ORCAfest fundraiser

**PLEASE NOTE: THE ORCAfest CAMPAIGN IS RAISING FUNDS IN BRITISH POUND STERLING**
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PROPOSAL/PLAN FOR BENEFIT CONCERT, SUMMER 2016

Charity event for O.R.C.A. (Ongoing Rehab & Care Alliance - reg. # pending)

'ORCAfest2016 Belfast, August 13-14, 2016

Our organization plans to host a multi-day, multi-band concert the weekend of Aug. 13-14, 2016, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The purpose of the concert will be to raise awareness of the threats facing orcas worldwide, the efforts to return captive wild-born orcas to their homes, and the campaign to place all captive orcas in more humane environments than the limiting concrete pools used by the marine-park industry.

We hope to attract musicians who are interested in supporting these animals’ rights, both in captivity and in the wild, and would like to lend a hand to the efforts to help recover endangered orca populations as well as improve the lives of orcas currently in captivity.

Funds raised by the concert will be dedicated to two primary charity beneficiaries:

The Orca Network. Based in the Pacific Northwest, the longtime organization headed by Howard Garrett and Susan Berta devotes its efforts primarily to the recovery of the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population of the Salish Sea region. Among their most noteworthy campaigns has been their long-running effort to retire Lolita/Tokitae, the sole surviving Southern Resident taken captive by the marine-park industry in the 1960’s and ‘70s, held at the Miami Seaquarium for the past 45 years, to her home waters.

The Orca Research Trust. Operated by the famed orca researcher, Dr. Ingrid Visser, from her base in Tutukaka, New Zealand, this organization devotes most of its efforts to preserving and providing rescue operations for the threatened population of killer whales who occupy the waters of New Zealand. Dr. Visser is also a noted advocate for orcas in captivity – particularly Morgan, the North Atlantic resident killer whale who was rescued when found ill in the Netherlands and then kept captive at the behest of the marine-park industry – and is one of the leading researchers in developing sanctuary sea pen facilities for killer whales that can serve as rehabilitation centers for wild-born orcas, and retirement homes for those born in captivity.

The benefit concert will be a large affair, more in the way of a festival, that will include booths for artists and food vendors, a 'fun fair' section, and many other attractions.

The event will also potentially feature showings of some of the key films that helped inspire the festival, notably the documentaries Blackfish and Lolita: Slave to Entertainment. In addition, concert-goers will be treated to presentations about the plans for retiring all orcas currently in captivity, as well as presentations about the fight to preserve orca populations around the world.

If you’re interested in learning more about orcas, you can watch these films online:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ceg4n_blackfish...

If you’re interested in learning more about Dr. Visser’s proposals for creating a seapen sanctuary for killer whales currently in captivity, see her presentation online here:

We believe that this event could become an annual festival, which will help to keep the sea pens in funding, and in turn, give these tormented animals a vastly improved, confinement-free life.