By Dinah Alobeid
Music and nature combined at WBOS’s 12th annual Earthfest on Saturday April 30. The rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands who attended the Hatch Shell for a day of environmental awareness, free live music, speeches and activities, in addition to food ranging from organic juice to fried dough.
Although Earth Day was on April 22, thousands of Massachusetts residents came out to observe the holiday, support the environment and be entertained by the collection of musical artists. The Wallflowers, Anna Nalick, Five for Fighting, Low Millions, Ari Hest and Carbon Leaf all joined in for the event.
Prior the show, members of the Wallflowers and Low Millions expressed excitement about performing in Boston at the event.
“Boston is a place that has so much pride, one of the greatest pleasures of performing in this city,” said Adam Cohen, lead singer for Low Millions, a Los Angeles-based band who has been together on-and-off for five years. Jakob Dylan, lead singer and guitarist for the Wallflowers, was dressed casually in all denim and wearing sunglasses before his performance despite the rain and cloudy weather.
“This is a very nice [event]. We have put in a lot of prep work for the album and it will be great to play some songs today,” Dylan said.
Janet Domenitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG), also asked the audience to do their part and make a difference in Massachusetts environmental issues. MASSPIRG is one of the state’s preeminent public interest advocacy organizations, according to the group’s Web site.
“We need to get [Gov. Mitt] Romney to clean up global warming pollution in Massachusetts,” Domenitz said, citing a plan called “2020.” The plan calls for all the global warming pollution to be cleaned up by the year 2020. “Call Gov. Romney on Monday morning and tell him yourself,” Domenitz said, before reciting Romney’s phone number to the audience.
Earthfest has been a staple of the Boston environmental culture for many years, providing information in a fun way to get people involved, from toddlers to senior citizens. Fans of the artists and the event came from all over the state to attend. “[Earthfest] is always awesome, they have the best groups here,” said Lexington resident Krithika Swaminathan. “I am very disappointed with the weather … I came for the Wallflowers and won’t be able to stay.”
Despite the fact Swaminathan had to leave, the inclement weather was generally not a deterrent, as the crowd grew as the day went on.
Another speaker, Stephen Pritchard, the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s acting commissioner, made a short speech in between acts encouraging the entire audience to clean up after themselves during the event, as well as to always be aware of not littering to do their part for the environment.
Northeastern middler Spanish major and president of the Students for Enivornmental Action, Kelly Muellman attended the event and volunteered as part of the WBOS clean-up crew.
“I was pretty impressed they were so active during the event,” Muellman said. “I stood in the VIP area with a bucket to make sure people threw out food waste separately and recycled.”
The event began in the early hours of the morning when 1,500 volunteers including Muellman pitched in to clean along the Charles River from Milford all the way down along the Esplanade to the Hatch Shell, Pritchard said.
Whole Foods Market gave new meaning to the word superhero, when their very own superhero “MaxMan,” a giant green plastic soda bottle. MaxMan walked around waving at children and danced to the music, repeating his motto, “I’m the recycling superhero, take care of the environment and you are the superhero.”
Some of the groups represented at Earthfest included the Boston Vegetarian Society, the Boston Green Space Alliance and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The environment was the main focus of the day, with all the groups having booths and representatives to discuss ways to be environmentally friendly and also to promote their organization’s purpose.
“It seems great, (there’s) lots of stuff happening,” said Danielle Duchaney, a junior political science major at UMASS-Boston. “I’m a vegetarian and there’s so much organic food here and information about it. Combine that with music and it’s just amazing.”
But it was the music that drew in the crowds. The Wallflowers’ new album, “Rebel, Sweetheart,” which will be released on May 24, is the band’s first LP in three years. The up-and-coming recording artist Nalick also recently performed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
The WBOS-run event was sponsored by Whole Foods Market and produced in conjuction with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“I think the rain is refreshing, but there are a lot less people than usual,” said Allston resident Scott Herron. “Four out of the five years I’ve attended it has rained. It’s always green and wet, a true ‘earth’ day.”
