Evolve Festival is an annual music and cultural festival near Antigonish

Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Antigonish is a Canadian town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The town is home to St. Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous highland games in North America.-History:...

, dedicated to the promotion of sustainable living

Sustainable living

Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources and his/her own resources. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet...

 and environmental awareness. The festival uses renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

 sources, recycled

Recycling

Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

 and biodegradable products and endeavours to limit solid waste. In 2010, Evolve Festival won the CBC Radio 3 contest vote for "Best Festival In Canada".

History

The festival was first held in 2000. The festival was first conceived by Joe MacEachern, a resident of Antigonish

Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Antigonish is a Canadian town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The town is home to St. Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous highland games in North America.-History:...

, who then recruited Jim Dorey of Toronto to become the second founding member of Evolve Tribe. Jay Cleary joined the duo as the festival publicist and was able to raise significant export development funding from the Nova Scotia Governement to develop the festival as a Nova Scotia Tourist Attraction. In 2005 the team was joined by long time supporter and Evolve Tribe member Jonas Colter of Fredericton, NB. In 2006 Jim Dorey sold his shares to Jonas and Joe, and then later in 2008, Joe sold his shares to Jonas in order to pursue a degree in Sociology. The festival presents a diverse lineup of rock, jazz, funk, world music, hip hop, bluegrass and electronica performers.

Notable performances

Performers at the festival have included Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American band led by Alex Ebert, vocalist of the power pop group Ima Robot. Their first full-length recording, Up from Below, was released July 7, 2009, digitally and July 14, 2009, physically on Community Records...

, k-os

K-os

Kevin Brereton , better known by his stage name k-os , is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer...

, The Trews

The Trews

The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Sean Dalton...

, Michael Franti

Michael Franti

Michael Franti is an American poet, musician, and composer. He is the creator and lead vocalist of Michael Franti & Spearhead, a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock...

 and Spearhead, Wintersleep

Wintersleep

Wintersleep is a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia.-Background:Wintersleep formed in 2001 and released two albums with Dependent Music, a music label and artists' collective that began in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1994....

, Slowcoaster

Slowcoaster

Slowcoaster is a Canadian indie rock band from Sydney, Nova Scotia.The band's sound is essentially rock-based, with strong influences of reggae, ska, folk and jazz, combined with pop hooks and improvisation.-History:...

, Hey Rosetta!

Hey Rosetta!

Hey Rosetta! is a six-piece Canadian indie rock band from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Known for its energized live shows, the band creates a massive, layered sound by incorporating piano, violin and cello into the traditional four-piece garage rock sound.-History:Their influences include...

 Rheostatics

Rheostatics

Rheostatics was a Genie Award-winning Canadian indie rock band, active from 1980 to 2007.Although they had only one Top 40 hit, "Claire" in 1995, they were simultaneously one of Canada's most influential and unconventional rock bands, a band whose eclectic take on pop and rock music has been...

, The Be Good Tanyas

The Be Good Tanyas

The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian traditional music group, whose influences included folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they performed can be referred to as alt-country or Americana.-Career:...

, Holy Fuck, Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think is a Canadian instrumental post-rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Their music combines jazz style drums, distorted guitars and wind instruments, as well as a prominent use of the bass guitar.-Biography:...

, Medeski Martin & Wood

Medeski Martin & Wood

Medeski Martin & Wood is an American jazz trio formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards and piano, Billy Martin on drums and percussion, and Chris Wood on double bass and bass guitar....

, Brazilian Girls

Brazilian Girls

Brazilian Girls was a band from New York City known for their eclectic blend of electronic dance music with musical styles as diverse as tango, chanson, house, reggae and lounge. None of the members are actually from Brazil and the only female in the band is Sabina Sciubba. Other members include...

, Man Man

Man Man

Man Man is an experimental band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Man Man is known for their exuberant live performances. When performing, the members of the band sometimes coordinate their outfits, often seen in white outfits and, more commonly, war paint....

, Battles

Battles (band)

Battles is an American experimental rock group, founded in 2002 in New York City, comprising guitarists Ian Williams and Dave Konopka , and drummer John Stanier .-Biography:...

, !!!

!!!

!!! is a dance-punk band that formed in Sacramento, California, in 1996. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as The Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers...

, The Jimmy Swift Band

The Jimmy Swift Band

The Jimmy Swift Band was a band from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada that combined elements of rock, jam, and electronica. Composed of Craig Mercer on guitar and vocals, Mike MacDougall on bass, Aaron Collier on keyboards and effects, and Doug Cameron on drums, the band was most often described as...

, That 1 Guy

That 1 Guy

Mike Silverman, better known as That 1 Guy, is an American musician based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He frequently performs and records as a one-man band, singing and using a variety of homemade musical instruments.-Early career:...

, Luther Wright and the Wrongs

Luther Wright and the Wrongs

-History:The band began as a side project for Wright when he was a member of Weeping Tile. When that band amicably parted ways following their 1998 recording This Great Black Night, the Wrongs became Wright's primary band. The band membership has shifted a number of times since its inception...

, Xavier Rudd

Xavier Rudd

Xavier Rudd is an Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in 1978 and grew up in Torquay, Victoria. He attended St. Joseph's College, Geelong....

, Delhi 2 Dublin

Delhi 2 Dublin

Delhi 2 Dublin is a Canadian world music group whose style is primarily a fusion of Bhangra and Celtic music.-History:...

, Pretty Lights

Pretty Lights

Pretty Lights, real name Derek Vincent Smith, is an American electronic music artist from Fort Collins, Colorado.-History:...

, and Easy Star All-Stars

Easy Star All-Stars

Originally formed as a studio band for the label's earliest recordings, Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective with a rotating roster of musicians and singers founded by the co-founders of New York City-based Easy Star Records in 1997...

. Green Party of Canada

Green Party of Canada

The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

 leader Elizabeth May

Elizabeth May

Elizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...

 also spoke at the 2007 event. In addition to its main stage, the festival also features a stage meant exclusively for electronic music, and 2 smaller yurt stages highlighting smaller acts from around the world.

Canadian music video channel MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 has covered the Evolve Festival on Going Coastal.

In 2010, over 115 acts have performed at the festival.