How do you celebrate Earth Day while reaching out to students, teachers and residents in a way that will excite them about sustaining their communities and “going green?”

In 2003, Temple University Ambler administrators and faculty presented the answer to that question on a grand scale, developing EarthFest, an outdoor, educational celebration of Earth Day that attracts thousands of visitors each year.

“EarthFest began as an idea to help raise awareness for environmental stewardship with young people,” said Jeffrey Featherstone, director of Temple’s Center for Sustainable Communities. “There really hadn’t been anything like this event in the region for quite some time.”

Hosted by the Center for Sustainable Communities, EarthFest 2011 will be held on Friday, April 29, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Ambler Campus.

Held in partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the event invites students, teachers and parents to learn from more than 75 exhibitors including the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Zoo, the Academy of Natural Sciences, Sesame Place and the Elmwood Park Zoo. 

According to EarthFest 2011 Coordinator Susan Spinella Sacks, the students that visit the event each year will do the “real work” of preserving the planet for theirs and future generations.