Eco music festival doubles down for green artist action

Rocking the Daisies is stepping up the game this year with a focus on social, as well as eco-friendly objectives.

For the second year in a row Rocking the Daisies Music and Lifestyle Festival has been awarded the prestigious Highly Commended Award from A Greener Festival.

This is a global award that recognises environmentally friendly festivals for following green practices, offsetting strategies and creating awareness campaigns (such as walking and cycling the Daisies, which sees over 350 festival goers literally walking or cycling all the way to the festival).

Other festivals that have received this award include Glastonbury, Coachella and Lollapalooza and Rocking the Daisies is the only South African music festival yet to have received it! Every year, Daisies is independently eco-audited to ensure that a certain level of environmental and social policy is being implemented and that the ethos of “Play Hard, Tread Lightly” is being lived up to.

‘We constantly strive to improve and expand on our existing green practices, partners and initiatives and this year is no different. Where we have shifted some of the focus this year is towards our social impact. In addition to producing an event that takes the environment into consideration, partnering with Bridges for Music ensures we can make a real difference to the lives of people as well”, says Brian Little, Director of Rocking the Daisies.

Key players gather to raise awareness

Bridges for Music is a non-profit organisation, which gathers key players of the music industry as well as music fans to raise global awareness about local issues through music in developing countries, leaving a positive impact and legacy in disadvantaged communities.

Seed Experiences - the guys behind Rocking the Daisies, Vodacom in the City, Sonar Cape Town, The Lumineers South African Tour and many more - has committed to partnering with Bridges for Music for the next twelve months across all events, starting with Rocking the Daisies. After this year, Seed Experiences aim to solidify a long-term, ongoing partnership with Bridges for Music.

Performing at Daisies this year are four talented electronic artists from Bridges for Music; Thibo Tazz vs Deep Aztec, Dilloxclusiv and Dj Fosta.

Having both shared stages with world renowned acts and worked alongside respected music producers and DJs, Thibo Tazz vs Deep Aztec are teaming up to bring fans a seriously heated house music set!

We then have Vuyisa Genu aka DiloXclusiv who started his DJ career in 2003 playing at local parties in the Cape Town townships. Considered to be one of the top DJ’s in Cape Town, his unique style of mixing House, Kwaito, Afrobeat and world music has made him one of the most sought after DJ’s on the scene.

And lastly, they bring you DJ Fosta (above), the most prolific artist coming out of the township of Langa, uniting different cultures through his music.

“My everyday life inspires my production. Using different sounds I create house music and use it to get through to the soul of the audience. I believe music is a driving force for the youth in Langa and Im fully comitted to take Langa to the World” says Fosta.

“Partnering with Seed Experiences is an exciting next step in our evolution and it is encouraging to see such a well established and respected promoter making a real tangible commitment to making a difference to disadvantaged communities through music”, says Bridges for Music Africa Director, Trenton Birch.

Bridges for Music is currently raising funds to build a music school in Langa Township. The bulk of the fundraising is being driven by the internationally renowned Resident Advisor platform and to date has seen support from many high profile artists across the planet helping raise over 70 000 Euros to date. The school will add further weight to an already robust educational program that includes a scholarship program with SAE Institute that has seen 12 young artists attend short courses and the launch of an annual one year Higher Certificate in Sound Production scholarship in partnership with the Black Coffee Foundation.

The organisation is also committed to providing life-changing experiences for disadvantaged artists by giving them the opportunity to develop their careers in the music industry and to date has sent artists to Amsterdam Dance Event, Tomorrowland (Belgium) and Glastonbury (UK). With global Ambassadors including Richie Hawtin, Skrillex and Luciano, and a growing list of international festival partnerships, Seed Experiences and Rocking the Daisies are proud to join the team and be onboard with this great organisation!

Seed Experiences aims to raise substantial funding to assist in building the school in Langa through various means and the launch of a “Charity Complimentary Contributions Initiative” will be the most public facing. From now on, all complimentary tickets will be charged at approximately 25% of the ticket price across all ticket types and 100% of these funds will go straight to Bridges for Music.

Brian Little adds, “We are super-excited about this initiative. While we will be rolling out further fund-raising initiatives which will include donations, sponsor campaigns and workshops, what this does is educate the wider music community and involve them in the process of upliftment and education through music. The people who generally receive comps to our music events are fans and people who can afford to pay the full ticket price. So paying a small amount, knowing that it is contributing to this great cause, which is directly related to music and growing the industry in South Africa, should be met with enthusiasm. A complimentary for Rocking the Daisies will be R150, the normal ticket price is R750 with most complimentary tickets receiving VIP access which is further value on top of the general access ticket of R750.”

Seed Experiences will be implementing this fundraising initiative across all upcoming events and are looking forward to the substantial amount of money that can be raised through this over the next 12 months. After this time, all figures raised for Bridges for Music will then be released to the public as part of a case study.

This year both the social and environment aspects of Rocking the Daisies are top of mind for the festival organisers.

More specifically, the objective for hosting the festival in an eco-friendly manner is to minimise the potential negative environmental impact of the event and simultaneously maximise the positive social and economic benefits through good resource management and awareness.

The green goals have been developed over the past few years and are a core part of implementing Rocking the Daisies in an eco-friendly way. If you’d like to join The Green Parade for a shift and assist us in clearing the campsites of litter please email volunteers@rockingthedaisies.com and we’ll be in touch!

• For more information on Bridges for Music please click here.