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ARTS & CULTURE
07
Boulevardia draws crowds during three-day festival
MADI SCHULZ
@Mad_Dawgg
GARRETT LONG
@garrettkenlong
Boulevardia kicked off last weekend in Kansas City's West Bottoms with music, vendors, food and, of course, beer.
The festival, named for Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Mo., featured a wide range of Boulevard's choice beer lineup as well as other brands, including the Lawrence-based Free State Brewing Company.
This year's festivities brought a renewed focus to recycling and a plan to have a zero-waste event by 2018, meaning that all waste is planned for reuse, compost or recycling to some extent. For example, next year
vendors are required to use compostable napkins, plates and utensils at the festival.
As part of its push for sustainability, Boulevardia dubbed a section of the festival "Greenville." Greenville featured stands displaying visual and interactive displays about recycling and minimizing environmental impact. Volunteers stood at the 20 waste, recycling, and compost stations throughout the entire event to ensure materials made it in the right bins. Various sustainability agencies in the Kansas City area, such as Habitat for Humanity and Better Block KC, lent a hand to the sustainability efforts and provided further information about their agencies.
A festival with so much emphasis on the environment was bound to bring in equally passionate volunteers. Volunteer Cristian Miranda
said he wanted a cleaner world by doing rather than just talking.
"I just want to be a part of the solution," Miranda said.
David Johnson and Leanne Breiby, who graduated from the University in 1995 and 2006, respectively represented Better Block, a nationwide movement looking to improve neighborhoods block-by-block. Recently, Better Block has worked on integrating more protected bike lanes in Kansas City.
Johnson and Breiby handed out chalk and encouraged festival-goers to write on the large blackboards behind them that read "What would make your block better?" Responses ranged from light-hearted to serious. Ideas such as "more ping-pong parties" focused on fun, while comments like "less judgement" concentrated on underlying issues.
AARON GROENE/KANSAN
AARON GROENE/KANSAN Les Izmore, frontman of Kansas City band Hearts of Darkness, performs on the Boulevard Main Stage at Boulevardia.