Santa Barbara’s Flagship Earth Day Festival Returns to Alameda Park

By the Community Environmental Council (CEC)

After a three-year hiatus, Earth Day returns to Alameda Park on Saturday, April 29 from 11am to 7pm and Sunday, April 30 from 11am to 6pm, 2023. Presented by the Community Environmental Council (CEC), this year’s Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival is co-produced with long-time festival partner, CarpEvents.

“The Community Environmental Council is thrilled to return to Alameda Park, co-presenting Santa Barbara’s Earth Day Festival with our longtime partners at CarpEvents,” said Kathi King, CEC’s Director of Climate Education & Leadership and Festival Co-Director. “By moving the Festival to the end of the month, we hoped to encourage the community to support all of the local celebrations happening throughout our region on April 22nd and provide a larger opportunity to bring everyone together at Alameda Park on April 29th and 30th.”

The 2023 festival – which is free to attend – anticipates all of the fun of past years. Now in its 53rd year, Santa Barbara’s community-organized festival is one of the longest-running Earth Day celebrations in the country,and is one of the largest Earth Day festivals on the West Coast. Santa Barbara’s reputation as a pioneer in the environmental movement attracts national media, celebrity attention, and local crowds; the 2019 festival drew over 30,000 visitors.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS YEAR’S EVENT INCLUDE:

The longest running Green Car show in the United States that will feature the latest electric and hybrid vehicle technology. Festival-goers can get a first-hand feel for the latest electric vehicles and electric bikes by participating in the free Ride & Drive experience.
Over 200 eco-friendly exhibitors
Two full days of music on the Main Stage
Plant-forward Food Court featuring locally sourced, regenerative ingredients from ecologically-focused chefs, caterers, and food artisans
Homegrown Roots Zone and Homegrown Roots Stage curated by Cultivate Events to showcase the farmers, ranchers, food producers, and organizations who are working to create a more regenerative food system along the Central Coast.
Beer & Wine Garden, featuring local beer, wine, and bites
A Kid’s Zone organized by LearningDen Preschool and Explore Ecology, with arts & crafts, musical performances, storytelling, face painting, and eco-activities, along with a Family Passport that promotes kid-friendly activities throughout the park.
Free Bike Valet, with complimentary bike tune-ups and secure all-day parking provided by MOVE SB County
A commitment to reducing waste: on average, more than 93% of waste produced at Santa Barbara’s Earth Day is recycled or composted

Earth Day 2023 highlights the critical role the Community Environmental Council has played across the region for more than 50 years, shining a light on the system changes, policy implementation and individual actions needed to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. Key to this is the Annual Climate Leadership Summit, which highlights climate actions that organizations and individuals are undertaking throughout the region, with an emphasis on strategies that leverage intergenerational collaborations. More details on the Annual Summit will be available soon on the Earth Day website.

Community members can stay updated on details of CEC’s Earth Day at www.SBEarthDay.org, and can get involved in many ways:

Exhibit: Event registration for vendors will open in mid-February, with early bird pricing through Friday, March 17. Find the link at SBEarthDay.org/exhibit.

Sponsor: Over 130 eco-friendly businesses and organizations sponsor the festival each year. Learn how you can support the festival at SBEarthDay.org/sponsor.

Nominate: Explore Ecology is looking for environmental heroes! Do you know someone who protects and preserves the environment and inspires others to do the same? The Explore Ecology Environmental Stewardship Awards honor teachers, students, and schools or school clubs who promote environmental stewardship through education and action. If you know someone who you think should be honored, make your nomination today! Winners will receive their awards onstage at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival. Visit this site to submit a nomination: https://exploreecology.org/environmental-stewardship-awards/. The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2023.

“We are thrilled to be in a new role with this festival this year and can’t wait to bring tens of thousands of community members to Alameda Park to showcase the innovation happening in eco-focused products, earth-friendly services, and electric vehicles,” said Michael Lazaro, CEO of CarpEvents.

Leading up to and during the festival, the Community Environmental Council and its partners will host and sponsor a series of Earth Month events. A complete list will be added to the SB Earth Day website as information becomes available. As of today, events CEC is partnering on include:

Ice Cream for a Cause: Visit any of McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams seven scoop shop locations on Saturday, April 22nd and opt for an earth-friendly cone instead of a cup: $1 from every cone sold will benefit the Community Environmental Council.
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians annual Earth Day celebration. Saturday, April 15 from 10 am to 2 pm. CEC will host a booth at this year’s event. More details coming soon.
Draughtsmen Aleworks presents Trivia Night: a benefit for the Community Environmental Council, on Tuesday, April 11 starting at 6:30 pm at their Goleta location (53 Santa Felicia Drive); Goodland Waffles will be onsite that night offering their signature waffles and melts. In addition, visit either Draughtsmen Aleworks location in the month of April and order a pint from the Karma tap; $1 of every pint sold will benefit the Community Environmental Council.

Current Earth Day sponsors include (as of today): Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition (C5), Channel Islands Restoration, Draughtsmen Aleworks, McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara City College Foundation, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, Sunkissed Pantry, Tri-County Regional Energy Network (3-C REN).

Earth Day production partners, who contribute their time and expertise to produce the event, include (as of today): Cultivate Events, Downtown Organization, Explore Ecology, LOACOM, Learningden Preschool, MOVE Santa Barbara County, Oniracom, Pharos Creative, and Santa Barbara Independent.

About Santa Barbara’s Earth Day

Widely acknowledged as the birthplace of Earth Day, Santa Barbara’s involvement began with the devastating 1969 oil spill off its coast. This led a local group of concerned citizens to begin discussing a different way of looking at environmental systems. During that time, Senator Gaylord Nelson visited Santa Barbara to view the oil spill damage. When he returned to Washington, D.C., he introduced a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the earth. Over the next few years, the environmental movement was born across the country – including the Community Environmental Council (CEC). Led by a group of forward-thinking youth and elders, CEC incorporated in the spring of 1970 and its first act as a new nonprofit was to hold an Earth Day celebration – a one block long teach-in between State St. and Chapala St. along Anapamu. Around the country, 20 million concerned citizens attended similar events. We recognize that “every day is earth day” and that special events like this are a way to bring diverse voices from our community together as a reminder to tread lightly on the planet.