What is the Pitaya Festival?

This year marked it’s third year as Nicaragua’s premiere music and sustainability festival, the only of its kind, this year’s Earthship Pitaya Festival returned to El Carizal, San Juan del Sur on February 18th & 19th.  At the site of the Earthship, locally known as Casa Llanta, the “Pitaya Fest” transformed the community of El Carizal into a rock n’ roll haven complete with a massive main stage, a piñata party for the kids, a beer garden, and a food court of local cuisine.

With the hope of increasing environmental awareness, the festival took place at the site of a completely off grid and sustainable home called an Earthship. The Earthship is constructed out of recycled cans, bottles and tires filled with pounded earth. Solar panels collect the sun’s natural energy which is stored and used to power all electrical within the home. Rain water catchment systems take advantage of Nicaragua’s high quantity of rainfall by keeping it in large cisterns while water reclamation systems process used water and transport it to green houses filled with fruit trees and vegetable gardens. It is from this marvel of a structure that the festival attributes its name and inspiration for celebrating sustainability.

This year’s festival was a multi-day affair which included a photo exposition from international artists, the Quiksilver & NicaSurf sponsored surf competition and Nicaragua’s first ever Stand Up Paddle race in the bay of San Juan del Sur.   Proceeds from festival donations go toward the Casa Llanta Fund.  The Casa Llanta Fund is a non-profit organization actively involved in the community of El Carizal, Nicaragua. The Fund helped build the local pre-school and initiated the women’s coop locally known as Condimentos el Carizal through a micro-loan.   The Casa Llanta Fund continues to host English classes at the Escuela Carlos Guzman in El Carizal and supports San Juan del Sur’s school for special needs students called Los Pipitos.

Proceeds from the from Pitaya Fest go toward the Casa Llanta Fund. Casa Llanta is currently working in combination with Communidad Connect to host bi-weekly English classes for students of all ages within the community of El Carrizal.