Mount Shasta Earth Day Festival Celebrates Nature Through Art and Activities

The Earth Day Festival was held on a windy May 4th after being postponed for a week due to the wet weather the week prior. “Wind is better than freezing temperatures and rain,” says the Executive Director of Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center Bianca Garza who helped put on this special event for people young and old to enjoy and see so many wonderful connections the earth has to offer through art, food, and activities.

There were 35 different kinds of art and craft vendors using materials from nature, a food court, a children’s area full of activities and crafts, and great music by the popular duo Victor and Allison to entertain people as they strolled through the art gallery. This was the first year they held an open mic, drawing in many to share their poetry and music. Also, many participated in the 11th annual water blessing at the headwaters and the guided nature walk, all which was very informative. There were presentations about the return of the wolves to this area, how to live the earth “the caretaker way,” and about the Sattitla Highland National Monument. This, and the art gallery were held inside due to the windy weather.

The presentations in the craft making and children’s activities were all free during Earth Day festival. Arts and crafts in the gallery and food were sold.

The Child Abuse Prevention Council partnering with First 5 Siskiyou had Regenerative Arts Learning Center & RAD Camp put on an interactive puppet show, and had a variety of craft booths for children using appropriate recycled products and things found in the forest to make things like seed balls, bee bombs, balloon flowers, painting wood cookies, and egg carton flowers. There was also face painting, and other activities for family bonding and bringing together nature and art.

Some of the crafts vendors included Sustainable Hemp-Lime Home Designs letting people build hemp bird houses. Alpacas on the Rocks which makes clothing and items out of alpaca wool with live alpacas on display to visit with. Little Cabin Crafts from Weed had felted animals made from merino wool. Star Feather from Dorris sold handmade textile clothing and designs. Grains of the Earth from McCloud made a variety of knobcone pine jewelry. Crystals at Star Body Earth from Weed hand wire wrapped polished stone jewelry. Fiber in Motion with the Mt. Shasta Art Circle supports artistry sponsored by Siskiyou County Arts Council and can be found on facebook. Crystacular.art showed and sold their Glitch Art.

There were also booths of many organizations for information like Headwaters Outdoor School, W.A.T.E.R advocating through environmental review found at Cawater.net, California Wolf Project which has one of the largest camera trap grids in California, and the National Monument Campaign. And let’s not forget the host of this event: Mt. Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center.

Of the many showings in the art gallery, Andrea Shanti displayed her Holistic Body Therapy, Lawerence DeTomasi had his watercolor paintings of local plants and nature scenes, Sean McCandless showed and sold his artwork, and Mount Shasta Marketplace had a table of works from local artists, photographers and artisans.

“This is our 35th year celebrating Earth Day with an annual festival held in Mount Shasta City Park. Earth Day is a time of heightened recognition of earth’s gifts of pure water and air, healthy ecosystems, and the natural beauty that surrounds us. It’s a worldwide tradition begun in 1970 to bring attention to the importance of living in harmony with the earth so that future generations will also be able to enjoy these gifts.” —Michelle Berditschevsky, founder of the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center.

For more information about any of the vendors or activities in the Earth Day Festival contact Bianca A. Garza, Executive Director, She/They, @MtShastaEco, www.MountShastaEcology.org, P: 530.926.5655.