2023 Festivals—Earth Day + VegFest

Wilmington Earth Day Alliance invites you to the annual Wilmington Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 22, from noon to 6:00 p.m. in Long Leaf Park. It’s a fun-filled afternoon of live music, good food and environmental information and activities for the whole family—and it’s free!

This year’s theme is “Invest In Our Planet.” More than 50 environmentallyminded exhibitors and vendors will be there, explaining issues that affect our environment and illustrating how you can get involved.

Come out to enjoy live music, dancing on the lawn, food trucks, and a Kids’ EcoZone for children to engage in environmental activities. One lucky raffle prize winner will go home with a Hurricane Kayak donated by Great Outdoor Provision Co. There will be recycling and composting stations to help this be a zero-waste event. Bring your own refillable water bottle! T-shirts featuring the 2023 festival logo will be for sale.

“Earth Day happens during my favorite time of year,” said Festival Volunteer Coordinator Jayasree Kandasamy. “The Cape Fear community comes together to support sustainability efforts and share the love. Our Wilmington Earth Day Festival is a great time for family-friendly fun in one of Wilmington’s iconic parks!”

Enjoy live music and entertainment all day:

12 to 1:45 p..m.: The Delia Stanley Duo

1:45 to 2 p.m.: Infinite Spins

2 to 3:45 p.m.: Brett Johnson and Nimara Snyder

3:45 to 4 p.m.: Infinite Spins

4 to 5:45 p.m.: Ashby and the Business End

Food trucks will offer soul food BBQ from Webo’s Food Truck & Catering; Latin American plant-based street food from RiCoQui; smash burgers and subs from Smash & Dash; and hot dogs and chips from King of the Ring Hotdog Cart. Beverages available for purchase include beer from Edward Teach Brewery, Hi-Wire Brewing, and Good Hops Brewing; wine from Noni Bacca Winery; fruit smoothies from Smart Smoothies; and kombucha and hard kombucha from Panacea Brewing Company. Dessert drinks and s’mores will be available from Chocolate and S’more.

Culligan Water will provide drinking water, and guests are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles for this. The festival strives to be zero-waste: food scraps will be composted and festival beverage cups will be reusable. Food trucks will offer vegan and vegetarian options and will serve their food in compostable packaging and offer compostable cutlery.

The Festival will be held at Long Leaf Park, 314 Pine Grove Drive, Wilmington. Parking is free on site and trolley shuttles will run from the south entrance of the old New Hanover County Government Center at 230 Government Center Drive. Travel on Wave Transit will be free all day. Leashed pets are welcome in the grassy areas (not inside the tents or in the food area).

This year the Earth Day Alliance is once again joining forces with Wilmington VegFest (wilmingtonvegfest.com). VegFest is on Sunday, April 23, at Legion Sports Complex, making it a perfect weekend to come to Wilmington for both events.

FESTIVAL SPONSORS: Edward Teach Brewery, Good Hops Brewing, Hi-Wire Brewing, Coyle Solar, City of Wilmington Stormwater Services, New Hanover County Parks and Gardens, Keep New Hanover Beautiful, Heal Our Waterways, Hurricane Kayaks, Great Outdoor Provision Co., Boot Scrap Productions, Cape Fear’s Going Green, Office Depot, Wave Transit, Wilmington Compost Company, Culligan Water, and Modern Sound and Staging.

For details: www.wilmingtonearthday.com or (919) 798-7130.

The 2023 Wilmington Vegfest will be held at Legion Sports Complex on the Backfield (behind the buildings visible from Carolina Beach Road).

You don’t want to miss this fun event. Mark your calendars and get your VIP ticket or donate ahead of the festival. Ticket link coming soon!

The festival is free, but this year organizers are requesting a suggested donation for the festival. Please donate $5 or more to get a free ticket; purchasing your ticket in advance helps the vendors know how much to prepare ahead of the festival.

$25 VIP tickets can be purchased, and allow entrance to the event thirty minutes early—only 100 VIP tickets will be sold. VIPs will receive a cool reusable goody bag filled with items different from the general admission bags. Each VIP Entry you purchase also gets you entered into the raffle. Winners will be picked randomly after the festival and winners will be notified via email. Prize Packs are to be determined.

• Food Trucks

• Live Music

• Family Fun Zone

• Free Face Painting

• Vegan Food

• Shopping com.

Come out and support the vendors and plan on enjoying the music too. The Family Fun Zone is perfect for children of all ages and includes life-sized games, coloring, basketball hoop game and more!

Learn more about the Festival or sign up to volunteer at wilmingtonvegfest.

The 2023 Southport NatureFest, running from April 25-29, offers a chance to learn more about out local flora, fauna and wildlife. Events start on Tuesday, the 25th with a presentation on oysters and the St. James Living Shoreline project. Thursday, Bald Head Island Conservancy Educator Jennifer Wiggen will explain the use of iNaturalist and lead a group walk to demonstrate how to use it in this year’s City Nature Challenge—a competition to see how many different kinds of wildlife you can find between April 28 and May 1.

Friday offers a walking tour of the Green Swamp with Roger Shew, followed by a noontime City of Southport Arbor Day celebration. Saturday, April 29 environmental non-profits will have exhibitor booths from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Taylor Field Park, 409 E. Nash Street.

The detailed schedule of activities is published in the April issue of Southport Magazine, so look there to find your opportunity to learn more about our local flora, fauna and wildlife. (southportmag. com/southport-naturefest-2023/) Some events require registration; you can sign up on facebook.com/southportnaturefest.

Celebrate science, technology, engineering, art and math with UNCW! Join us to investigate the intersection between science and art at this year’s NC Science Festival expo. UNCW STEM faculty and researchers will partner with artists of all mediums to showcase the STEM research taking place at UNCW and within our regional community. At the event, attendees will meet STEAM professionals and learn what they specialize in through the artist’s eye and hands-on activities targeting student interests. Use problem-solving approaches and receive clear instruction to ensure that those with learning differences can fully participate in the event and gain an impactful experience for all.

This free event will be held on Friday, April 21, 2023 from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., rain or shine. The event will be at the UNCW Watson Education Building, 970 Reynolds Drive, Wilmington. PT’s food and Kayla’s Kones ice cream truck will be on site.

Interested in being a part of the event?

STEM organizations interested in hosting a exhibit/interactive station, or artists interested in collaborating, please fill out the survey on the website: uncw.edu/ marinequest/expo2023.html.