Get your home and garden ready for spring and summer with these upcoming eco festivals for the month of April and early May.
The Green Metropolis Fair returns this Saturday April 14. This free family friendly event is sponsored by Green Parents Network and The Green Exchange and runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. What can you find at the fest? Here's a sample:
- Hands on family-friendly activities: farm animals, Johnny Appleseed performance, gardening activities
- Over 100 local businesses and organizations
- Retail market with sustainable business vendors
- Food market with local restaurants and chefs
- Presentations from local experts throughout the day on gardening and sustainability topics.
The 20th annual Green & Growing Fair is a free urban gardening festival organized by GreenNet: Chicago's Greening Network and takes place from from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 28 at Garfield Park Conservatory. The event will showcase a variety of vendors, workshops, demonstrations, and family activities to "get your rusty green thumb up and running." The fair will also host the unveiling of the winning seed in the One Seed Chicago contest, which hopes to link thousands of the same community gardens, yards and window sills across Chicago in a season long celebration. This year’s seed "candidates" are herbs: basil, cilantro, chamomile.
The mama of all Chicago green festivals, sponsored by Green America and Global Exchange, returns May 5 to 6 at Navy Pier. Hours for the event are noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Featuring multiple stages of demonstrations, speakers, film screenings, a kids zone with family friendly activities and fun, vendors galore and much, more. Tickets are available online in advance and at the door.
Who's free?
• Youth 18 and under
• Bicyclists using the festival's bike valet
• Green Festival Volunteers
• Green America and Global Exchange members
• Union members with card
Social justice and environmental issues are expected to be the focus of this year's Green Festival with keynote speaker Rev. Jesse Jackson and other speakers to include: Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!; Jeffrey Smith; William Ayers; Bernadine Dohrn; Greg Palast and local leaders Naomi Davis of "Blacks in Green"; Bianca Alexander of "Conscious Living TV" and Karyn Calabrese.
-photo credit: roman.petruniak., flickr
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