Edmonton's Earth Day Festival

Apr

01

2010

Spring is here, and we have the great pleasure in announcing the 21^st Annual Edmonton’s Earth Day, Canada’s leading Environmental celebration.

Although International Earth Day is celebrated on the 22^nd of April, each year Edmonton positions our event on the closest Sunday, to enable the most people possible to attend. This year we will be starting Earth Week off on the Sunday beforehand.

Therefore, this year’s event is to be held in a new location, in Fort Edmonton Park, in and around Blatchford Hangar on Sunday, April 18^th, from noon to 6 pm. Volunteers, societies, environmental and wholistic organizations throughout the city are busy preparing their displays, activities and workshops for what promises to be a wonderful event.

Background

The first International Earth Day was observed 40 years ago, on April 22, 1970, when Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested that environmental “teach-ins” be carried out across the U.S.A to bring environmental issues into sharp public focus. Over 20 million people participated.

Twenty years later Denis Hayes, one of the organizers of the event, initiated the staging of Earth Day International, which is now an annual event worldwide, with 184 countries participating…

Earth Day Canada has been in operation since 1990, and the 1200 plus communities in Canada that operate Earth Day events do so in a non-confrontational manner. Our mandate is to initiate, encourage, support and celebrate individual environmental awareness and activity in all areas of human endeavor, empowering Canadians to make a positive difference in the ecological health of their communities, their country and the Earth.

About Edmonton Earth Day

The Arts and the Environment come together in Edmonton’s Earth Day, now in its 21^st year. More and more people are committing to take action to do something positive environmentally, but often lack the information and an opportunity to connect and speak to experts. Edmonton Earth Day works to help fill this void by bringing together Environmentally friendly organizations and businesses in a relaxed Festival setting, as well as providing environmental hands on experiences for children. In this way, people of all ages can learn ways to “walk a little lighter on the Earth”.

Earth Day 2010

Earth Day 2010 is a wonderful blend of the old and the new as we bring back some familiar faces, and add some new dimensions to the event with some exciting new features.

As it is every year, Edmonton Earth Day charges no admission – the entertainment and activities are free for families to explore and enjoy together.

Mainstage and Children’s Area

“Mainstage Unplugged” will be inside Blatchford Hangar this year and will feature acoustic performances by:

Dale Ladouceur
Jasmine Whenham
Michelle Boudreau
Low Flying Planes
Brian McLeod
John Spearn

There will also be presentations by the Solar Society of Alberta, and VELO.

Any power for the stage will be provided by the Solar Society of Alberta. Power for the rest of the Hangar is being replaced into the grid by Bullfrog Power, to help us try to reduce our event's energy footprint.

Exhibitors

A variety of environmental, wholistic and advocacy groups have come together to share their information. The City of Edmonton's Department of the Environment will be on hand to answer your questions.

Workshops

E-SAGE, Made in Alberta, and Raising Spaces will be the host in the upper hangar workshop area, with guest speakers covering everything from how to recycle, to going green in your renovations, plus more.

Children’s Area

A variety of performances/activities will be featured including:

Wonderstuff – working with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, kids to create baby animal masks, etc.
Litter CSI – be a litter detective and see how many pieces of litter you can find in our “litter crime area”
Royal Astronomical Society – will be bringing out sunscopes (weather dependent) for families to safely look at the sun.
BLESS – Big Lake Environmental Society will have pond bugs for kids to explore.
Julie Drew, recycled materials artist will be back with her paper making workshop, creating paper from recycled materials and old bluejeans! (nominal charge applies for materials)
plus more…

There is lots to see - lots to discover - and lots to learn. Join us for this year's Edmonton Earth Day Festival.

How to get to the event

There is some parking available at the event.

If you ride your bike down to the event, you can lock up your bike in a free secure area provided by Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society, beside Blatchford Hangar.

Free shuttle service to the front entrance of Fort Edmonton Park is being provided by ETS. Shuttles run every ½ hour from South Campus LRT Station by Foote Field. We recommend parking and riding on the LRT to the South Campus LRT station.