Illiterate Light Bikes 700 Miles to Newport Folk Festival for Climate Action

The Bike Stage Initiative

• 💡 The annual Newport Folk Festival is hosting its fourth year of the bike stage, an initiative by the indie rock duo Illiterate Light.
• 🎯 The goal is to encourage people to get outside, ride bicycles, and reduce their carbon footprint.
• 🚀 This year, Jeff Gorman of Illiterate Light biked approximately 700 miles over three weeks from his hometown in the Shenandoah Valley to Newport, Rhode Island, playing music and hosting community bike rides along the East Coast.

Powering Performances with Pedals

• ⚡ The bike stage functions as a mini power plant where fans literally generate the electricity needed for a 20-minute concert by pedaling bikes.
• 🤝 This creates a collaborative experience, with fans and the band creating the art and energy together.
• 💧 Attendees receive a cold glass of water after their five-minute exercise, contributing to the performance.

Music, Climate, and Career

• 🌍 Illiterate Light uses the Newport Folk Festival as a platform to offer solutions to the climate crisis.
• 🚗 A significant focus of their tour was examining infrastructure and advocating for reduced reliance on cars.
• 📈 Gorman emphasizes that the sight of 2,000 bicycles outside the festival should become the standard across the country and the world.
• 🌱 The initiative aims to plant seeds for the future, promoting a cultural shift towards sustainable practices within the music industry and beyond.