With organic food and goat poop bingo on offer, the first annual Goleta Green Earth Day Celebration is aiming to give students an environmental alternative for their weekend plans.
The event will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stow Grove Park. The day’s activities and displays include arts and crafts booths, a raffle fundraiser for the Goleta Family School, bake-offs, live music, organic food, a “trash fashion show” and a variety of environmentally-oriented activities. The celebration was developed in collaboration between Goleta Family School, Isla Vista Food Co-op, KCSB and Santa Barbara DIY.
Melissa Cohen, store manager of the I.V. Food Co-op, said that while Santa Barbara hosts a number of Earth Day events, this festival is more specifically oriented toward the Isla Vista community.
“Goleta Green is an Earth Day celebration that is bringing together a lot of different areas from the local community,” Cohen said. “We are encouraging people to come and visit the Goleta Stow Grove Park to celebrate Earth Day.  It’s essentially a celebration event teaching and showcasing different skills.”
Goleta Family School parent and event organizer Michelle Howard said that this year’s Goleta Green Earth Day celebration aims to reach a larger audience than similar events have over the last 15 years.
“Usually the people who come to the Earth Day celebration are people already involved in this part of the community,” Howard said. “This year I really wanted to branch out and involve a bigger community. So now we have the Goleta Family School working with the Isla Vista community, UCSB community and other groups.”
General Manager of KCSB Rebecca Redman said that KCSB members will provide interactive booths to showcase and teach some of their skills.
“We are having people do deejaying demos and making demos with turn tables,” Redman said. “It is going to be KCSB volunteers.”
According to the festival’s official Facebook page, event planners are also seeking people who can offer interactive booths involving tie-dying, seed exchanging and other skills.
Other activities include a book exchange and goat poop bingo.

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