What a Wonderful Festival!
Thank you to all who attended, volunteered, exhibited and made this year’s Festival a joyful educational event! We had amazing community members/businesses/non-profits join us for the last Saturday in September at Loyal Heights Community Center Lawn. We learned a lot from Long Live the Kings who focus on salmon and steelhead restoration to support sustainable fishing in the PNW. Orca Nexus shared information on our resident Orca pods and how we can help them not only survive but thrive. Tree Action Seattle educated visitors on the importance of Tree Equity & Climate Justice and how we can have housing for all and still have trees. Ballard Food Bank joined us to share their mission of food access and dignity for all. Six of Sustainable Ballard’s community projects work directly with Ballard Food Bank to provide access to healthy local produce (SB Market Gleaning), cards and stamps to stay connected with family & friends (SB Free Letters Home), warm hats & scarves (SB Knitters), plant starts and produce (SB Sprouts), and free mending services weekly (SB Menders). Groundswell NW presented a workshop on their hopes for a waterfront park at the base of 24th Ave NW and ways for community to improve our neighborhood/City. Citizens Climate Lobby shared how we can exercise our personal and political power to drive national policies to address the national and global climate crisis.
We had dedicated local businesses sponsor and exhibit at the Festival. Our Tool Library neighbor, Mimi’s Zero Waste brought dried bulk grains for crafting artwork and hosted Ocean Bingo. Full Circle Farm shared the abundance of local produce available at harvest time and all year long thanks to our local farmers like Collins Family Orchards who donated apples for our Cider Press. The cider was so delicious! We hope you enjoyed a cupful or two at the Fest and took some home to enjoy later. Chiro One Wellness offered advice on wellness and health. Renewal By Anderson had a very popular Axe throwing game and offered free consultations for home improvements that increase energy efficiency. Additionally, we thank Crown Hill Chiropractic, Electric & Folding Bikes NW, Firefly Kitchens, Limback Lumber, Majestic Bay Theater, New Roots Organics, Swansons Nursery, and Town and Country Markets Ballard for sponsoring the event and/or providing wonderful raffle prizes. It takes a dedicated and caring community to create a wonderful place to live, work and play-THANK YOU!
There were excellent musical acts from Jared Elmore Band, Mimosa String Quartet, Sheldon Rosevar and Asher Deaver. Thank you for providing the soundtrack to the Festival! Delicious food was available from Kathmandu MoMoCha and Blackstar Kebabs. Our Game & Puzzle Exchange was a huge success with 51 puzzles and 63 games exchanged demonstrating the benefits of shared economy. The SB Tool Library offered make your own bird house using recycled items and a workshop on pumpkin carving. SB Bakery Gleaning shared ways to support community and reduce food waste. Meaningful Movies Ballard engaged with attendees on upcoming films like: Omoiyari: A Song Film – Oct 16 and what the community would like to see in the future. SB’s Edible Garden Tour and Ballard Sprouts had a plant swap and herb identification challenge and offered a workshop on making paper pots 3 ways. It was the best smelling quiz ever! Idle Free Ballard shared information and ways to limit idling which negatively impacts health and adds 30 million tons of CO2CO2 annually to the environment in the US.
People laughed, babies danced, dogs pranced, we learned together, we played together, we worked together to make a beautiful day in the park celebrating this extraordinary planet we are lucky to call home. Thank you to the many many volunteers who made the Festival the successful day of joy it was! We couldn’t have done it without you! If you are interested in joining future SB events or volunteering please reach out us here!
REMEMBER MANY PEOPLE TAKING SMALL LOCAL ACTIONS MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE