The word “philanthropy’ can be loosely translated to “love of humanity,” and it comes in the form of nourishing, caring, enhancing and developing what it means to be human. Festivals are often a place where its attendees feel the most human, vulnerable and raw, which creates a lush environment for community service and compassionate action. 

Festivals across the globe have different programs and incentives that provide the opportunity to give back to the community. No matter what your passion is, these fest volunteer programs offer it, from giving back to mother nature, to helping find a cure for childhood cancer and everything in between. 

Photo by Dijon Bowden

Support Recycling and Composting at Outside Lands

Outside Lands is one of the biggest fests out there that's aggressively promoting its greening efforts – and it's working. By the festival's 7th year, in 2013, its waste management teams, alongside the San Francisco Department of the Environment, diverted 116.7 tons (59.3 Recycling, 48.1 Compost, 9.3 Reuse) of waste from landfills. Astoundingly, that was a whopping 84% of its total waste generated during the festival's 3 days. You can join this heroic program by signing up with Clean Vibes (an awesome organization that provides event waste and recycling services) to be a Trash Talker and monitor waste collection bins and educate festival goers about the 3 different waste streams: trash, recyclables and compost.

Photo by Jaswooduk on Creative Commons

Fight Injustice & Poverty With Oxfam Music Festival Campaigning

Oxfam is a powerhouse in fighting social injustice and poverty across the globe. In addition to global philanthropy efforts that transform third world communities, Oxfam has a program that connects festival goers with traditional volunteer opportunities for free admission. Recently, Oxfam bridged the two feats and has began working to reach the masses with education on their world social services through music campaigning at large scale festivals: Glastonbury, Latitude, WOMAD, Camp Bestival, Reading, Leeds and Bestival. In exchange for inspiring and engaging festival-goers in the world changing work of Oxfam, volunteers are granted free entry, meal vouchers and future opportunities.

Photo by Art Gimbel

Take Permaculture Action at Envision Festival and Beyond

A team of permaculture educators joined forces with The Polish Ambassador to spearhead the Pushing Through the Pavement Tour. This consisted of educational presentations and workshops at TPA shows in big venues and community spaces to facilitate project builds and sustainable living centers. With Envision Festival as an official partner, the action tour made an epic stop in Costa Rica, bringing the permaculture action and sustainability project building into fruition amongst the festival community at three different sites in Uvita, Costa Rica. This year was just the start; stay tuned for more permaculture action opportunities from Envision Festival, TPA and the entire team of revolutionaries.

Photo by Abby Fox

Participate in Social and Ecological Stewardship at Summer Camp Festival

Summer Camp Music Festival makes social and ecological efforts a priority and it shows in its number of non-profit partners. There are a number of ways to get involved, whether it be joining their Green Team to support aspects of recycling and composting, or participating in the Soulshine Ambassador Team to encourage nonprofit participation and promote sustainability. Summer Camp is also teaming up with the non-profit organization Conscious Alliance to combat hunger in Illinois. Food donations will be collected at the "Art the Feeds" gallery, and patrons who donate 20 non-perishable items will receive a free Summer Camp event poster, handcrafted by a conscious alliance artist. All food donations benefit the East Peoria Area Food Bank in Peoria, Illinois.

Photo by Theo Wargo via Getty Images

Raise Funding for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with Firefly Festival

Firefly offers its attendees a unique fundraising program that benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude, the official charity of Firefly Festival, is a trailblazer when it comes to the way the world understands and beats children’s cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Firefly’s program encourages its patrons to get creative and start their own unique fundraiser for St. Jude’s Hospital. Fundraising level incentives include artist engagement experiences and guest passes to Firefly.

Photo by Art Gimbel

Volunteer to Leave No Trace at High Sierra Music Festival

High Sierra Music Festival prides itself on embracing the “Leave No Trace” camping philosophy. Similar to Outside Lands, High Sierra has partnered with Clean Vibes and World Centric to offer a volunteer program that enables patrons to leave no trace by keeping festival grounds clean and by sorting recycling and compost to create the greenest experience possible. The festival also encourages its attendees to participate in their Leave No Trace Green Campsite Challenge, of which there are plenty of exciting prizes like HSMF passes and swag.