How One Music and Creative Arts Festival Plans To Use Cryptocurrency To Enhance The Human Experience [Interview]

Music is all about creating a connection between people, so it goes without saying that music festivals should be about creating an environment that fosters this connection. Although, for a lot of festivals these days, this focus seems to get lost somewhere along the way.

Then there’s Mettā Creative, an organization devoted to curating a connected, purpose-driven community — one that strives to live more sustainably and ultimately enhance the human experience through in-person experiences. Their tools are the creative arts and, strangely enough, cryptocurrency.

The two come together in the context of Mettā Creative’s upcoming music and arts festival, Beauty in the Backyard, during which a utility token (similar to digital currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum) will incentivize participation in certain activities and reward environmentally mindful behavior. As the currency can be redeemed or used at events, the underlying aim is to inspire more festival goers to seek memorable experiences with new people while also making a difference.

In all honesty, Bunk Buddha and Bassdread gracing the headlining slots of an event whose lineup boasts northeast heavyweights like Bitsky, 5AM, Malakai, Tygris, and Dice Man should be incentive enough to hit Camp Ramblewood from October 12th to the 14th. But if it isn’t, check out what Mettā Creative cofounder Dylan Nunn had to say about how Beauty in the Backyard will use this decentralized technology to foster a more connected community than ever before.

 

How do the ideals of cryptocurrency intersect with Mettā Creative’s desire to “party with purpose” and the #livemetta lifestyle?

While at University of Delaware, I realized that myself and many others felt unfulfilled by nightlife. The constant binge drinking and binge studying culture were hard to escape and we were left physically and mentally drained. This made it pretty hard to meet new conscious minded people with similar interests. We wanted to get down and have fun, but with more of a driven purpose, while also contributing to a public benefit, our focus mainly being the environment.

We began hosting our own events, creating spaces conducive to conversation, and environments that are comfortable for people to connect in. When I found out about Ethereum, and the benefits that decentralized smart contracts could bring to commerce and entertainment, this seemed like an invaluable tool for our mission. It allows for groups of people to interact without middlemen, making every interaction more connective and sociable, and we are working hard to bring this technology to our experiences, not just to make everything more transparent, but also to enhance the face-to-face, human interaction, which no technology will ever replace!

Digital currency often gets a bad rap when it comes to the computational/electric power of computers as the driving force behind its valuation. However, in reality, it’s much more environmentally taxing to rely on physical coins and dollars. Think about the effort it costs to transport money from place to place all while using resources to pay employees and leave their lights on all night.

Banks are pretty much in our pockets already, like Venmo and PayPal. But millennials now have the power to adopt more transparent, efficient and sustainable practices through transformational real-world experiences.

We create places that give our community the opportunity to understand what perceived value is and how it connects to strengthening an ecosystem that fosters collaboration and co-creation.

What can you tell us about Beauty in the Backyard’s crypto scavenger hunt?

Well, digital currency isn’t the only thing we’ll be hiding. And personally, I’ll be hiding some Bitcoin and Ethereum in The Backyard to strengthen the blockchain knowledge of our guests. If you’re not sure why decentralized networks are the future of festivals and haven’t fully understood how to interact with the digital ecosystem, we invite you to come out to Beauty in the Backyard to re-connect: with each-other, ourselves and nature. To have fun with each other, get to know new friends, listen to music, learn about forward thinking concepts and go on an adventure.

Along with ourselves, artists, vendors, and other experience creators being able to gift portions of cryptocurrency throughout the event, attendees can start earning additional tokens by solving poem clues and finding secret areas in the camp where they may established locations for “airdrops”, or even giveaways at specific times of the day. We would like to utilize the scavenger hunt as a way to gain attention and incentivize attendees to participate. Our tokens will be redeemable only at our experiences.

How can cryptocurrency change the world of art for the better?

Cryptocurrency, or more particularly, blockchain, helps facilitate more decentralized and transparent markets. This is vital for controversial topics like art, politics, and technology to thrive without being censored. When properly utilized, blockchain solutions dramatically limit scandal and controversy due to the transparency, which furthers our progress towards smart, sustainable communities.

Eventually, with the help of dozens of brilliant ongoing projects, we can even create an entire decentralized ecosystem for people to buy, sell and even value art based on social media impressions.

Come find out what it means to #LiveMetta, and join us Oct 12-14 at our most incredible experience yet, Beauty in the Backyard

Want to support our voice & contribute?

To join our community conversation and engage with the Mettā Makers before the event, please join us on “Telegram Messenger”!
Once you have the app you’ll be able to join the group via this link:

If you have not yet set up your digital wallet, please check out some resources from our friends at Howard University Blockchain Labs: Here’s some more information.

To support the ecosystem and start buying bitcoin to use at Beauty in The Backyard, set up your Coinbase wallet here and receive $10 of free Bitcoin when you invest your first $100 —> Here is your referral link 

 

 

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