So it turns out that at the moment, the climate could be doing better. There are some people out there trying to do something about that, including the folks at Climate Control Projects and Brian Eno’s EarthPercent with their latest endeavor: the first-ever The Big Climate Thing festival.
The inaugural event, intended to raise awareness and take action about the climate crisis, is set to go down at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium from July 16 to 18 and the lineup features The Roots, Haim, Khruangbin, The Flaming Lips, Gary Clark Jr., Courtney Barnett, Sheryl Crow, The Weather Station, Sunflower Bean, Bonny Light Horseman, Guster, Pom Pom Squad, and others.
JUST ANNOUNCED: The Big Climate Thing is happening at Forest Hills Stadium on September 16, 17, and 18. Join @khruangbin, @haimtheband, @theroots, @theflaminglips, @sherylcrow, @courtneymelba and more special guests at the party for the planet.
there. https://t.co/Ai6UEARfrH pic.twitter.com/IyI2FljjiV
— TheBigClimateThing (@bigclimatething) June 27, 2022
The Weather Station’s Tamara Lindeman told Rolling Stone, “I think music, along with all the cultural industries, have spent way too long sitting back on this issue. I believe music plays a primarily emotional role in people’s lives, and as such I think it has huge potential in pushing us to recognize our tangled emotions around this topic. When I imagine a stadium full of people coming together for a climate event centered on music, what I imagine is an enormous opportunity to feel a solidarity that has been so missing here. I truly hope that an enormous in-person event can have some power to bring people together and create some common experience around climate, and push those in attendance to examine their climate feelings and push through them enough to act.”
Sunflower Bean’s Julia Cumming also notes, “I believe that music is one of the most powerful communication tools we have on this planet, way deeper than just words could ever express. Music has to power to influence people’s decisions by touching their hearts and relating to them on the human condition. We are all facing the same problem: this is all our home and it happens to be on fire. If we can figure out how to properly utilize music in this era of the climate crisis, I know more good could be done.”
More info about the festival, including ticket information, can be found at the Big Climate Thing website.