Nicaragua Music & Sustainability Festival

Feb. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- Entering its third year as Nicaragua's premiere music and sustainability festival, the only of its kind, this year's Earthship Pitaya Festival returns to El Carizal, San Juan del Sur on February 18th & 19th, bringing romping and raging, fun-in-the-sun, and full moon festivities for locals and tourists of all ages.  At the site of the Earthship, locally known as Casa Llanta, the "Pitaya Fest" will transform the community of El Carizal into a rock n' roll haven complete with a massive main stage, a piñata party for the kids, a Toña tent, and a food court of local cuisine.

With the hope of increasing environmental awareness, the festival will take place at the site of a completely off grid and sustainable home called an Earthship. The Earthship is constructed out of recycled cans, bottles and tires filled with pounded earth. Solar panels collect the sun’s natural energy which is stored and used to power all electrical within the home. Rain water catchment systems take advantage of Nicaragua’s high quantity of rainfall by keeping it in large cisterns while water reclamation systems process used water and transport it to green houses filled with fruit trees and vegetable gardens. It is from this marvel of a structure that the festival attributes its name and inspiration for celebrating sustainability.

This year’s festival is a multi-day affair. Claro & the Jean Brugger Foundation will present a photo exposition at the Galleria del Sur from Sunday, February 13 to Sunday, February 20, with a kick-off soiree on the 13th at 7:00pm.

The Quiksilver & NicaSurf sponsored surf competition will be held just 6.5 kilometers south of San Juan del Sur at Playa Hermosa on Friday, February 18th. The beach will be open to the public and there will be food and drinks available with live music from 4pm until sunset. Competitors and spectators are welcome. Stay tuned for more information on transportation to the beach.

The main musical event will kick off at 3pm on Saturday, February 19th. Kids of all ages should come early for face painting, games and the infamous giant piñata party. For those travelers craving adrenaline, The Surf Ranch’s paintball course is a must-do daytime activity. Skaters and skate fans who come while the sun is still shining will also be pleased to see the newly constructed 4-foot half-pipe, also provided by the Surf Ranch. Rumor has it that Chico Brenes will be in town as well.

When the sun sets on Saturday, the music will heat up on the “Claro Main Stage”. Many of Nicaragua's favorite local musicians including Don Bigote y Los Pobrecitos, Bluefields Soundsytem and Matty Powell will get you dancing with an eclectic mix of Rumba, Reggae, Pop Rock and Nicaraguan folk. We’ve got a special show planned from DJ Liquidiamond and the local favorite DJ Johnny G will spin the warm breezy night away under the full moon into the early hours of the evening.

The cost for entry at the festival is donation only (suggested donation $20 USD).  Proceeds from festival donations will go toward the Casa Llanta Fund. The Casa Llanta Fund's current primary endeavor is to host English classes at the Escuela Carlos Guzman in El Carizal. Donations raised will also go toward the construction of the new Casa Comunal (Medical Clinic and Community Kitchen) which is expected to break ground in the Spring of 2011 on land already donated by the Casa Llanta Fund to the community of El Carizal.

At the music event there will be a Toña tent serving up ice-cold beverages and a food court filled with an array of local specialty foods so be sure to come hungry and plan to eat while enjoying live tunes. Thanks to Pitaya+, we’ll even have special pitaya cocktails and drinks for the kids.

The Pitaya Festival is committed to increasing environmental awareness and ensuring the festival is as green as possible! We encourage all festival-goers to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival by using our festival shuttle transportation from Pau Hana, San Juan del Sur’s only Hawaiian restaurant on the main beach road. We also encourage using refillable water bottles and pitaya pink reusable festival cups (sold at the event) instead of wasteful plastic bottles.

For more detailed information on the performing artists, concert schedule, shuttles and volunteering, please visit the festival website at : earthshippitayafestival.com.

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The Earthship Pitaya Festival was founded by a group of people who ended up in Nicaragua for a variety of reasons. We are musicians, engineers, developers, surfers and volunteers who understand that the key to happiness and a fulfilling life rely simply on being the change you wish to see in the world. One step at a time we are creating that change with our music festival and a variety of other projects in Nicaragua.