Refugia Festival

​With the results of the recent general election, many minds are focused on the pressing issues that this incoming administration may exacerbate. One of these issues is the state of environmental protections. Luckily, there is an arts organization currently working to stress the importance of this issue, and inspire action to protect our environment.

Refugia Festival was founded by composer Alexis C. Lamb with the goal of highlighting “the sonic beauty of our natural surroundings through music performances, educational programming, and community service to create meaningful environmental change on a local level.” Alexis was kind enough to take the time to answer some of my questions about the organization, so I’ll be including a lot of her thoughts about the work of the organization in this post. All quotes included are from her and the Refugia Festival website.

What is Refugia Festival?

​The festival invites attendees from the surrounding community to use this event to become more aware of and in touch with the natural world that surrounds them. On the Refugia Festival website, visitors can find a run down of information about attending the festival. Everything is laid out easily, which makes attending hassle free. In reading about last year’s event, I was intrigued simply in learning about what I would bring to the festival:

​Seems like a recipe for a good time!

The events themselves offer a variety of artists ranging from bassoon duos to singer-songwriters, to solar-powered instruments and immersive soundscapes, paired ingeniously with a cast of educators who work to share their knowledge about the natural world. There’s something for everyone here, regardless of age! This combination of musical elements and fields of expertise seem to bring about the potential for a truly enlightening experience.

​“One example was a workshop on native plant species of southeast Michigan, hosted by David Wilkerson-Lindsey. Before this workshop, attendees had an opportunity to perform Elliot Cole’s Flowerpot Music, led by Peter Ferry, connecting the performance to the workshops and service through the medium of a flowerpot/plant container. David then prepared visual examples of common native plants in the area, their benefits to the ecosystem, and what we can do to preserve them. This workshop was then followed up with our service activity with Seeds to Community, where RF-A2 attendees helped transplant hundreds of native plant seedlings into bigger containers so they could continue to grow. Eventually, these plants were planted back into local county parks and community spaces.” Not only do these events give attendees a chance to learn, but also offer ways for them to directly help the environment around their community. With climate issues often being something that I feel powerless against in the face of massive corporations, I imagine an experience like this would feel empowering and inspiring.

The festival ensures that this variety of options is unified in their connection to the environment that they are taking place in. “Refugia Festival is innovative through its place-based programming. All performances, educational programming, and service activities are curated to the particular ecosystem where the event is being held so that it makes a greater connection and impact on that community. This may include working with local and regional artists who have created art about their local environment and artists beyond the local geographic area who have made music, sound installations, and/or interactive performance art related to the ecosystem.”
​

The Music and Environment Connection

​In researching for this post, I ended up contemplating the fact that we are all essentially trained to tune out “unhelpful” sounds. Our daily lives are so noisy, especially in comparison to the lives of folks living even just 50 years ago. The hum of highways and industrial work perforates even the most remote areas. Access to natural spaces has started to dwindle, even though we are still more fortunate than most here in the states. I know I’m not alone in rarely stopping to consider a lone bird singing, or enjoy the beautiful rustling of leaves in a swell of the breeze. Although I remember a time when I would. Our brains now just throw those sounds in with all the others we’re supposed to ignore. We’re all conditioned to tune out “distractions”, except for our phones of course…

In many ways, we’ve become more disconnected from nature than we ever have been. I remember having the luxury to go out and play in the woods as a kid, find frogs and bugs, shut my eyes under the shade of a tree, and run away from the occasional skunk. It saddens me to think that most children today don’t have access to that, and I worry for the kids of the future who may not at all.

“Despite the numerous conversations around the impacts of climate change, sound pollution is rarely addressed, even though awareness of it could play a significant role in environmental conservation.” As sad as it is, I agree. I think that the change in our sonic environment is often the most tangible and perceivable example of how the neglect towards the needs of our natural environment has gotten out of hand. It’s easy to stand in the same place you were when you were a kid and hear the lush bird calls and frogs croaking now replaced with the roar of cars and rumbling of industry. It just takes a moment of clarity to remember to listen. 

​Alexis acknowledges that there are many pieces inspired by the natural world, but points out that these works often neglect the connection of that music to the natural environment it is surrounded by. Performances shut away into concert halls offer examples of performing music “about nature” rather than music “with nature”. “To solve this issue, all Refugia Festival events, including various music performances, educational workshops, community service events, and ongoing activities, are presented in the same ecosystem we hope to preserve. The music may be thematically related to the ecosystem, but we also program works that directly engage with the natural soundscapes. Those pieces are often more effective for bringing attention to a particular sound, plant, animal, etc., in the space. If one’s attention is drawn to the sound first, one starts becoming more aware of one's surroundings.”

Alexis touches on the “ripple effect” that events like these can have on attendees, “For example, if a community member attends Refugia Festival and learns more about the birds in their local ecosystem, they may choose to make simple changes in their lifestyle to cut down on noise pollution to hear and appreciate the birds. Perhaps they even look into volunteering with a local ornithology organization or decide to walk to work once per week instead of driving so they can listen to the soundscapes from the birds. They may then share this knowledge with a friend who agrees to go on a bird-watching walk with them to learn more.” By allowing attendees to form a memorable connection with their environment, Refugia can ensure that the environment becomes part of that person's daily considerations. As we’ve touched on many times in this blog, education and making the unfamiliar familiar is a wonderful approach to enacting change.

Imagine if you suddenly knew exactly who was making all those bird calls in the woods, could identify a leaf as it fluttered past you on its way to the ground, and felt your ear catch on all the details that you normally overlook. It’s a rewarding change in perspective, a moment of clarity to remember, that Refugia Festival offers. It’s much harder to ignore what surrounds you now that you’ve been trained to listen for it. “Overall, Refugia Festival seeks to not only create a memorable event for the community where it is held, but attendees will leave with a greater awareness of and appreciation for the sonic beauty found within their natural surroundings, which in turn will lead to actionable changes within said community to ensure that those sonic experiences may continue to thrive in the region.”

The Future of Refugia Festival

With her wonderful work already proven effective in Michigan, Alexis looks towards the expansion of the project to other areas, “The primary long-term goal is to host Refugia Festival in other locations in addition to Ann Arbor to continue this work in new ecosystems. All of the same curatorial considerations would remain, which means that Refugia Festival would still contain programming that is either thematically related to or directly engaging with the ecosystem where the event is taking place.” 

In addition to bringing the festival to new environments, “Another long-term goal is to collaborate with people who work in environmental public policy to see if we can use Refugia Festival to encourage policy changes that mitigate sound pollution and create other long-term conservation solutions.” Using the powerful effect of this project as a vehicle for improved environmental policy could be a path toward preserving those nature-filled childhood memories for generations to come.
​

Support Refugia Festival

Alexis encourages supporters to get in touch with her. “If you want to learn more about how to get involved with Refugia Festival or have an idea for a presentation/performance/workshop, please write to me at [email protected]. Even beyond the festival, though, I encourage artists to consider their sonic presence when performing in open-air environments.” 

News about the upcoming 2025 Refugia Festival (hosted again in Ann Arbor, MI) is coming soon, so follow Refugia Festival on social media, join their mailing list, and check out their website at the links I’ll include here:
​
Website: (https://www.refugiafestival.com/)

Instagram: (@refugia_festival)

Newsletter: (https://refugiafestival.beehiiv.com/subscribe)

​I encourage you to follow and share Refugia Festival. Their work is so important, and could make a difference in the long years to come. Until next time, thank you for reading, and happy jamming!