EcoFest CR

Mark your calendars for EcoFest CR at the NewBo City Market on April 20, 2024, from 10am – 3pm! The Corridor’s premier Earth Day celebration brings together dozens of community partners for this family-friendly festival. Enjoy interactive educational activities, eco-products, eco-practice demonstrations in how to reduce our consumption of resources, fun ways to reduce and reuse household items, local foods, arts and free live music!  Admission is FREE thanks to our generous sponsors: the City of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids-Linn County Solid Waste Agency, Frontier Co-Op, GreenState Credit Union, Alliant Energy, and NewBo City Market. Our planned activities are possible thanks to the EcoFest committee and partners, including the Sierra Club, Trees Forever, Indian Creek Nature Center, Prairiewoods, The District, Matthew 25, the Cherry Building, Iowa Ceramics Center, and NewBo City Market.

On our main stage, enjoy yoga and live music by the Deep Dish Divas and additional musicians. Mid-day, Cedar Rapids Sustainability will present the Green CR Champion awards. A more detailed schedule will be outlined online in the coming month.

Additional Activities:

• NEW THIS YEAR! EcoFest and NewBo City Market’s STEAM Saturdays are partnering to bring the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium’s Ocean Odyssey touch tank. This traveling touch tank brings live ocean animals to you!  Break down common misconceptions surrounding sharks and rays, as experts highlight the unique adaptations these animals have to survive. The program will also allow participants to explore the important roles sharks and rays play in the ecosystem, learn how the actions of people in the landlocked state impact sharks and rays that live thousands of miles away, and discover how people can help protect them. STEAM Saturdays aim to captivate young minds by immersing them in the captivating world of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.

• Meet Real Live Raptors in the Courtyard Behind the Ceramics Center: The RARE Group will bring several raptors to show participants. Come learn about these birds of prey, how they fit into the ecosystem, and more! Demonstrations will be at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Make Milkweed seed bombs with the Iowa Ceramics Center! Milkweed is essential for the survival of monarch butterflies, and this is a great way to distribute seeds and create more habitat. This activity will take place in the Cherry Building Courtyard when the raptor programs are not in progress. Prairie seed was donated by Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center.
• Face Painting: CR Face Painting will paint children's faces with art ranging from butterflies and caterpillars and beyond.
• Print Your Own T-Shirt at EduSkate Booth: Please bring a used t-shirt from home, two designs to choose from!
• Pots, Plants and Prints Artist Market: The Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio (ICCGS) will host an Art Market and Studio Fundraiser in conjunction with EcoFest.  Regional artists will sell handmade works of art centered around plants and Earth Day. Unique pottery, art originals and also prints will be for sale by individual artist during this event.  ICCGS will host activities for the family including: wheel throwing demonstrations, and drop-in workshops.

Find the schedule and full list of activities at www.EcoFestCR.org