1 Step steps up to green the Two Acre Shaker
Micro-music-fests are replacing the mega-festivals and mainstream concert tours – reflecting not just a downshift in the economy, but a desire for more intimate experiences and a tighter sense of community, even when – or maybe especially when – people are partying.
One such grassroots microfest is set to return to Pemberton the weekend of the Slow Food Cycle. The Two Acre Shaker takes place on a private small farm Saturday August 14, and features non-stop music and family-friendly camping, wrapping up with an en masse pedal through the Meadows.
Voted Pemberton’s Best Party of 2009 by the Pique, and with bands like Oka returning to headline, the intimate outdoor concert promises Big Clean Sound from 3pm Saturday until 3am.
The sound is made cleaner and greener thanks to a sweet collaboration with fellow soul-shredding pro-skier, Mark Abma and his enviro-awareness gang, 1 Step.
Abma will be just back from Bariloche, Argentina, where he and the 1 Step team will be setting up a biodiesel project to fuel the South American ski resort’s snowcat and fleet vehicles with used deep-fryer oil. They’ll also be salvaging junk from the dump to build a couple of greenhouses from recycled water bottles. “We launched last April, to raise awareness towards environmentalism in the winter sports community,” said Abma, “and this is our first big action, so it’s pretty exciting.”
1Step have also worked with ski film-makers, Matchstick Productions, to develop a carbon off-setting program to help MSP to start tracking their emissions, and ultimately, plan filming that burns less fossil fuel.
On Abma’s return, the 1 Step crew will be setting up solar panels to light the Two Acre Shaker, so everyone can chill under the fairylights and enjoy big clean sound, heavy on the clean.
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