The 12-hour affair started at 11am and offered patrons a variety of things to do. Many vegan and regular food stalls were offering well-priced, tasty meals throughout the day, with Phuket Boat Lagoon and The 9th Degree serving up a wide variety of beverages well into the night.
The sustainability fair’s focus was based around all things sustainable. Outside of the venue, Sustainable Maikhao demonstrated how easy it is to compost your leftover food. Recycling waste was the order of the day, and participants and visitors alike were encouraged to bring along their own shopping bags, cutlery and reusable water bottles. Vendors served all of their food in recyclable packaging and visitors were encouraged to make use of the different trash bins available for the separation of recyclable material generated by the fair.
Inside the hall, many charities, foundations, schools, local companies and artists displayed and chatted to patrons about the ways in which each were focusing their products, services and efforts around eco-friendly and sustainability.
Outside of the venue Sunova generously staged a skating area for willing skateboarders to try some of their new boards, or use the area with their own skateboards.
One of the busiest activities of the day was the Phuket Swapshop, which attracted many donations, and much interest in the growing swap culture.
During the morning session, the concert hall hosted a variety of speakers from schools and foundations, all speaking about ways that we could all very easily increase our participation in becoming more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Three o’clock marked the start of the Lean On Me Live Fest 2 in the concert hall with no less than nine bands offering up their time to entertain the vendors and fair visitors. The early afternoon slots were reserved for the participation of some of Phuket’s most talented young musicians, which included the Junior Choir and Junior Band from UWC Thailand.
The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly the jaw-dropping performance by the Ozone Kids Band, who churned out a string of perfect heavy metal covers. The disbelief still ringing in our ears days later as to how accomplished an 8-year-old, two 11-year-olds and a 12-year-old could be in rocking a venue!
As night rolled in, some of Phuket’s most loved professional and part-time bands rocked the very appreciative and responsive crowd late into the night. Every band delivered outstanding performances in a variety of genres, with standout performances from Moody Paul, Rockin Angels, Dark Fiber and Curious Itch, who had the crowd dancing until they dropped.
With all that went on during the day and night, it was almost easy to overlook the root cause that this landmark event was staged for. One Phuket used the occasion to raise funds in support of Sustainable Maikhao, Phuket Has Been Good To Us, The Good Shepherd Phuket Town and The Scholars of Sustenance. The spinoff, or by-product, of all of this, if you will, was the information, demonstration and passion imparted to the community about living an eco-friendly lifestyle, and how each and every one of us can collectively make a massive impact by making small changes in our lifestyles.
If you would like to make a difference to our community, please consider joining the One Phuket group on Facebook and let us know how you can become part of the change.
By Gary Crause