Love Your Mother

Wilmington Earth Day Festival returns with an awesome lineup of earth-friendly events for Saturday, April 23.

Wilmington Earth Day Alliance invites you to the annual Wilmington Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 23 from 12 to 6 pm in Long Leaf Park. It’s a fun-filled afternoon of live music, good food and environmental information and activities for the whole family — and it’s free!

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,” says 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.”

The Kids EcoZone will provide hands-on activities all day. Raffle prizes will include a kayak made by Hurricane Kayak.

Scheduled live music and entertainment:
12 pm: Monica Jane
1:45 pm: Children’s Nature Brigade Parade with the Rapping Red Oak
2 pm: Cosmic Groove Lizards
3:45 pm: Drum circle with Community Drummers and Dancers
4 pm: The Pinkerton Raid

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 festival is 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.

Many thanks to festival sponsors: Bill’s Brewing Company, Bootscrap Productions, Wrightsville Beach Brewing, Edward Teach Brewing, City of Wilmington Stormwater Services, New Hanover County Parks and Gardens, Hurricane Kayaks, Heal Our Waterways, Cape Fear’s Going Green, Might as Well Bar and Grill, Michael and Son, Coyle Solar, Great Outdoor Provision Co., Modern Sound and Staging and Culligan Water.

Want to go?
Wilmington Earth Day Festival
Saturday, April 23, 12 to 6 pm
Long Leaf Park, 314 Pine Grove Dr, Wilmington
(910) 798-7130.
wilmingtonearthday.com