This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
Looking for fun ways to engage the whole family in Earth Day?
A day-long street festival, Earth Day Every Day features live music, great food, kids art activities, a native plant sale, environmental education activities, and even a sustainable art market.
The event takes place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, in front of the Lee Heights Shops, 4500 Old Dominion Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22207.
Presented by the Langston Boulevard Alliance, this is a day for our community to come together to celebrate the beauty and promise of our local environment and the planet. Every year, communities worldwide uplift Earth Day to mark the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. It reminds us all to do what we can, in ways small and significant, to restore, conserve and protect our environment. The festival offers a whole range of opportunities to engage!
Peruse the Sustainable Art Market, featuring a broad selection of eco-friendly finds.
The vendors include: Area 2 Farms — Arlington-based organic produce for home delivery; Bicycle Trash — handmade goods made from overlooked materials; Cosmic Crayon Company — personalized custom recycled crayons in every configuration from your kid’s name to faceted gems; Circuit Breaker Labs — wearable and decorative art created from circuit boards, capacitors and other electronic trash; Trace — zero waste store with clean products from spices to shaving cream; Debra Fabian Jewelry — made from ethically sourced gems and recycled semi-precious metals. Click here to peruse full list of vendors.
Relax and reflect in a colorful installation by Arlington artist Heloisa Escudero, inspiring you to create a colorful magnet as you take stock of everything that makes your life joyful as part of Count Your Joys, the latest installation of the Arlington Art Truck.
To provide the soundtrack for your day, Arlington Arts also helped to program the diverse array of noted performing artists (including several Washington Area Music Award winners):
Munit Mesfin Trio (Noon) — Ethiopian singer/songwriter and MC known for her collaborations with guitarist Jӧrg Pfeil.
Veronneau (1:15 p.m.) — Internationally acclaimed, 7 WAMMIE award winning multilingual jazz band fronted by vocalist Lynn Veronneau and guitarist Ken Avis.
The Honey Larks (2:30 p.m.) — female blues supergroup performing roots music with incredible vocal harmonies of Carly Harvey, Janny Langer and Holly Montgomery.
Karen Jonas (3:45 p.m.) — 3-time WAMMIE Award winner, Americana/Alt-Country songwriter.
Visit the Arlington Public Library Truck for a variety of Earth Day activities: write a postcard imagining the future of Langston Boulevard, pick up some Earth Day coloring sheets, and attend a storytime by one of their children’s librarians. You can sign up for a library card and check out some books when you visit!
With all that dancing and shopping, you’re sure to work up an appetite, so visit the food vendors: Arrowine & Cheese, Café Colline, Chipotle, Crisp & Juicy, Lebanese Taverna, Old Dominion Pizza and Starbucks Coffee! Kids activities abound, including a “Kids Improv” led by Encore Stage & Studio.
Or they can flex their creative muscles with a painting station for children to create environmentally-conscious artwork with the artists of the Arlington Artists Alliance (AAA). Or join Arlington Parks and Recreation to make some 3-D paper sculptures.
That’s just a sample of the fun activities taking place as part of Earth Day Every Day, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 23. For a complete schedule of vendors and activities, visit Earthdayonlangston.com.