On June 26th, 2014, the Thank You Festival took place at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. The Saturday sunshine united 20,000 people from all walks of life bringing awareness to the increasing need for children all around the world feeling the effects of extreme poverty. Hosted by Global Citizen and World Childhood Foundation, the day was filled with activism, positive vibes, and the universal tool bringing everyone together, music.
Throughout the festival grounds, there were interactive interest points to educate and empower concert-goers. Attendees could show their support for stopping child abuse by giving g a help hand print to a canvas wall: a symbol of the community unity vibe.
View the full photo album here.
Between sets fans showed their support for safe drinking water and sanitation around the world. #water4world
On the decks at the Thank You Festival, it all began with Alvin Risk. Throwing down his signature mix of dubstep hits like “Empty Hearted” and his collaboration with Skrillex on “Try It Out.” The crowd took off right away into the hot June night.
Next up was Cedric Gervais. His signature remix of Lana Del Ray’s “Summertime Sadness” ripped through the air and the crowd was ready for more.
And one could not forget the promotional support by Glow DC, running Washington, DC’s largest nightlife venue, Echostage. Frequent Echo patrons were present and proudly representing.
Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf of Krewella are no strangers to activism. In the fall of 2013, they collaborated with Headhunterz to release “United Kids of the World” bringing attention to the increasing amount of bullying around the world. The Krew did not disappoint throwing down a mix of live vocals with a blend of progressive, electro, and the hardstyle spin we’ve seen from their live tour of late.
Bodies took a short break during Above & Beyond, but hearts and minds did not. With an emotional acoustic mix of “Sun and Moon”, “You Gotta Go”, and “Thing Called Love”, things got deep and hearts fluttered. The visuals during “Sticky Fingers” had the crowd hypnotized.
Last, but never least, known to some as the Godfather of EDM, to others as a non-stop powerhouse. It doesn’t matter how you refer to him, Tiesto brought the energy and power that all festivals should end with. In 2012 he collaboratedwith a superstar team of EDM artists for the Dance (RED) Save Lives [Presented By Tiësto] album.
By the end of the festival, Thank You Festival patrons had made their voices heard by accumulating 140,000 online “actions” to make their voice be heard to Dr. Raj Shah, the Administrator of USAID, to increase US aid support to help children around the world with the struggles that they deal with every day. Because of these actions taken, Dr. Shah committed on stage at Thank You Festival to reshuffle up to $2.9 billion to end preventable child deaths, $40 million in the 2014 fiscal year for the Global Partnership for Education, and he committed to working with Congress to allocate an additional $50 million for the 2015 fiscal year to the Global Partnership for Education. This amazing accomplishment will help to save the lives of more than 500,000 children and help get 29 million children into schools worldwide.
Un-watermarked Photos: Ryan Gall/ Courtesy of Global Citizen
All Other Photos: Joshua Schellhammer
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