Come and celebrate our beautiful planet! In collaboration with our community partners, City Green is holding its 2nd annual Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 20th from 11am-2pm at Eastside Park in Paterson. This festival is appropriate for all ages, and is free to the public.
Through fun nature activities and play, this family event seeks to introduce children to larger ideas such as their relationship to plants and the environment, while empowering attendees of all ages to make sustainable changes that protect the earth.
Jasmine Moreano, City Green's Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, will be staffing an "Advocacy Action Center" table where visitors can write postcards to their legislators to share their views on how we should be caring for the planet . She explains why this event is so important to City Green, a nonprofit organization centered around environmental work.
"The Earth Day Festival is meaningful to the team at City Green because we are always excited to bring people closer to the soil, to plants, and to food. This event provides a wide variety of stations and tables where families and individuals can explore the natural world around us in celebration of the planet and our place here in Paterson which is also a part of the Earth! We invite community groups and vendors who provide hands-on experiences for guests like mindfulness and skate-boarding. And City Green's activities are all centered-around experiences the many sensations that the Earth can provide. We are super excited for everyone to join us on Saturday"
At activity stations led by City Green staff, festival attendees can craft "mud-creations" and bee hotels, make seed collages, pot lettuce seedlings to grow in their home gardens, or make a wish for the Earth at the "Hope Tree". A formal land acknowledgement will pay respect to the indigenous Lenape people who first inhabited Paterson and surrounding areas in Northern New Jersey.
As City Green's kickoff event of the season, Earth Day Festival will feature information about City Green's upcoming programs, events, and farm stands.
In the spirit of the festival, a special spotlight will be given to City Green's Climate Action Collective, a unique summer program for high school students who are passionate about climate change and environmental justice. Guided by City Green's Miranda Madrazo, students in the 4 month-program expand their knowledge on topics that include food justice and climate science.
Madrazo emphasizes the importance of talking about these topics year round, not just on Earth Day: "As youth witness and experience climate change, it is essential to have a supportive space to process emotions, connect to the earth, and cultivate climate leadership."
Several other community organizations will also join in on the fun! Attendees can purchase houseplants from the Green Acre Community Garden, participate in mindfulness martial arts exercises with NJ4S, and listen to interactive storytelling with Vicki Lynn Bryan of Sweet Water Stories & Tales, among other activities.
It's bound to be an exciting day with so many opportunities to learn, play, and celebrate the Earth with your community! For more information about Earth Day Festival, or to volunteer or RSVP to the event, please click here. We hope to see you there!