User:Advwritingstudent99/Live on the Green Music Festival

[Intro]

Live On The Green (LOTG) is a free outdoor music festival produced and presented by local radio station WRLT (Lightning 100). Since its first year in 2009, it has been held at Public Square Park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee and attracts over 600,000 fans from all 50 states and 15 countries. [The] Festival is typically held on Thursday evenings in August of each year with the finale weekend taking place the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Labor Day weekend. It has been held every year except 2020 when it was cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the radio station instead hosted live performances and interviews with the artists. This event hosts two stages showcasing the city’s emerging musical talent and highlights well-known national acts, and also includes food trucks, vendors, and a VIP experience.

The festival has been ranked by local magazine the Nashville Scene as Best Event/Festival, Best Concert Series, Best Free Fun, Best Radio Station, and Best Cheap Date1.

[History section]

Live On The Green was founded in 2009 and has always been free to the public. Before LOTG, Nashville hosted free concert series such as Dancin in the District, Uptown Mix, and Summer Lights that didn’t quite succeed. Local radio station WRLT Lightning 100 created Live On The Green in 2009 as a celebration of music and community. The event was initially intended as an opportunity for up-and-coming local Nashville artists to build a fanbase, but the concert series didn’t receive much attention or profits in its early years. The radio station then began overlapping their programming with bands they booked for the festival, drawing in more crowds.

In 2012, Alabama Shakes took to the Main Stage and marked a turning point for the festival, doubling the average attendance in one night. Spoon then set the overall attendance record with what was estimated to be 20,000 fans in 2017. Now, Live On The Green draws in 100,000 fans each year and has expanded its footprint past Public Square Park and up Deaderick Street and 3rd Avenue, adding a second stage in 2015 called the “615 Stage.” The festival also features a local artist each year through an annual battle of the bands called Music City Mayhem. Ever since its inception, Live On The Green has grown into a music industry force that draws thousands of fans, brings in millions of dollars into the downtown economy, and even influences album release strategies for many artists and labels.

[Community]

Lightning 100 has donated profits from the Live On The Green music festival to donorschoose.org which fully funded 35 projects, directly impacting nearly 5,000 students from high poverty Nashville schools. LOTG also raises awareness on important issues and invites select orgs to share messages and engage fans in positive ways at the festival. Live On The Green itself is also pet and kid friendly.

[Sustainability]

Live On The Green also focuses heavily on eco-friendly solutions regarding the site and community. 54% of all waste generated at the festival is recycled each year, totaling to 79,680 lbs of material recycled since the concert series began in 2009. The Lightning 100 studio itself is a leading non-restaurant composter with Compost Nashville and the festival strives to be completely waste free in all upcoming seasons. In addition, all LOTG merchandise is made locally at the Friendly Arctic printmaking studio with high-quality eco-friendly materials and inks, and all t-shirts are 100% cotton.

LOTG also promotes biking, walking, taking public transportation, or carpooling to the festival. Partners at Walk/Bike Nashville offer a complimentary bike valet check at the festival, checking over 1,000 bikes for fans. There are also designated Lyft rideshare pick-up and drop-off locations on Deaderick Street and 4th Avenue and on James Robertson Pikeway.