Earthbound’s Earthfest 2014

Earthbound’s Earthfest Benefits BWRk at Avondale Brewery on April 19

For Immediate Release

Contact: Charles Scribner, Executive Director, Black Warrior Riverkeeper: (205) 458-0095, [email protected]

Birmingham, Ala. – Saturday April 19, 2014 from 2pm to sundown, Earthbound will play their annual outdoor rock concert, Earthbound’s Earthfest, at Avondale Brewery (201 41st Street South, Birmingham, AL 35222).

The family friendly event is open to all ages, although guests under 21 must be accompanied by a parent. Its purpose is to celebrate Earth Day and raise funds for Black Warrior Riverkeeper. This nonprofit organization promotes clean water for drinking, swimming, watersports, fishing, and wildlife habitat throughout the Black Warrior River watershed. The river’s basin includes parts of 17 Alabama counties and provides approximately half of Birmingham’s drinking water, and all of the water for Tuscaloosa and many other cities.

Event sponsors have donated a record amount to the cause this year. Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. is the top sponsor, followed by MacLellan, Inc., their award winning water treatment partner. $5 suggested donations at the entrance – plus proceeds from shirts, art, beer, and MELT Food Truck – will also support Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s work to protect local water resources from threats such as the Shepherd Bend Mine.

Avondale Brewing Company, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, the Birmingham City Council, and over a hundred other organizations and businesses have publicly urged the University of Alabama System to refuse to lease or sell land or mineral rights for the proposed Shepherd Bend Mine. The coal mine would discharge pollutants in unprecedented proximity to the Birmingham Water Works Board’s Mulberry Fork intake, which provides drinking water to 200,000 people in the greater Birmingham area. Black Warrior Riverkeeper will provide information and displays at the event about this proposal and other hazards to residents’ water and health.

“We are proud to support Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s protection of local drinking water, our delicious product’s main ingredient,” said Coby Lake, owner of Avondale Brewing Company.

“Earthbound’s Earthfest will feature fantastic music, art, beer, and food while highlighting how citizens can protect their water from preventable disasters like the Shepherd Bend Mine,” added Charles Scribner, Executive Director of Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

To view the Earthbound’s Earthfest sponsors and this year’s poster, click here.

To view a picture of part of the crowd last year at Earthbound’s Earthfest, click here.

To view a picture of Earthbound on stage last year at Earthbound’s Earthfest, click here.

To view an aerial photo by Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, of the proposed Shepherd Bend Mine, the Black Warrior River’s Mulberry Fork, and the Birmingham Water Works’ Mulberry Intake, click here.

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Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. We are a citizen-based nonprofit organization promoting clean water for improved public health, recreation, and wildlife habitat throughout the Black Warrior River watershed. Learn more at www.BlackWarriorRiver.org.