The Pathway to Paris livestream festival has dropped its 2020 lineup. Headliners include Patti Smith, Michael Stipe and Rebecca Foon. The festival is in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and will take place via Instagram Live April 26 at 4pm Eastern Standard Time.
Per the Brooklyn Vegan, Pathway to Paris is an organization focused on combating climate change. It was co-founded by Rebecca Foon, the Canadian cellist and vocalist, and Jessie Paris Smith, musician and daughter of the iconic American singer-songwriter Patti Smith. Foon and Jessie Paris Smith will be performing together at the festival, as will Patti Smith.
Foon, Smith and Smith will be joined by several other headlining acts. These include include R.E.M.’s lead singer Michael Stipe, Red Hot Chili Peppers’s bassist Flea, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ben Harper and American singer-songwriter Cat Power. These headliners and other acts will be performing to raise awareness of and spur action towards combating climate change.
Foon and Smith frame the festival as a celebration of the 50th Earth Day, as well as a call to action to use global collaboration towards combating the coronavirus as a template for taking similar action towards climate change. “As humanity faces an unknown future, we must recognize the fact that we simply cannot go back to our behavior from before,” they said in a statement. “Both as individuals and as a globe, we are in a time of reflection, and now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to make great change.”
They continued, “Climate change is a global concern, and we have seen with Covid-19 what can happen when the world truly works together to come up with solutions in a time of crisis. Let’s treat the climate situation with that same urgency and passion. Let’s not go back to the world as it was. Instead, let’s move into the future with a renewed vision of how we want to live.”
Pathway to Paris joins several other festivals and performances that have turned to livestreaming in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Jack Johnson’s Kōkua Festival 2020 – Live From Home will be streaming April 25, while the Jersey 4 Jersey benefit streamed April 22.
Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz
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