The Intersection of Activism and Entertainment

Case Study:

Lollapalooza Tour /

Summary:

During the last year that Lollapalooza toured in 2003, founder Perry Farrell wanted to show audiences how important renewable energy is to everything in our lives. Over the course of a summer, thousands of concert-goers across America learned that renewables are, indeed, doable.

 
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Challenges:

One of the biggest challenges we were up against was competing for the attention of concert-goers. Because they were there to see the music, we decided to bring the lessons to the stage!

Strategy:

We decided the best path forward was to actually show Lolla’s audiences renewable energy in action, so we developed a plan to showcase different renewable energy technologies each day. We partnered with the Schatz Energy Research Center in Arcata, CA to demonstrate hydrogen fuel cell technology at every show. We did this by making smoothies for the crowd in a blender powered by fuel cell technology. We also worked with the National Biodiesel Board to power the 2nd stage entirely on 100% on biofuel. We also used the jumbotron screens to run an environmental trivia contest with questions linked to renewable energy, and in several cities, we used solar panels to power sound systems and DJ set-ups near the festival stage.

 
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Results:

We collected commitments from more than 15,000 people who agreed to make “renewables doable” by making changes in their own lives and by contacting their representatives. Cave In, one of the Festival Stage artists, was also featured on MTV as part of the program to promote renewable energy. While musicians like Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, and Indigo Girls had used biodiesel on tour in the past, Lollapalooza became the largest tour to date to power one of its stages on 100% biofuels.

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