Taking care of our natural environment can be a lot of fun, especially at this year’s Earth Fair at Historic Smithville Park.
The annual festival of sustainability, recycling and stewardship will be held on Sunday, April 21, to coincide with the 54th global Earth Day celebration. It will feature a wide variety of environment-friendly programs, displays, activities, food and entertainment. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This year’s festival will spotlight recycling and how to keep your home and garden green and sustainable. Among the featured presenters will be New Jersey naturalist Patt Sutton, who will share stories and information about her acclaimed Cape May Wildlife Garden featuring hundreds of native species of plants, perennials, trees, shrubs, grasses and ferns.
There will also be presentations from the Burlington County Master Gardeners, the Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, the Burlington County Soil Conservation District, Geologist and Hydrologist Pierre Lacombe and mushroom specialists, Hodgins Harvest.
Visitors can shop at the festival’s Artisan Marketplace featuring upcycled and recycled goods and creations, visit a pop-up nature center or pedal their way to a delicious beverage courtesy of Wheelie Good Smoothies.
Among the Earth Fair attractions returning this year are the Sustainable Living and Recycling Tents. Both feature displays, games and collection bins for plastic bags/film and small e-waste items such as ear buds, cell phones and power cords. There will also be a plant and seed swap station and unwanted plastic flowerpot drop-off.
New to the festival this year will be a collection of excess reuseable bags. Unwanted, gently used bags will be collected, sorted and sanitized and then delivered to Farmers Against Hunger to use as part of the nonprofit’s operations to distribute surplus produce to area food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries.
The festival will feature entertainment and activities for all ages, including a children’s puppet parade, storytellers, the Burlington County Library System’s Mobile Library, 4-H Clubs small animals, food trucks, a beer garden and more.
A complete list of all activities and entertainment is available online at https://www.co.burlington.nj.us/1958/Earth-Fair.
