2022 Wilmington Earth Day festival returns to the outdoors

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington Earth Day Alliance will host the annual Wilmington Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 23, from noon to 6:00 p.m. in Long Leaf Park.

The community is invited to the free, fun-filled afternoon of live music, good food and environmental information and activities for the whole family.

This year’s theme is “Love Your Mother.” More than 50 environmentally-minded exhibitors and vendors will be there, explaining issues that affect our environment and illustrating how you can get involved.

“I am excited to welcome our community back to celebrating our environment after two years of being virtual,” said Festival Chair Matt Williams. “We will be in a new part of Long Leaf Park, between the new obstacle course and the splash pad, and cannot wait to share the hard work and ideas we’ve had brewing the last few years to make this festival fun for everyone involved.”

Enjoy live music and entertainment all day: Monica Jane at noon; children’s Nature Brigade Parade with the Rapping Red Oak at 1:45 p.m.; Cosmic Groove Lizards at 2:00 p.m.; drum circle with Community Drummers and Dancers at 3:45 p.m.; The Pinkerton Raid at 4:00 p.m. The Kids EcoZone will provide hands-on activities all day. Raffle prizes include a kayak made by Hurricane Kayak.

Food trucks will include Taqueria La Lillita, Webo Catering and Wheelz Pizza. Beverages available for purchase include beer from Bill’s Brewing Company, Wrightsville Beach Brewing Company and Edward Teach Brewery; wine from Noni Baca; kombucha from Panacea Brewing; and smoothies from Smart Smoothie. Culligan will provide drinking water, and guests are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles for this.

The festival is striving to be zero-waste: food scraps will be composted and festival beverage cups will be reusable. Food trucks will offer vegan and vegetarian options. They will serve their food in compostable packaging and use compostable cutlery.

This year the alliance joining forces with Wilmington VegFest (wilmingtonvegfest.com). Their event is on Sunday, April 24, at Legion Sports Complex, making it a perfect weekend to come to Wilmington for both events. Free parking and shuttles from satellite parking are planned.

For details: www.wilmingtonearthday.com