CLOSER TO THE SUN
2024 RECAP!
Cheers to 10 years of Closer to the Sun and a huge shout out to all the guests and artists who supported Positive Legacy’s mission to integrate music and service while we were in Mexico. It was a banner year for us all!
Day of Service
We brought 50 Closer to the Sun festival goers to Kaxan Na’at, a beautiful school built by one of Positive Legacy’s partners in the region, the RCD Foundation. Upon arrival we got to work and helped put some finishing touches on this state of the art campus deep in the jungle of Riviera Maya. We painted all the buildings, added a beautiful full-wall mural, cleared an area for recreational and sports use, and constructed new eco-benches and tables. After completing the morning projects, we were treated to a delicious local lunch and then received a lovely send-off with thank yous and beautiful handwritten cards from the school children. It was a day none of us will ever forget!
Charity Auction & Bingo
This year’s auction and activities raised nearly $80,000 to support Positive Legacy’s mission and our local partners—a record-breaking achievement! We want to give a big shoutout to the artists and fans who donated items, and to Josh Timmermans, Keith Zacharski, and Angela Ricciotti for contributing their stunning photography. And of course, to all the event guests who supported us with your enthusiastic bids—you’re the true rock stars of the week. Thank you for cranking it up to 11 and making this event truly unforgettable!
Big props to the Closer fans and Andy Geib for participating in the always entertaining poolside BINGO, it was nonstop laughs, dancing, and good vibes all around!
A heartfelt shoutout to team Slightly Stoopid and their ongoing support the last 10 years. This would not be possible without you and your amazing music community. And to all the event patrons who brought school & medical supplies, participated in our activities and made donations to Positive Legacy…nothing but love!
2024 PROGRAMMING
Day of Service & Cultural Connection
Friday, December 13th, 2024
Join Positive Legacy at RCD Foundation’s newly built school in the jungle for a day of giving back, fun and celebration!
Join us for a day of volunteering at a local school and leave a positive legacy in the place we party! Take a gorgeous, luxurious bus ride into the jungles of the Riviera Maya to Kaxan Na’at, a local school built by one of Positive Legacy’s partners in the region, the RCD Foundation. With the school structure built, the next goal is to finish the kitchen and get the school operational. They have no power out there yet, but with a little extra human power, we can help them take the next step.
Fundación RCD, A.C., is a non-profit organization that was created to improve the quality of life of the neediest people with the purpose of promoting and favoring equal opportunities in the communities where we work, through three main lines of action: education, development, and health. Positive Legacy has been working with RCD for over 5 years, with them contributing to many of our days of service and multiple local projects.
During the Day of Service on December 13th, we will take approximately 50 Closer to the Sun guests out on an adventure to reinvigorate the school building with a cool new mural, clear an area for recreational and sports use, as well as construct new eco-benches and tables for the kids.
After completing the morning's work projects, we’ll enjoy a fabulous local lunch prepared for us by the local community and enjoy an acoustic set from one of our favorite local bands. Then we’ll jump back on the bus and return to the festival in time for the first official set of the day!
Activities for the day will include:
• Assembling eco-tables and benches
• Painting a school mural
• Clearing land
• Lunch & music
Ticket Cost: $75 in advance // $100 at the resort (if available)
Please note: The revenue from ticket sales helps to offset the costs associated with the Day of Service, including supplies and materials, transportation, food, payments for local cooks and musicians, etc. We are always looking for additional financial support to help defray the expenses of this day.
Space is limited, click HERE to reserve your spot now!
Charity Auction
On the last day of our adventure together, come on by the Heaven Lobby for this year’s Auction. Bid on unique memorabilia including autographed instruments and photos, concert tickets, and more to take home something extra special from Mexico!
If you are interested in donating an item to the auction, contact us TODAY.
Donation Drive
Leave a little room in your bag to help provide medical and school supplies for the local community! Please bring items in reusable bags.
School Supplies: Backpacks, pencils, notebooks, crayons, markers, colored pencils, calculators, rulers, and reams of paper
Medical Supplies: Gloves, masks, swabs, bandages, gauze, antiseptics, allergy medicine, toothbrushes & toothpaste, deodorant, eye drops, ace bandages, and hand sanitizer.
2023 RECAP
Thank you to all of the Closer to the Sun guests and artists who supported Positive Legacy’s mission to integrate music and service while we were in Mexico. You certainly know how to party with a purpose!
Day of Service & Cultural Connection
We took 50 Closer to the Sun festival goers, plus Matt & Kyle from The Movement, to Xpuha Beach in Puerto Aventuras, just minutes from the Hard Rock, for an epic day of service! Upon arrival, we were led down a boardwalk through tropical mangroves and arrived at the tip of the Dune Resort. We were greeted by the crystal blue ocean and white sand beach and also our friends from the RCD Foundation. We were all given gloves and a bag and spent the morning getting our hands in the sand and assisting with a much needed beach cleanup. After completing the morning projects, we were serenaded with local live music from The Tree Funkers, ate a delicious local lunch and swam in the beautiful Caribbean sea before heading back to the resort.
Charity Auction
This year's auction raised over $57,000 to support Positive Legacy’s mission. A huge shout out to all the artists and fans who donated items, as well as to Dave Vann & Josh Timmermans for donating their beautiful photography, and most especially to all the event guests who supported us with their bids.
Activities
Thanks to all the Closer fans and Little Stranger for a hysterically funny and entertaining poolside BINGO! This year we had a great time sending guests around the resort on a Positive Legacy Scavenger Hunt where they were encouraged to make new memories and friends! We also got our fun on with the Bling your Own Sunglasses Craftivity we hosted in our HQ, where guests got a chance to decorate their own sunnies and put their own unique style into their eyewear.
A HUGE shoutout to Slightly Stoopid for the incredible acoustic set and the ongoing support for the last 9 years, we couldn't do this without you! And to all the event patrons who brought school & medical supplies, participated in our activities and made donations to Positive Legacy…so much love!
2022 RECAP
Thank you for leaving your Positive Legacy Closer fam! Your kindness and generosity was once again overwhelming! This week we accomplished so much for the local community.
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You rolled up your sleeves and crushed the Sold Out Day of Service!
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Together and in conjunction with Fundación RCD we gave a much needed facelift and infrastructure improvements to the Cadi Ejido school. Your hard work was inspiring!
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We got our Bingo on with Fortunate Youth and raised over $1100.
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Your School and Medical Supply donations filled 2 truckloads and will be distributed asap to local communities.
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And to top off the best week ever, The Elovators brought us Closer for the biggest Auction Opener sing along yet!
Together the silent and live auction raised over $53,000!
Your hearts are as big as your love for music and we are so very grateful.
2021 RECAP
Closer to the Sun 2021 was one for the books!! After a year hiatus, fans were back and more ready than ever to leave a Positive Legacy. We hosted two sold out Day of Service shifts on the Hard Rock Hotel property, working alongside Mike’s Amazing, Fundación RCD, and 50 event guests to assemble more than 300 food and supply bags made from recycled hotel uniforms and curtains. Fans also showed up in full force to play musical Bingo with the one and only HIRIE, raising over $1,800 for our ongoing environmental and humanitarian projects. To top it all off, our friends the Common Kings played an acoustic set in the Hacienda Lobby on the last night of the event, bringing in swarms of guests just in time for the auction… and people were ready to bid! The combined live and online auctions raised a whopping $64,000 – making it our highest grossing auction in history! Fans that donated auction items were especially generous this year, so we want to give a special thanks to those who donated to and bid on items in the auction, everyone who hauled school and medical supplies to Mexico, and the guests that volunteered during the Day of Service. All in all, Closer to the Sun was a smashing success and we are already looking forward to next year!
CLOSER TO THE SUN RECAP (2014-2021)
Positive Legacy has worked with Closer to the Sun since 2014, raising over $193,000 to support local nonprofit organizations in Mexico!
Funds raised at CTTS have supported:
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Assembling and distributed food and supply boxes for families in need throughout Quintana Roo
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Xcacel Sea Turtle Sanctuary for park improvements, beach cleanups and to build housing for biologists
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Building a community center that doubles as a schoolhouse and medical center in Central Vallarta
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Supporting the Flora y Fauna community garden
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Developing a community space for Casa de la Cultura in Puerto Morelos
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An urban garden initiative in Puerto Morelos
In accordance with these grants, Positive Legacy has led seven Days of Service giving Closer to the Sun guests the opportunity to visit the project and get their hands dirty working on it themselves.
(2019) Day of Service guest Brooke from Denver shared with us: “I look forward to this day of service every time I come to Closer To The Sun :) So grateful to be a part of such an amazing group of humans! Thank you for taking such good care of us when we are away from the resort. Sooo much love!”
Another highlight of Closer to the Sun is the annual Name That Tune BINGO, which has been hosted by the likes of SOJA, Thievery Corporation, Dirty Heads, HIRIE & Pepper. In 2019, Positive Legacy also hosted the inaugural Closer to the Pin Classic Golf Tournament, and was honored to be joined by members of Fortunate Youth.
In addition to fundraising activities, Positive Legacy has collected donations each year from festival attendees to be distributed to small Mayan villages via our friends at Dreams for Mayan Children. Thanks to all the fans who have filled their suitcases with medical supplies, school supplies, and sporting goods for the donation drive!