Aurora GreenFest, a festival that has been bringing people together around topics like sustainability and green living for around 15 years, will be returning on May 2 after a hiatus last year.
The event this year is being put on by the city of Aurora in partnership with the Mayor’s Sustainable Aurora Advisory Board and Aurora GreenLights, an affiliate of The Conservation Foundation, according to a city news release. It will be held at the old U.S. Post Office building and former SciTech Museum location in downtown Aurora at 18 W. Benton St.
“GreenFest is an amazing way to keep our community sustainable and resilient,” festival founder and chair Mavis Bates said in the city news release. “We love bringing our community together to celebrate sustainability, and appreciate Aurora’s support for GreenFest since 2010.”
Beginning at 10 a.m., the festival is set to be the biggest ever with over 100 exhibitors. Vendors will include solar installers, local artisans, community organizations and more, the event’s website says.
A staple of the festival, the community marketplace, is set to return this year with vendors selling products designed to make homes more beautiful, healthy and energy efficient, city officials said in the news release.
The event will also have a green vehicle car show, live music and performances, local food trucks and hands-on activities, according to the festival’s website.
More Top Picks Best Standing Desk Converters For Home
Plus, the Chicago Herpetological Society will be educating attendees on wildlife conservation efforts while the Fox Valley Electric Auto Association showcases the benefits of driving an electric vehicle, the city’s news release said.
In a post on Facebook, festival officials said that the inside of the old post office building, where the event will be located this year, is “huge.” There’s also a “huge outside patio” for the green car show, and that section of Benton Street will be blocked off for food trucks, said the post from late December.
This year’s theme is “Make a Difference! Be Energy Smart!” with special exhibits about how to save energy at home, rebates for household items and “do it yourself” project demonstrations, city officials said in the news release.
Those looking for more information, or to sign up as a vendor, can go to the festival’s website at: www.auroragreenfest.com. Vendor and exhibitor applications are still being accepted, said the city’s news release, and those encouraged to fill out an application include local artists, jewelry makers and artisans, environmental groups and local government officials.
Aurora has been making sustainability a particular focus under Mayor John Laesch.
Just this year, the city has launched a new hub for clean energy job training and a program to offer low interest loans for sustainability upgrades to commercial buildings. City staff have also proposed environmental regulations around data centers, have been working on other loan programs around sustainability and have been researching stricter building codes around energy.