The Festival Investing in Recycling, Schools, and Water in Costa Rica

Envision Festival, February 22 – 25, 2018 in Uvita

For the last eight years, the deforested cattle pasture that is used at the site of Envision Festival was a mecca for international music lovers and a cathedral to the beauty of Costa Rica, built almost entirely out of sustainable bamboo, in the thick of the jungle by Playa Hermosa beach. Each year the festival has been reforesting the site, planting one tree at a time, using the proceeds from the year before to reinvest in the land. As stewards of multiculturalism and environmentalism, the event even expressly forbids single use plastic products so guests in Costa Rica learn about the importance of minimizing pollution and our impact on the environment. Along with passing along this ethos and a deep appreciation for Costa Rica in its own community, Envision also is engaged in philanthropic efforts all over the country — proving that festivals can have a positive impact on both the land they occupy as well as the local neighbors. “We are working hard to find ways that we can give back to the charming community of Uvita that has been so welcoming.” says Terra Entheos, Community Relations Manager at Envision Festival. “Every year we do our best to improve this community and this year we are taking it to a whole other level this year!”

Give Back Days and Beach Cleanups

At the close of 2017, Envision hosted Beach its first ever Cleanup Day to restore a local shoreline. Speaking on Envision’s first cleanup for 2018, Entheos said “We had 20 people come out to the first clean-up and 15 to today’s clean-up.” To further get the word out and engage locals in cleanup efforts, Envision is working with a team to put together Spanish information packets with tips on reducing plastic consumption, upcycling and recycling. The packets are designed to help any environmentalist evangelize the truth of recycling in the local community. The campaign will even include a short documentary on Andres Vargas’ journey from Envision to action and his story in the long fight for plastic reduction here in the Osa region of Costa Rica. Naturally, the whole feature will be shot in Spanish.

Building a Future for Children

This isn’t the first time Envision Festival has set out to make a splash in the community that makes the event possible either. On another Give Back Day in 2015, Envision donated to local schools and Youth Centers in Uvita, planting gardens & fruit trees and painting murals. In 2015, Envision also donated ¢3,000,000 to Asociacion para la Prevencion y Alerta del Crimen in order to promote safety and a crime free community in Uvita.

In February of 2016, El Centro de la Juvenil Envision (The Envision Youth Center) was founded as a space for positive development, education and entrepreneurship. The center operates in Uvita and is dedicated to a fruitful future for the children of the local community. “We are super excited about this new development of Envision’s history in Uvita” Entheon explained. “And we are confident that the Center will have a long lasting positive effect on the area.”

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