On April 19, Savannah held its yearly Earth Day festival at Forsyth Park. The 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. event began with Forsyth’s weekly Farmer’s Market and then proceeded with a full day of activities.
“With the whole festival centered around the environment, the festival offered activities like sustainable living workshops, like gardening and home efficiency, the best bike routes in Savannah, and also a setting up home garden tutorials. The festival also included live music, food vendors, exhibitors, and children’s activities,” WTOC wrote Saturday evening after the event.
Hosted by the City of Savannah Public Works and Water Resources Bureau, the Savannah’s community joined together for a series of celebratory programs. The event could not have taken place without the sponsorship from numerous markets, radio stations, and coffee shops.
“Overall we were really pleased with the event— despite it being Easter weekend and some very wet weather the night before and the day of, we had a surprisingly good turnout,” said Margosia Jadkowski, Savannah’s environmental services planner.
The event created 30 acres of opportunity for more than 100 vendors to exhibit their programs, educate members of the community, network with various organizations, and recruit new members in a central area of the city.
“We had between 5,000 and 6,000 people come out, which is a couple thousand less than last year, but given the weather was better than expected,” said Jadkowski. “More importantly we got a lot of great feedback from exhibitors and festival- goers that they had a lot of fun and made some good connections.”
Although the Savannah Bicycle Campaign’s annual Wheelie Bike Ride was cancelled, the 4 p.m. Wheelie party still took place.
“The bike ride was originally to go from the park to Blowin’ Smoke, where there would be a party. But because there was a high chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms when the ride was to take place, Savannah Bicycle Campaign decided to cancel the ride and just have the after party at blowing smoke,” said Jadkowski.
Hopefully next year the weather will permit an even bigger turnout.
