Spending the day listening to Eddie Vedder and a long list of top-notch music acts, looking out to the glistening blue sea and soaking in inspiring stories about the environment.
“It’s a trifecta of awesome,” said Philippe Cousteau, founder of EarthEcho, activist and grandson of famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, one about about 30 Storyteller speakers appearing at this year’s Ohana Festival at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.
ALSO SEE: Ohana Festival set times: Here’s when Foo Fighters, Eddie Vedder and more will perform
The Ohana Festival, which kicks off on Friday, Sept. 29 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 1, is more than just music, also hosting The Cove experience — an area set aside for an outdoor art gallery that raises money for causes, a gathering of non-profits dedicated to the ocean and a Storytellers stage where global and local speakers share messages of inspiration and conservation, highlighting the importance of restoring nature.
Since the start, event organizers wanted a dedicated space to engage festivalgoers, to talk about issues like climate change and solutions to the crisis facing the planet, said Mike Long, director of global operations for non-profit Parley for the Oceans and curator for Ohana’s Storytellers program.
When he came aboard in 2019, there were about a dozen speakers. Now, that number has doubled, with a long list of notable global activists and environmental leaders.
“Every year we’ve tried to elevate the experience and add more speakers from around the world, who are sort of the core DNA and values of Ohana,” he said. “I think it all starts with community and family. From there, it’s really about activating activism, for environmental justice, for our oceans and climate and certainly for our own backyards, wherever that may be.”
The idea was simple, he said.
“How can we engage this audience in this deeper way that supports these core values of Ohana?” he asked.
The underlying message…
Read the full article here
