Last weekend, we ventured to the 6th borough of Philadelphia (only an hour and half on the train people) to check out the Popped! Music Festival, and support Alexis Rosenzweig, a creative entrepreneur trying to bring a quality indie summer fest to the city of Brotherly Love (See her with shades and a walky-talky in pics below).

The lineup included Dan Deacon, Mates of State, and was headlined by indie darlings Vampire Weekend. The sun shown down and a quiet streets near Drexel University were closed down for the day long fest. It made me yearn for the days when the City of New York made it easier to have music festivals in the streets downtown. Philadelphia still has that loose energy of a city about to burst.

The whole day was a laid back experience and Philly is a town where you can walk most of the places you need to get, so it makes a perfect day trip.  Alexis lead the organization of the fest for the 2nd year with a stellar lineup and a mission to put one of the most environmentally “sound” fests on the East. With a small team and little budget, its nearly impossible to achieve sustainability at a music festival, but she put a lot of actions in place that made a difference. The venue was within walking distance of the train station, so anyone who wanted to come in from outside of town had no problem with transportation. Recycling was aggressive, Zipcar was all over with promotions and the crowd seemed to respect the mantra Alexis was espousing by keeping things clean and respectful. Chotchkees were kept to a minimum with just a sponsored fan given out to keep everyone cool.