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Both area and national nonprofit organizations have set up shop in Bonnaroo’s Nonprofit Village located just adjacent to the “How Stage” in Centeroo.

The New York City based HeadCount was established in 2004 as a national non-partisan voter registration nonprofit.

“We register people to vote at concerts and festivals, but really where people are,” Senior Field Operations Manager Katrina Vassallo said. “That can be on the internet, Twitter…that can be at an event like this, and it is so important for us to be at an event like this because this is where they are coming to have fun, this is where they already are, they are positive and they have energy…”

Vassallo said voter registration education varies from state to state, and while some high school students register to vote as part of school, that is not always the case.

“I am from New York and I didn’t register to vote in school,” she said. “I actually registered with Head Count for the first time.”

Vassallo said Bonnaroo provides an environment that can help HeadCount destigmatize politics.

“We are nonpartisan, so we really want to be inclusive and friendly to everyone,” she said. “Politics should be something that you are excited to engage in and isn’t something that is like us versus them. It is us together.”

The New Orleans based nonprofit Footprint Project was also set up in Centeroo Thursday.

“Our overall mission is to help communities grow back greener by deploying cleaner energy to disasters,” Operations Director Will Heegaard said. “That often looks like solar generator systems that we deploy for community and first responders so they can keep the electricity working without gas or diesel generators.”

Heegaard said Footprint Project has been coming to Bonnaroo since 2019.

“We have equipment staged in Tennessee for tornado response and it is a great way to train our volunteers on how to activate the equipment as well as get the word out about our mission and share the free solar energy with the rest of the folks here,” he said.

Cynthia Hernandez of The Tennessee Environmental Council said the Nashville based nonprofit has been coming to the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester since 2019.

“We have statewide outreach with a couple of our programs and the one we are here talking about today is “Generate Some Buzz,” she said.

Hernandez said the initiative is designed to encourage more people to plant native wildflowers and trees at their homes to help the pollinator population.

“We want people to “be the solution,” she said. “We want people to plant these native wildflowers wherever they can.”

Hernandez said it is important for people to plant pollinator gardens because their habitats are being destroyed due increasing development.

“A lot of trees are taken out and their habitat is diminishing,” Hernandez said. “We need them because they are vital to our food supply.”

Hernandez said Bonnaroo is an excellent place for The Tennessee Environmental Council to share its message.

“Plant Roo is all about being sustainable and creating zero waste,” she said. “We encourage people to do zero waste, recycle, compost…all of those awesome things.”