Porter Robinson Talks Robinson Malawi Fund And Crunchyroll At Second Sky Music Festival

Iconic producer Porter Robinson is set to stun this weekend with his Second Sky music festival.

The lineup is not short of impressive talent, with highlights including RL Grime, Virtual Self, Salute, G Jones and legendary artist Skrillex. The event, slated to take place Saturday, Oct. 29, also features an afterparty on Sunday, Oct. 30.

Second Sky also boasts a charity component to it—the Robinson Malawi Fund. While on his Shelter Tour in Philadelphia in November 2016, Robinson received a call that would change his life forever. His younger brother, Mark Robinson, was in the hospital gravely ill and was eventually diagnosed with a rare form of fast-growing cancer called Burkitt lymphoma. Robinson started the fund in coordination with UNC Medicine. The Robinson Malawi Fund has raised $320,000.

“As my brother, Mark Robinson, began remission, my family and I turned our thoughts to the people and children of Malawi who didn’t have as good a chance of beating Burkitt Lymphoma,” Robinson says. “We partnered up with UNC and created the Robinson Malawi Fund, which we debuted at 2019’s Second Sky. It was beyond beautiful seeing the line to donate at our booth, and we have continued to carry on the tradition and 2021’s Second Sky will, of course, be up at this year’s installment as well. I want to thank everyone who has contributed—you have touched the lives of so many children and their families.”

“I was there again working at the booth,” Dr. Kate Westmoreland, who treated Mark Robinson for Burkitt Lymphoma at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, adds.” “It’s a huge event, with approximately 38,000 attendees total. Porter’s fans are the nicest, most sincere people. Many of them recognized me from the video me and Robinson released before the festival—they’d say ‘You’re Mark’s doctor.’ Nick and Nancy Robinson—Porter’s parents—stationed themselves in front of the donation booth. They told fans they were Porter’s parents, which was a huge surprise, and they would take a photo with excited fans but also directed them to make a donation.” Westmoreland had never listened to electronic dance music or witnessed full-on light show performances before meeting Porter. Now, she is hooked.

The festival will be similar to a theme park rather than a usual festival, and no other artist has done this to this extent. Second Sky will feature Crunchyroll, a building activation dubbed New Crunchy City that includes a second stage with performers from MOGRA, which is a collection of Japanese artists in the anime scene.

Crunchyroll’s Anime Shelter space at Second Sky is a nod to “SHELTER,” an animated short film written and executive produced by Robinson in association with Crunchyroll in 2016. Crunchyroll Anime Shelter will bring three deejays from MOGRA, the iconic Akihabara nightclub, to the U.S. for the first time since 2019.

“MOGRA is one of my favorite places in the world: the all-night songs and incredible live VJing is an experience that has become rightfully famous worldwide, and it’s somewhere I go every time I’m in Japan,” Robinson says. “Crunchyroll, who helped in the creation of Shelter, is bringing MOGRA to the U.S. with Second Sky. If you’re coming to the festival, don’t miss it.”