Green Apple Music & Arts Festival Unites Musicians & Venues Nationwide for America’s Largest Earth Day Celebration in New York, Chicago & San Francisco

NEW YORK, NY - Entering its second year, The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival is bringing the message of Earth Day to over 60 live music venues with over 200 performances in New York, Chicago and San Francisco over Earth Day weekend including free events in Central Park, Lincoln Park, Golden Gate Park and Grand Central Terminal.

From April 20th to 22nd, music venues across the country will come together to cultivate awareness of environmental issues through the unifying voice of music with performances by Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Willie Nelson, Bob Weir and his band Ratdog, The Decemberists, Kaiser Chiefs, The Laurie Berkner Band, The Walkmen, Taylor Hicks, Stephen Marley & Junior Gong, Brand New, Jon Anderson of YES, RJD2, English Beat, Andrew Bird, and many more.

“It always seems a little silly to have a day dedicated to something because conservation is something worth thinking about all year,” noted Nate Query of The Decemberists. “That said, The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival will be an opportunity for people to learn about new ways they can soften their impact on our environment, which will hopefully have a lasting effect.”

“This is a great opportunity for us to give back to our fans by putting on a free show and give back to the earth by further raising awareness of the dire need for us ALL to be environmentalists,” said Laurie Berkner. “I’m really looking forward to being a part of The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival and hopefully inspiring renewed dedication to protecting our planet and ourselves.”

The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival will also bring top musical talent to Earth Fair outside Grand Central Terminal. Presented in partnership with the non-profit organization Earth Day New York, Earth Fair features, on Friday, April 20th, Jon Anderson (of YES) backed by Paul Green’s School of Rock, Ozomatli, Gandalf Murphy and The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. On Saturday, April 21st, Earth Fair will host State Radio (featuring Chad Urmston of Dispatch), Zero and Assembly of Dust.

“The core idea of the Green Apple Festival is to raise awareness of Earth Day,” said Peter Shapiro, Founder and Executive Producer of the Festival. “By featuring a diverse group of musicians and uniting these venues under one cause, we are able to coordinate a powerful, and somewhat unprecedented event.”

Produced by Peter Shapiro and Relix magazine in partnership with Earth Day Network and presented by JPMorgan Chase, The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival will put the Earth Day message into practice by “greening” all of the participating venues. Green Apple will provide venues in each city with environmentally friendly cups and straws, napkins and paper towels made of recycled materials, compostable garbage bags and biodegradable cleaning materials to ensure the event has a direct impact on how the venues operate.

Furthering their zero waste goal, the entire Festival will be carbon-neutral, meaning it will offset any carbon dioxide emission produced as a result of the festival, making this the nation’s largest carbon-neutral event ever. Additionally, each venue will have an informational table featuring educational and volunteer information relating to prominent environmental issues and organizations.