KATY PERRY & FRIENDS HOST 2nd ANNUAL LIGHT UP THE COURT PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT
KATY PERRY & FRIENDS HOST 2nd ANNUAL LIGHT UP THE COURT PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT TO BENEFIT FIREWORK FOUNDATION
Photo Credit: Cynthia Parkhurst, Teammate Company
Founded By Katy Perry and Angela Lerche, the Santa Barbara Event
Raised Proceeds to Empower Youth Through Arts Initiatives
Photo Credit: Cynthia Parkhurst, Teammate Company
Last weekend, on Sunday, October 13th, Katy Perry & Friends hosted the 2nd Annual Light Up the Court Pickleball Tournament at the Montecito Club in Katy’s hometown of Santa Barbara, CA. All proceeds from the event will benefit Firework Foundation, founded in 2018 by Katy and her sister, Angela Lerche, to empower children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts.
The tournament kicked off with a round robin of players that included Ellen DeGeneres, Orlando Bloom, Charlie Puth, Lauren Sanchez, Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe, Benji Madden, James Valentine and local pickleball enthusiasts. The 2024 Light Up the Court Champions were Mike Roberts and Eui Oh, who also went on to de-throne last year’s champions in a special “All Time Best” of Santa Barbara match.
Capping off the event, which was produced again by Ngoc Nguyen (Nguyen Strategies), Katy and Angela (neé the Hudson Sisters) teamed up with top pickleball professionals, the Brascia Sisters, for an epic mic’d exhibition match among siblings with Katy and Mary Brascia narrowly beating Angela and Maggie Brascia 11-9.
CELSIUS was the exclusive energy drink sponsor of the event once again and, this year, shared the VIP billing with new sponsor, Denon, which provided their premier PerL Pro earbuds to VIP guests. City National Bank, DeSoi, Amass, Cascade, Avaline, CRBN, Civile and Stanley also returned as sponsors with the lifestyle apparel line creating special 2024 LUTC hoodies and paddles and the popular drinkware brand customizing their premier cross bottle for all attendees. New sponsors included Oliver Thomas, PlatinumLED Therapy Lights, Roar, Form Nutrition, EltaMD, Koatji, Perakos Family Cares, Kaylin & Kaylin Pickles, Life Time and major pickleball brand Joola, which provided the tournament’s pickleballs and several types of paddles from their expansive line for attendees. Guests were also treated to specialty cocktails provided by 818 Tequila and Sprinter Vodka Soda and McConnell’s was on site serving Katy Perry’s Baby You’re a Firework Blue Raspberry ice cream, available in scoop shops, select grocery stores and online now.
Camp counselors from Firework Foundation’s Camp Firework were on hand to distribute custom visors and shirts, and share information about the organization’s marquee initiative, a 3-day sleep-away experience in nature where up to 100 kids are provided a space to discover their spark through artistic programming and bring that sparkle home to their communities. The foundation has also partnered with organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America, LAAMP (founded by Stargate, Katy’s collaborators on “Firework”), Young Producers Group and FIDM on music and mentorship programs and, for camp alumni, leaders-in-training programs. Katy and Angela were interviewed in this Firework Foundation segment from the Lifetime special about Variety’s 2022 “Power of Women: The Changemakers.”
ABOUT FIREWORK FOUNDATION:
Founded by Katy Perry and her sister, Angela Lerche, the Firework Foundation’s mission is to empower children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts. Through impactful events and programs such as the annual Camp Firework, which launched in 2018, the Firework Foundation creates environments where kids can discover their spark through a variety of art specialties as well as traditional camp activities and bring that sparkle home to their communities. During the school year, Firework Foundation also partners with local Los Angeles-area Boys & Girls Clubs to bring supplemental artistic programming to after-school care. The Firework Foundation also supports youth-serving organizations with donations to programs such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Rock N Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles, MOXI - The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, Santa Barbara Foundation, Baby2Baby and more. For more information, visit fireworkfoundation.org and follow @fireworkfoundation.
ABOUT KATY PERRY:
Since Katy Perry’s Capitol Records debut in 2008 with One of the Boys, she has racked up a cumulative 115 billion streams alongside worldwide sales of over 70 million adjusted albums and 143 million tracks. The biggest-selling female artist in Capitol history, Katy is one of only twelve artists in history to have surpassed 100 million certified units with their solo single releases – and the first-ever Capitol Records recording artist to achieve the elite status of having 10 million RIAA-certified units for a single in 2015. She was also the first artist in RIAA history to earn three RIAA Diamond singles – for “Firework,” “Dark Horse” and “Roar.” Since then, she’s added a few more to her collection with “California Gurls” (feat. Snoop Dogg), “E.T.” and both “Teenage Dream” the SINGLE AND ALBUM going DIAMOND. Katy now has six singles and one album for a total of SEVEN Diamond-certified titles.
Aside from being one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, Katy is an active advocate of many philanthropic causes. In 2013, Katy was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has used her powerful voice to ensure every child’s right to health, education, equality, and protection. Katy has also been a champion for LGBTQ+ equality, and has received numerous awards for her work, including the Trevor Project's Hero Award in 2012, the Human Rights Campaign's National Equality Award in 2017, amfAR’s Award of Courage in 2018, and Variety’s Power of Women distinction in 2021 for her work with her own foundation, the Firework Foundation, whose mission is to empower children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts.
Katy has similarly focused her entrepreneurial flair towards her eponymous shoe line, Katy Perry Collections, as well as for selective companies working to improve health and wellness. She sits on the Board of Bragg, makers of the celebrated Apple Cider Vinegar, has been an early backer of Impossible Foods, the plant-based meat producer, and is an active investor in Apeel Sciences, a company focused on plant-derived shelf-life extension technology for fresh produce that improves quality and reduces food waste, and Samsara, an enviro-tech company creating infinite recycling to end plastic pollution. Most recently, Katy co-founded De Soi, a line of sparkling ready-to-drink non-alcoholic apéritifs with natural adaptogens, in partnership with AMASS, maker of clean botanics.
Katy has just wrapped her critically acclaimed Las Vegas residency, PLAY. When “American Idol” returned to the air in 2018, Katy joined as a judge. She just completed her seventh, and final, consecutive season on the show. Her new album, 143, is out now.
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