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FreshFest 2010: A Green Festival for the People

For Immediate Release: July 23, 2010

(Oakland, CA) – On August 14, 2010, youth-oriented social media platform Get Fresh, in collaboration with Grind for the Green, Conscious Youth Media Crew, Youth Movement Records, Livity Outernational Clothing, Global Exchange, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland Green Youth Media Arts Center and others, presents the 2010 FreshFest, a solar-powered eco-music festival which makes its East Bay debut in Oakland’s Mosswood Park.

FreshFest is a Green Festival for the people, bringing eco-sustainability and environmental awareness into an urban, community-oriented context. “We’re bringing back the old-school hip-hop concept of ‘fresh’ and adding an environmental, conscious twist to it,” says G4G co-founder and event organizer Zakiya Harris. “We’re basically saying, it’s fresh to be informed about environmental issues. Conscious lyrics are fresh, and so is organic, locally-grown produce and green fashion.”

Though targeted at youth, this all-ages event promises fun for the entire family. The FreshFest integrates eco-awareness and eco-education with entertainment, making learning about green practices, programs, and careers fun, while promoting sustainability through recycled materials, biodegradable foodware, and organic food. The event will feature a fresh food pavilion featuring locally-grown organic produce, hands-on
demonstrations, health and wellness activities, Fresh Kids Zone, Hip-Hop Competition, and concert.

Special guests include NY hip-hop legend Pete Rock, who performs a solar-powered two-hour DJ set, and host/M.C. Boots Riley of Oakland hip-hop legends the Coup. “I’m down with the whole green hip-hop concept,” said Rock. “Our people need knowledge of self, but we also need knowledge of the best sustainable practices in our urban communities.”

“As a West Oakland resident, I see what’s happening every day out here,” says Riley. “It’s amazing to see the green movement take root locally. People are doing things like community gardens which make a huge difference in quality-of-life issues. It’s really inspiring to see this awareness spread to the young people, who will be the ones to take this movement into the future, and spread the message for the next generation.”

Engaging both youth and community residents, FreshFest 2010 is a reminder that social justice and environmental justice begins with awareness of one’s environment. Combining eco-sustainability with conscious hip-hop, Harris says, “brings together the green world and the hip-hop world into one organic, progressive cultural movement. The hip-hop community is telling us, we’re ready to go green, and we’re not only listening,
we’re helping them get there with FreshFest.”

What: FreshFest 2010
When: August 14, 2010 12pm-6pm
Where: Mosswood Park, Oakland
Who: Hip-hop competition and concert; Youth Champion Awards; solar-powered DJ
set by Pete Rock; hosted by Boots Riley (The Coup/Street Sweeper Social Club); eco-
friendly clothing, food, and career fair; much more!
Why: Because it’s fresh

For more information, visit:
www.MyGetFresh.com
www.GrindFortheGreen.com
Media Contact: Zakiya Harris, zakiya9@gmail.com; 510-759-5326

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