Gainesville hosts environmental fall festival

This Saturday, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., First Magnitude Brewing Company will be hosting the Fall Festival for the Environment.

This event is the first of its kind and has been put together by City of Gainesville project coordinator Kentucky Costellow. At the festival, there will be food trucks, a raffle and live music from local bands Wax Wings, West King String Band and The Skins.

This event, sponsored by the Gainesville Arts and Parks Foundation, will be raising awareness for environmental groups and raising money for the annual Great Invader Raider Rally and monthly Gainesville Greenway Challenge.

The Great Invader Raider Rally, previously known as the Great Air Potato Round-Up, takes place every January, when volunteers gather to clean up and restore local parks and nature centers in the Gainesville area.

Costellow encourages attendance from residents of all ages, she said. “Protecting natural resources affects all of us,” she said. The fundraising done for the Great Invader Raider Rally will go toward offsetting costs and purchasing prizes “like kayaks, bicycles and other things that help get people back out into nature,” Costellow said.

One of the must-see bands performing Saturday night is Wax Wings. The various members of Wax Wings met through the Gainesville music scene and have been playing together for just over three years.

The band has six members: Chelsea Carnes, who plays banjo, trumpet and serves as the primary vocalist; Brian Turk on the upright bass and vocals; Aaron Williams on the tuba and vocals; Andrew Cook on the violin and vocals; Nicholas Caputo on the accordion and John David Eriksen on the cello.

This diverse range of instruments helps to create Wax Wings’ unique sound. Carnes lists traditional world music, punk rock, alt-country, jazz and traditional Americana as different types of music that inspire the band’s dynamic music.

Lyrically, Carnes said, “I like to talk about relationships, friendships and people and how we treat each other… the beauty of human interaction.”

Wax Wings is currently working on their new album, and Carnes is excited to put out more new recordings in the future. Carnes said he is looking forward to performing at First Magnitude this weekend alongside West King String Band and The Skins, especially because of the festival’s link with natural restoration in Gainesville.

First Magnitude is asking for a $5 to $10 donation to attend the event and will give patrons 50 cents off their beers for the whole day. West King String Band will go on at 5:30 p.m., Wax Wings at 6:30 p.m. and Thin Skins at 7:30 p.m.