While the nation observes Earth Day on April 22, area residents are being invited to continue the celebration at Newtown’s 8th Annual Earth Day Festival on Saturday, May 2. The event will again be held at Newtown Middle School between 10 am and 4 pm rain or shine. 

Attendees will enjoy a “huge line-up of kids’ activities,” states a recent email from organizers, including Sharon Audubon’s Birds of Prey, a silent auction and litter pick-up, live music/performances, drum circles, T-shirt tie-dying, and “tons of tasty food.” The festival is “the place to be for helping our community become a bit more aware of being green.”

Again this year proceeds will support a green scholarship for Newtown High School graduates. The day’s schedule continues to grow, and the Earth Day organizers urge residents to “join us for another outstanding community memory.”

According to the festival website, the day promises family fun and learning, and will highlight Newtown’s “abundant natural resources” and help the town learn how to become a bit greener.”

The 8th Annual Festival continues to be “chock-full” of educational opportunities that will help to sharpen everyone’s “eco-knowledge.”

Festival Schedule

The following schedule has been produced by the organizers of the 8th Annual Earth Day Festival. All performances and programs are free of charge, as is admission to the event itself. This schedule reflect the listing for the festival as of April 22.

9 am-1 pm — Lions Club “Lose the Litter.” Join friends and neighbors to help to clean up Newtown’s streets while looking for gift certificates for free ice cream sundaes from Ferris Acres Creamery. Gift certificates are hidden around town for lucky crews to win. Lions Club members will have garbage bags and gloves available for those who want to pick some up. Residents can choose to clean up their own road or the Lions will suggest one that has not been claimed. (For those who cannot make it to the festival on May 2, the club will even provide cleaning supplies in advance; contact Lose The Litter Chair Glenn Nanavaty at 203-426-2116).

9:45 am — Opening Ceremony. First Selectman Pat Llodra and State Representative Mitch Bolinsky will lead in the national anthem and invocation.

10-11 am — Neverland String Band. 

11 am-noon — Dagohir Demo with Andrew Mangold. Newtown resident Andrew Mangold is returning to show off all his Middle Earth-inspired costumes and battle gear for kids of all ages to play and learn about this growing fantasy game.

11 am-noon  — The Harpoon Dodgers, who perform acoustic alt-rock country.

Noon to 1 pm — Sundad. The Grammy-nominated father-son team from Newtown is back again this year to break out smiles with its brand of acoustic world fusion, New Age, and jam-band music.

1-2 pm — Last Train. Acoustic rock from locals Stephen Hammicott, Butch Bochino, and Dennis Simonson. Listen and dance.

1-2 pm — Inside the Hive with Beekeeper Jeff Shwartz, who is on the board of directors for southwestern Connecticut’s Backyard Beekeeper Association and is a wealth of knowledge about honeybees. Jeff is bringing back his honeycomb and bees (locked tightly in glass) to discuss the benefits of our insect friends and beekeeping in our community.

1:30-2 pm  — Taikyo Drumming by Fraser Woods Montessory School. Performance by FWMS students. 

2-3 pm — Birds of Prey Exhibit sponsored by the Sharon Audubon Center. Festivalgoers get to meet hawks and owls up close and personal. Hurt in the wild and now cared for by Sharon Audubon, these magnificent birds are the ambassadors for their species. Learn about these aviators and the Audubon’s work in rehabbing and releasing them.

2-3 pm — Split Decision. This high-energy band out of Danbury covers rock and pop from the Stones and CCR to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.

3-4 pm — Alternate Universe. A town favorite, Mark Barden, Rosie Burgos, Jim Keneally and Stu Stahr are back with a set of rock, funk, R&B and country crowd-pleasers to close the performance part of the day.

3-4 pm — A Music Celebration for the Earth. A community music-making celebration to honor Earth Day hosted by Sound Center with a lively multigenerational drum circle.

Ongoing — An abundance of lunch options, tasty snacks, and beverages is available as guests browse the festival. The Earth Day Food Court will feature Aquarian Caterers global cuisine, My Place pizza, and ice cream treats from The Farmer’s Cow among its offerings.

Also happening all day will be opportunities for face painting, tie-dye T-shirts, eco-crafts, designing a custom spin-art Frisbee with Popowich Chiropractic, making your own seed balls and pottings, recycling old mattresses and beat-up books, learning about composting and gardening, making pinecone bird feeders with Stonehollow Home Inspections, learning how to knit with Nicole Christensen, getting a bike safety check with Sandy Hook Cycle, and learning how to save money on your electric bill with the Sustainable Energy Commission.

From “green” merchants to school clubs and town associations, Newtown’s 8th Annual Earth Day Festival is the one place to learn how “easy it is to be green,” promise organizers. Openings are still available for vendors and volunteers, and the silent auction is still accepting items. Visit newtownearthday.org and click on the appropriate tab for any of these opportunities, and for additional information about the festival.