Thousands of people are expected to flow into Peace Park near downtown Columbia on April 22 for the 2018 Columbia Area Earth Day Festival.
This year’s festival will feature more than 200 booths at the street fair. At these booths, solar, gardening and sustainability experts will be teaching visitors about the environment. There will also be solar vendors and merchants selling sustainable products through a section of the festival called Eco Avenue.
“It’s great to just put your blanket out in the park, shop around, go to booths, you know, learn some things on Eco Avenue and listen to music all day,” coordinator Laura Wacker said.
Multiple workshops are also scheduled throughout the day that will cover topics such as composting and mushrooms. Entertainment coordinator Sam D’Agostino says the entertainment featured at the festival helps draw more people into the event.
“Basically if I get them down to the Earth Day stage, there are surrounded with cool, neat info and presentations about the Earth and what’s going on right now,” D’Agostino said.
The Columbia Area Earth Day Festival will run from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday.