The open-air music festival is a staple of San Diego’s cultural life. The idea of listening to music on a warm day amid swaying palm trees is certainly appealing. But anyone who has attended one knows that lots of trash is created and that it takes a lot of electric power to generate all those good times. That reality is one of the basic motivations behind the first Ocean Beach Global Rock Festival, a carbon-neutral event taking place Saturday, April 18 at the foot of Newport Avenue to coincide with Earth Day on April 22. Festival organizers hope to leave as small an environmental impact as possible while entertaining an anticipated 5,000 attendees. “Ocean Beach has always been concerned with environmental issues,” said Denny Knox, Ocean Beach MainStreet Association’s (OBMA) executive director. “With our beautiful beaches and community, we’re sort of hypersensitive to it, but everybody is moving in that direction and becoming less wasteful.” The event is a fundraiser for OBMA, with proceeds going to help fund civic improvements and area maintenance that was once taken care of by the city. “We’re trying not to cut back on services to the community,” Knox said. “Things like cleaning up graffiti, replacing trash cans and cleaning gutters isn’t glamorous, but it costs money to fix these problems. An event like this can go a long way toward helping with those things.” In addition to food vendors and eco-friendly craft and merchandise booths, there will be two stages providing entertainment. A free all-ages area, The Seaside Stage, will feature musicians Jason Ott, The Big Fellas, The Kingfish Jones Band and hypnotist Lobster Bob. The 21-and-up beer garden stage — with a $3 admission — will be a completely solar-powered affair. On hand will be Ishmael & The Peacemakers, Cash’d Out, The Electric Waste Band, The Knights of Monte Carlo and C. Money and The Players Inc. using the sun’s energy to amplify their sound. “This is the biggest event in the area so far to use this sort of technology on this scale,” Knox said. “We’re making an effort to leave the smallest imprint with not only this stage but the whole event.” For Big Fellas keyboardist Charlie Recksieck, the solar stage is part of the event’s appeal. “It’s a perfect fit,” he said. “No one can be accused of being hypocritical to the cause with this power source,” said Recksieck. Jason Ott concurs. “If more things were solar powered, life would be much easier and, certainly, less polluted,” Ott said. While the entertainment will be the day’s big draw, other festival participants will take a hands-on approach to minimizing their carbon footprint by kicking off the day’s activities with a beach cleanup sponsored by the Stay Classy Foundation and The Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego chapter. Additionally, in order to minimize traffic, a shuttle bus will run between Winston’s and the 710 Beach Club in Pacific Beach. “We’re encouraging anybody who can to walk or ride their bikes to the event,” Knox said. Knox said she is thrilled to have a new music event in Ocean Beach and considers the Global Rock Festival to be a great way to get an environmental message across as well as make a lot of people happy. “Music is an important part of Ocean Beach, so it’s a perfect vehicle for informing the public while everybody has a great time,” she said. Recksieck agrees. “Festivals are a great way to introduce our music to a new audience,” he said. “But no matter what happens, it’s still a big party in the sunshine.” The Ocean Beach Global Rock Festival takes place at the foot of Newport Avenue on Saturday, April 18 from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The event is open to all ages. For more information, visit www.obglobalrock.org.