Jack Johnson announces virtual Kōkua Festival 2020

Festival will be livestreamed on Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel and Johnson’s Facebook page

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd and in support of the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation and COVID-19 relief efforts, multi-platinum artist and environmentalist Jack Johnson announces Kōkua Festival 2020 – Live From Home, a livestream on Saturday, April 25th in partnership with Amazon Music.

Johnson will host and perform within a two-hour livestream from his front porch in Hawaii and share the digital stage with special at-home performances from Kōkua Festival alumni including Ben Harper, G. Love, Ziggy Marley, Lukas Nelson, Paula Fuga, Kawika Kahiapo, John Cruz, Anuhea, Ron Artis II and his brother Thunderstorm Artis. Viewers will also be treated to at home cooking lessons from some of Hawaii’s top chefs, Ed Kenney and Mark Noguchi.

Additionally, fans can get ready for the festival with the Kōkua Festival 2020 Playlist, and tune into Amazon Music’s Twitch channel at noon HST/3 pm PT/6 pm ET on April 25th or Jack Johnson’s Facebook to watch the show.

Donations will benefit Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation, a non-profit that supports environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaiʻi. To aid local COVID-19 relief efforts, a portion of donations will be directed to programs that promote food security and sustainable local food systems in Hawai‘i, including Aloha Harvest, the Full Calabash Fund, and the Chef Hui Give & Go Community Meal Program.

Held on Earth Day weekend at Honolulu’s Waikiki Shell from 2004-2010, the Kōkua Festival served as both a community-centered celebration of music and environmental awareness and as the major fundraiser for the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation. Not only a showcase for live music, the Kōkua Festival also served as a major educational event where over fifty eco-friendly businesses and local environmental groups interacted with fans in the Kōkua Village, featuring sustainable products, alternative-energy demonstrations, local food and beverages, and activities for kids. As a leader in low-impact concert production, the Kōkua Festival was a model of event greening measures, including a bike valet service, biodegradable concession-ware, reusable merchandise, zero-waste and water refill stations, locally made biodiesel in generators, and locally sourced carbon offsets. In 2012, Johnson’s label Brushfire Records released Jack Johnson and Friends – Best of Kōkua Festival, which highlighted onstage collaborations with legendary musicians like Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, Dave Mathews, Ziggy and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and more.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com