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Earth Day Texas Expands to Three-Day Interactive Event
- Updated: April 22, 2015
by Eric Galatas/TNS
DALLAS – Earth Day Texas is celebrating its fifth anniversary by expanding into a three-day event this weekend in Dallas.
Organizers say the event has grown into the nation’s largest Earth Day gathering, bringing more than 200,000 people to historic Fair Park. About 75,000 visitors are expected over the weekend for live music, keynote speakers, movie premieres and more.
Jillian Mock, communications associate for Earth Day Texas, said the goal is to make sure there’s something for everyone.
“If you like to climb trees, if you want to test ride electric bikes or electric vehicles, we have those opportunities for you as well,” she said. “It’s endless, the number of things you can come do and see and learn about, while having a lot of fun.”
Earth Day marks the anniversary of what many consider to be the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. It’s now celebrated in more than 192 countries each year, and Dallas organizers claim theirs is the largest Earth Day event in the nation. Photo credit: Khalid Mid/Wikimedia Commons.
Mock said the celebration will include the Texas premiere of the documentary “Racing Extinction.” Filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, who won an Academy Award for “The Cove,” a film that exposed the mass killing of dolphins, will be on hand. Other confirmed speakers include Karenna Gore, author and daughter of Al Gore, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The event also will feature farm-to-table cuisine presentations, and the National Park Service is bringing park rangers, with explorer guidebooks and conservation trading cards. There are interactive games for kids, who also can take part in official Junior Ranger training. Mock said exposing people to what’s already working in environmental sustainability is key.
“And I think if you don’t know the great work that other people are already doing and how that might pertain to you,” she said, “it’s much harder to see how you can become involved.”
Earth Day, April 22, marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, sent out a call for a “national teach-in on the environment” after a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. Earth Day now is celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.
An event schedule is online at earthdaytx.org.