This year’s JazzReggae Festival puts a strong emphasis on sustainability, including two water-bottle refilling tents and an expanded education tent.
While last year’s event had one refilling tent and a tent with information about sustainability-minded student groups, this year’s initiatives will be bigger and more interactive, said Michelle Horak, JazzReggae’s director of sustainability and a fourth-year world arts and cultures student.
“We’re trying to get people who are excited about music excited about sustainability, too,” Horak said. “We want to show them that every aspect of their life can be sustainable, no matter what.”
After receiving an $18,000 grant from The Green Initiative Fund during winter quarter, the JazzReggae committee is building upon past efforts to make the event even greener. The festival will offer sustainable portable toilets and will sell organic festival T-shirts for $15.
Tickets are already available for the event, which began gathering buzz when UCLA’s Cultural Affairs Commission announced headliners for the 25th annual JazzReggae Festival last week.
Rappers Lupe Fiasco and Sean Paul will lead the festival’s lineup May 29 and 30, respectively, on the Intramural Field.
“Both Lupe and Sean have played at past festivals of ours when they were just up-and-comers,” said Jesse Sachs, executive director of JazzReggae and a fourth-year ethnomusicology student. “Now they’re both international successes. We’re glad to have them back.”
Sachs said performers were chosen based on availability, committee preference and student feedback on the festival’s Facebook page.
The JazzReggae committee will release the full lineup in the coming weeks but cannot announce the exact date it will be published, Sachs said.
Pre-sale tickets to attend one day of the festival cost $29; a pre-sale pass for both days costs $50.
As in past years, the committee will give out free tickets to students on April 20 and May 10 at the Central Ticket Office. The time of release depends on crowds, Sachs said. Last year, intense crowding prompted the committee to distribute free tickets prior to the CTO’s 10 a.m. opening time.
Students may also apply to volunteer during the festival to gain free entry and a free T-shirt. About 100 volunteers will be accepted, Sachs said. Members of JazzReggae’s promotional street team will also secure cost-free entry to the event. Applications for both opportunities are available on the CAC website.
“I went to JazzReggae last year, and it was one of the best student events I’ve seen at UCLA,” said Karin Swanson, a second-year political science student. “I want to volunteer this year to give back to the event.”