The tagline for Forecastle since its start in 2010 has been “music, art and activism.”
The music and the art are self-evident at this weekend’s three-day festival with headliners including Jack Harlow, Tame Impala and Tyler the Creator. The activism is taken on by the Forecastle Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for other local and international environmental efforts.
Since its inception, the Forecastle Foundation has raised more than $700,000, but the pandemic has made the last couple of years more difficult, said Lauren Hendricks, Forecastle Foundation vice president. The foundation relies on the festival as its biggest source of revenue, but Forecastle organizers haven’t held the event since 2019.
“So we have gone two years without a festival and I’m not going to lie, that’s not been easy,” Hendricks said.
This year, for the first time, one dollar for every Forecastle ticket sold each day will go toward the Forecastle Foundation. That’s in addition to $1 from every cocktail sold going back to the foundation thanks to a partnership with Tito’s, Hendricks said.
The foundation has set up a tent in the Kentucky Landing area of the festival for the weekend. Concertgoers can participate in a silent auction, or get “glitzed” with local biodegradable glitter for a $10 foundation donation on Saturday and Sunday.
“Forecastle Festival could easily be the fundraiser we need to make our biggest impact in a single year,” Hendricks said.
The foundation tent will also feature artists painting live murals, which are available for purchase with proceeds going to the nonprofit.
The Forecastle Foundation shares its donations locally with four partners: Kentucky Natural Lands Trust, The Nature Conservancy of Kentucky, Future Funds Land Trust and Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. Internationally, they partner with the Guayaki foundation in Brazil and the Friends for Conservation and Development in Belize.
To date, the foundation says it has preserved 51,000 acres of land and 300 miles of waterways as a result of its donations to partnership organizations.
Kentucky Natural Lands Trust Development Director Nicole Breyette said the Forecastle Foundation has helped their nonprofit raise around $200,000 to help conserve land in Kentucky.
“For an organization that is small like we are, that is a massive investment that helps us protect land,” Breyette said.
Friday afternoon, shortly after the gates opened for the first day of the festival, Ella Bollinger walked by the foundation’s tent to purchase a $15 Nalgene water bottle, the proceeds of which go toward the foundation.
“I follow them on Instagram. Their foundation goes to a good cause,” Bollinger said.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Nicole Breyette.
