The festival which kicks off the island’s summer season is back and guarantees loads of fun, unbeatable prices and the best weather.

Now in its 11th year, Earth Garden is a unique annual event. It is the festival which merges art, non-mainstream music and culture with a green conscience.

Earth Garden accomplished a lot along the years, including audience growth, increase in the number of international artists and a general improvement of the festival site and areas.

Every edition gets more challenging for the organisers to deliver their promise that Earth Garden is an experience, not just an event.

This year’s healing area has expanded to eight zones. This is a co-created space where the theme and intention this year is ‘Change from the Inside Out’.

The zones consists of the following: Healing, Transformation & Ecological Workshops; Healing Therapies; Acro-Yoga Playground; Art Haven & Pop Up installations; Chill Out Vortex; Trees of Life (Gratitude & Manifestation Trees); The Love Letter Hub and Into Me I See Hipee.

Earth Garden’s Getting Greener campaign is back. This time it’s all about the ‘One Cup And One Love!’

The ‘one cups’ stop thousands of disposables being created - just in one weekend. This year the ‘one cups’ are mandatory at the bar, cost just 50 cents and give everyone who gets on board an Earth Garden souvenir cup that they can use throughout the festival, take home, use at the beach or use at next year’s festival!

There will be wash stations around the festival site for you to give them a rinse whenever you decide to switch drinks, or just fancy a one cup, freshen up.

If you don’t love your ‘one cup’ by the end of the festival you can even get a refund before you leave from the souvenir cup stand.

The festival’s environmental policy is the same as ever, all food containers and cutlery will be compostable (so just throw them in the plates and food yellow bin), recycling will all be separated and reused post festival and even the other waste will be turned into fuel and sold.

Check out the Environmental Policy and the Camping Policy to see how you can make this initiative and the  Getting Greener campaign successful.

As last year the holistic ‘waste’ management systems are back, thanks to a sponsorship from Wasteserv and the team at Global Green Events, making sure that all those attending choose to recycle or compost goes exactly where it should be.

The organisers are working to set up a sustainable plan for years to come. They are continuing to build a network of collaboration to make sure systems are as good as can be.

Behind the scenes, policies are still in place to reduce packaging and ensure conscious purchasing choices and vendors, suppliers and crew are on board.

Year on year, those attending create a real change, both pre-event and on site. Last year 7,000kg of waste were saved from going to a landfill.

Last year’s 10th anniversary edition attracted over 20,000 visitors and this year the festival is also being launched internationally. Retaining the green footprints and eclectic music styles, it offers four music areas with over 35 live acts, 35 DJs, two shaded camping zones with all amenities, jamming area, healing fields, ethnic market, a holistic area, fun park and a food court with a variety of healthy and diverse food.

Among international musicians performing during the four-day event are: Caravan Sun (Australia), Terrakota (Portugal), Che Sudaka (South America), Modena City Ramblers (Italy), Moulettes (UK), Bas Mooy (the Netherlands), Kevin Knapp (the US), Al Jawala (Germany), Mind Lab (Greece), Oded Kafri (Israel) and many more.

Local bands include: Funk Allearth, Xtruppaw, Tribali, Cygna, Hot Club of Valletta, Falcon’s Flying Circus, Plato’s Dream Machine and The Ranch.

Xtruppaw

Today’s programme:

Workshops: 6pm Opening ceremony; 7.19pm Heart in Motion (Edel Maria) and 8.30pm Naked Unplugged (Daralicious).

Roots Stage: 8.15pm The Ranch; 9.15pm Tribali and 10.45pm Struppaw.

Enchanted Forest: 5pm onwards, Bass Culture Crew; Earthrocker and Lion Black.

Earth Garden starts today at 6pm until Sunday at the National Park, Ta’ Qali.