Most teens probably won’t bat an eye about an event promoting Earth Day, but perhaps huge stars like Usher and Fall Out Boy is just what it takes to capture the attention of thousands.

I woke up feeling both the humid spring air and the rush of excitement all through me on April 18.This was the day of the annual global Citizen Earth Day concert.

This would be my first year attending, but I knew I was going to have a great time. I was grateful that the event took place on a Saturday, giving me a chance to escape the stressful life of school.

The Global Citizenship Earth Day event is essentially an annual rally with a concert as its main event.

The featured artists at the concert included: Fall Out Boy, Usher, will.i.am, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Vixx and Roy Kim.The fact that the concert was free was definitely another plus.

My neighbor Julie and I picked up information about the event a few weeks back and have been planning for the big day ever since.

Julie and I left for Washington D.C. at 9:00, in the hopes of getting ahead in the line.

However, when we arrived, there was already a sea of people packing the sidewalks of the National Mall and we knew that we would not be able to catch a spot close to the stage.

Following the snake of people in front of us, Julie and I were eventually arrived at the bag check.After showing the guards the contents of our belongings, we sprinted across the lawn of the National Monument among hundreds of others.

Out of breath, Julie and I walked past by colorful blankets laid on the grass by other attendees. After numerous “excuse me’s” and “sorry’s”, we squished ourselves among the overflowing crowd of yelling fans and waited for the show to begin.

The music turned on at approximately 11:30 a.m. and all I could hear was the wave of screeches from others.

Along with the sound of loud music playing from the speakers, the gigantic screens above us began to show a series of videos promoting Earth Day and action to combat global warming.

There were a few videos that really stood out to me including one of a middle school that have taken great measures into confronting climate changes such as stopping their use of air conditioning.

Finally, after an hour of standing among thousands of sweaty bodies, the event started. The concert was hosted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and Soledad O’Brien and they really fired up the energy in the audience.

The two hosts talked about the importance of little actions that normal people can do to improve the state of the environment.

The audience soon welcomed the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the former Prime Minister Of Australia, Kevin Rudd. The two highly honored speakers emphasized how pollution from human activity can not only affect our local community, but the world as a whole.

The event also showed a video of German Chancellor Angela Merkel talking about international child and mother mortality rates. Merkel also said that the international community wants to set new development and sustainability goals at G7 summit.

When the performances started to roll in, the cheers reached a whole new level. I felt the ground beneath me tremble.

Usher blew the crowd away with his song “OMG” and Fall Out Boy performed “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark” along with many others of their songs.

K-Pop star Roy Kim soothed the audience with a rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Vixx, another K-Pop artist, performed their song “Error” in Korean.

After hours of chanting, screaming, and clapping, Julie and I had lost both of our voices and decided that it was a good time to escape the crowd and to head home. During the car ride home, I thought about the day I just had and how the amazing power of music that was able to bring so many people together for a common cause.

I cannot wait until this year’s concert and the new memories I would create then. The experience was the perfect way to encourage a variety of people to be aware and celebrating a holiday that highlighted environmental issues.

By bringing major stars, the holiday made me aware of the environmental issues that we face.

I never thought that celebrating Earth Day would be this fun.