. This year’s music lineup includes Pinkest, Alien Funk Academy, Trvy & The Enemy, Rae & The Ragdolls, Liquid L, Cardynal & The Flock, Small, CatWolf, Fairiez, Commüne, SLZRD, Molly Tu Hott, Karezza, The Fergusons, Miss Lonely, Sheesh, Bernard, Sypharix, Know, Mac McComb, OS3, Lonelee, Ashtxn, low.again, LVNDNSEA, Izzy, Mannequin Party and Nancy Heiges.
“Going back to the theme of bringing community together, we really strive to bring different parts of the Athens music scene together into one place,” says Morrow. “Additionally, we always try to have a large part of female representation in our lineup and in most back-end parts of our festival, as we are women-run.”
As Afterglo continues to grow, organizers hope to further uplift artists through Afterglo Magazine, a recently launched blog available through its website (aftergloath.wixsite.com/afterglo) and Instagram (@afterglo.scenemag). The platform currently focuses on music and astrology, but has plans to collect community submissions and expand to covering visual artists, poets, writers and beyond.
WHO: Earthday Everyday
WHEN: Saturday, May 11, 2 p.m.–2 a.m.
WHERE: Southern Brewing Co.
HOW MUCH: $25 (adv.), $30
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