A group of North County students wants younger generations to become more involved in the upcoming election.

They’re hosting “Rock the Vote” this Saturday in Carlsbad with things fun for all generations: music, food and giveaways.

“We’re trying to improve voter education among young people. We’ll have a lot of free music and some food stalls and … citizen initiatives,” said Sonali Sharma, one of the event’s organizers. “The whole idea is to remind young voters that they should express their opinions through their vote.”

The organizers are still in high school and are about to run for their first election.

When organizing this event, they specifically wanted to attract the attention of their colleagues.

“We felt like not a lot of young people wanted to come because they weren’t really interested in civic engagement. So we decided to invite a lot of school organizations, a lot of student-run organizations, as well as student-run bands and… lots of food. Kids love food,” said organizer Aleena Kim.

The non-partisan event is intended to help young people learn about their options and establish contacts with local citizens’ initiatives.

“The organizations will be speaking personally to visitors coming and going at the event about the parliamentary elections and voting and just raising awareness about the elections,” said event organizer Mihika Juneja.

Carlsbad City Council member Priya Bhat-Patel helped organize the event.

She says it’s refreshing to see younger youth wanting to be informed and involved.

“In this day and age, with so much going on in the political climate, seeing their energy and enthusiasm to continue making a difference, to continue making a change and to inspire future generations inspires me to want to continue doing this work.”

Bhat-Patel adds that the event is suitable for all ages and offers older generations the opportunity to connect with younger ones.

“They want to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. They want to make sure that everyone is represented, that everyone has an opportunity to show up. And I think you can see that in the event that they organized,” she said.

Rock the Vote will take place on Saturday, August 10th from 4-7 p.m. at Magee Park in Carlsbad.