Cheap beer, crawfish and live bands: It’s time, once again, for LoyolaPalooza. This year, however, it will be bigger and with an environmental twist.
The University Programming Board and the Loyola University Community Action Program have joined forces to create GaiaPalooza. GaiaPalooza is combining the key elements of LUCAP’s GaiaFest and LoyolaPalooza to create an environmental music festival.
GaiaPalooza will be Friday, April 20, from 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in the Peace Quad.
Students can look forward to food, crafts and music from local vendors. The event is free, and all crafts and food will be available at a discounted student price.
GaiaFest has always focused on environmental issues and increasing awareness and is a celebration of the Earth. This year the main focus is the Wetlands, with a percentage of all vendor proceeds being donated to the Gulf Restoration Network.
“GaiaPalooza is really a chance for students to not only become aware of the problem but become educated on solutions,” said Sunshine Bond, Spanish junior and co-chairperson of LUCAP’s Environmental Action Program. Bond hopes that GaiaPalooza will draw not only Loyola students but also members of the surrounding community.
Students should bring their IDs so they can receive discounts on crafts such as lamps made of recycled Mardi Gras beads and food from Jacques-Imo’s sister company, Crabby Jack’s. The majority of the food and craft vendors are local, and many are non-profit organizations using environmentally friendly materials.
GaiaPalooza will feature Voice of the Wetlands Allstars, which is comprised of some of the Louisiana’s most notable and Grammy Award-winning musicians including Waylon Thibodeaux, Johnny Vidacovich and George Porter Jr. These artists came together in early 2005, before Hurricane Katrina, and recorded an album to raise awareness on the South’s coastal erosion. Sales of this and their other albums go directly back into saving the Wetlands.
Other local bands include Billy Luso and the Restless Natives, Bonerama, Soul Project, Groovesect with Brent Rose and Big Jeff Harris and the Uppressors. There will also be speakers from UNO and several non-profit organizations.
Elliot Sanchez, political science junior, said, “UPB feels GaiaPalooza is the perfect combination of the GaiaFest message and the beer, bands, crawfish and fun of LoyolaPalooza.”
Depending on the response from the students and the community, GaiaFest and Loyolapalooza may remain a combined event. Bond hopes UPB’s extensive experience with large-scale event and party planning will help bring an even bigger crowd to LUCAP’s environmental cause.
Kate Rafferty can be reached at [email protected].
