3rd Annual EarthFEST
Saturday, May 3rd
11 am - 3 pm.
Presented by the Carleton Place Environmental Advisory Committee.
#cpeacearthfest2025
A free event celebrating our beautiful world, with many fun, sustainable things to do and to so very much to learn about, for the whole family!
Please consider bringing a perishable food item for the Lanark County Food Bank
Plan your day at EarthFEST!
3rd Annual EarthFEST 2025 Saturday, May 3rd 11 am. – 3 pm.
Market Square Pavilion, 7 Beckwith St., Carleton Place
& At the Grand Hotel, 7 Bridge St.
Workshops, Presentations, activities, and entertainment for all ages, presented by the Carleton Place Environmental Advisory Committee (CPEAC). Featuring an expanded range of presentations, workshops, performances, food, and other vendors at Market Square from 11:00 am-3 pm, plus special events at the Grand Hotel at 7 Bridge St.
Test Drive an EV and learn about EV’s from the experts by EVCO! (pre-registration is recommended)
Free face painting is provided again this year!
Many fun workshops for children to take part in thanks to the Carleton Place & District Horticultural Society, Seed ball making with Play Where You Live & Yarrow Collective and Darning & Mending with Cara Larochelle.
Enjoy great performances by wonderful musician Vicki Brittle and Ian Tamblyn.
Engage with the many Lanark County organizations and experts like Lanark County Master Gardeners and Mississippi Valley Conservation Area who that will be on hand to answer your questions about the great things they are doing to take care of our environment and how you can help.
Savor delicious food by Blue Spoon Atelier, Michelle’s Filipino Food and Sarah’s kitchen, and sweets from Cooookies with us.
Check out the quality products, services and handmade artisanal creations at our Sustainable Marketplace, including native plants from Kiwi Gardens.
Are you New to the region? Learn about local resources for waste reduction and recycling like Just Good Compost! Learn where the trails and excursions are in Lanark County.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS At the Grand Hotel, 7 Bridge St.
(no pre- registration required)
Presentations held at the Grand Hotel, next to the main outdoor event site.
The bar will be open for non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.
Three internationally known authors to astound you.
Each talk will be 45-50 minutes includes max.10 minutes Q & A
They will each have their books for purchase and for signing at the Pavilion marketplace, afterwards, is also an opportunity to ask more questions following their presentation.
11 a.m. Lorraine Johnson
Gardens for Pollinating Insects: Friends not Foes!
Celebrated Author and Nationally known advocate of Naturalized spaces and Native plants and Pollinators.
This is a repeat visit to Carleton Place by popular demand!
In this talk, Lorraine explores some of the surprising corners of insect and plant relationships and how our gardens can support these dynamic interactions. Moving beyond charismatic species such as monarchs and milkweeds, Lorraine shares inspiring information about lesser-known creatures-native wild bees, moths, beetles and more.
12 p.m.
Diana-Beresford Kroeger Internationally Celebrated Biochemist, Biologist and Author. We are so very excited to have her with us this year!
Without the global forest there is no hope for humanity’s future on earth. Join renowned biochemist and botanist Diana Beresford-Kroeger in her mission to share the ancient wisdom of the trees and bring about a renewed connection to the Global Forest.
“The Jane Goodall of trees,” Diana is a world recognized best selling author, with a PHD in both medical biochemistry and botany and a Doctor of Laws, hono ris causa, from the University of Carleton for her work in Forest Medicine. She possesses a unique combination of western scientific knowledge and ancient wisdom of the natural world. She is known for her extraordinary ability to bring a simple understanding and appreciation of scientific complexities to the public regarding our daily interconnectedness with nature. Diana’s unique knowledge, experience and insight is critical to the preservation and revival of our essential global forests.
1 p.m.
Jill Heinerth: Exploring Water, Climate, and the Unknown
Internationally celebrated Cave Diver with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, author, filmmaker and most recently named The Ottawa Riverkeeper.
Join Jill Heinerth, a world-renowned underwater explorer, as she takes you on a journey from the depths of underwater caves to the icy interiors of Antarctic icebergs. Working alongside climatologists, archaeologists, biologists, and engineers, Jill has contributed to groundbreaking discoveries and brought the mysteries of the underwater world to global audiences. With experience creating programs for CBC, BBC, and National Geographic, consulting on films for directors like James Cameron, and producing independent documentaries, Jill is a passionate advocate for climate awareness and water conservation.
In this talk, she will share captivating stories from her adventures, along with key insights into water literacy and climate change—lessons learned from some of the most extreme environments on Earth.
2:15 p.m.
The Recycled Runway Fashion Show
Join us for a fun time seeing local real people modeling clothes they love. Local stores: Coastal Consignment, As Good as New, Cheerful Giver and Electric Catwalk will be participating. Host, Linda Seccaspina is bringing along three of her original Flash Cadilac models from the 70s to join in the fun. Watch our ladies, gents and local kids strut their stuff in an outfit they love and will wear for a long time to reduce waste in a fun and fashionable way!
AT THE EARTHFEST CIRCLE: bring your questions and thoughts!
10:45 EarthFEST Climate, Grief and Gratitude Circle:
Convenor: Janet Mrenica, Integral Master Coach, Climate Change Coach, Master Facilitator Cultivating Safe Spaces (Elphin and Ottawa Ontario)
You are invited to be in a collective space to cultivate hope in these trying times. The invitation is to join together in this 45 minutes to touch into how we feel as we watch the land we know so dearly transform and change across Mother Earth, to share our grief and also our hope and gratitude for each other and to slow ourselves mindfully to a halt in a time when we are being told to carry on as normal with out busy lives.
11:40: I’m a NEWBEE: Getting out there - Local Trails and Programs for Connecting with Nature. Presented by: Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust, Lanark County Tourism, Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists learn about what they do, and details on the many beautiful trails and outdoor opportunities for connecting with nature locally. You’ll be astounded of what is available to explore! If you are new to the region, this is one not to miss.
12:35 Lanark County, Envirocentre & Climate Network Lanark present, Energize Your Home: Discover Funding and Programs for Retrofits! Learn about available funding options, the process, local advocacy, resources and the impact of electrification makes.
1:25 Of Gardening HOES & WOES
Lanark County Master Gardeners, David and Dale, with over 100 years of gardening experience between them have experienced many gardening woes. They will answer your gardening questions and share their love of gardening with you. If you are just getting started or are an experienced gardener, join us. We recommend you buy the best gardening tools you can afford and will explain how to keep your Hoes and other tools in top notch shape, so they will last a gardening lifetime. We will discuss the pros and cons of ‘No till’ Gardening. Learn how you can work with experienced vegetable gardeners so you can learn hands on.
2:15 Foraging in Spring: Mushroom Hunters with Loose Morels (for newbies and advanced foragers alike)
Naturalist Tauney Stinson is an outdoor educator, forager, and beekeeper and teaches foraging classes as Forager Bee, as well as standing in as a professor for the Wild Edibles class at Algonquin College. She shares her extensive knowledge about wild springtime edibles, including the elusive morel mushroom. Her presentation will delve into some of the ethical ramifications of foraging for wild food and suggests ways that foragers and gardeners can be stewards of the land, safely and sustainably.
Free face painting again this year!
Workshops for Children! No pre-registration, and on-going throughout the day.
Several fun workshops to take part in for busy bees! Much thanks to the Carleton Place & District Horticultural Society, Play Where You Live & Yarrow Collective.
Seed and live planting:
-Seed planting in recycled containers the kids can decorate (favourite from previous years with new animal shapes)
-Baby houseplant (spider plants, etc.) planting in up-cycled mugs
-Dill seedling planting for swallowtail butterflies in recycled or upcycled containers
Crafts:
-Cereal box cactus handprint cards (see example at link)-
https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/cactus-handprint/
-Garden marker decorating (from previous years- popsicle sticks and wooden cutouts of butterflies and birds)
-Butterfly pipe cleaner rings (chenille like last year)
A Meadow is a Neighbourhood created by play where you live and Yarrow Collective
A Seed Ball Making Workshop with imagination!
We need a meadow but can’t remember.
Through a collaborative act of sowing and imagining, join us as we re-make a place we have never experienced.
Our participatory installation invites young people to consider how to imagine and care for landscapes that they have never seen. Through poetic invitations and getting our hands dirty, we will explore, imagine, and plant micro meadows where future generations of people and pollinators can thrive.
WORKSHOPS for all ages! No registration required and on-going throughout the day.
Darn it! Mending Workshop
Did you know that Canadians throw away nearly 500 million kilograms of clothing and home items made of fabric every year*? Join us for a crash course in mending and hang on to that favourite shirt or your comfiest jeans for years to come. Learn how to repair small tears, patch holes and fix falling-down hems. We’ll even share our foolproof trick for sewing on buttons, so they never fall off again! Bring your mending with you, or practice on our scrap fabric. No supplies needed.
The EARTH without ART is just EH! by Paint with Janet
All ages can create a little watercolor painting for free at EARTHFEST.
This time I am going to show you how to paint HAPPY TREES, the Earth without Trees is nothing...quite literally. No registration required.
LIVE Entertainment:
Amazing Musical Performers: Juno award winner and friend of the environment, Ian Tamblyn and the Ottawa Valley's own Vickie Brittle will entertain us through the day.
https://www.iantamblyn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/vickibrittlemusic/
Sustainable & handmade Marketplace
Many beautiful, locally handmade artisan pieces, environmentally conscious services, and have a delicious lunch prepared by Michele’s Filipino Food, Blue Spoon Atlelier, Sarah’s Kitchen and a sweet treat by Cooookies with Us!
NEW this Year!
There will be a shuttle for ease of parking –
Park at the Independent Grocers area closest to Hwy 7 & McNeely. The Shuttle will take you to the festival site and back, looping back and forth throughout the day.
Many, many thanks to the good people at Lanark County Transportation.
(Donations jar will be available in the shuttle - donations much appreciated)
For EVCO EV Test Drives at EarthFEST (Intake will start two weeks ahead of the event): to register:
https://evco.ca/events/
A Note about Garbage & Recycling at the festival:
We are aiming to have as little solid waste (garbage) as possible and will be collecting compost as well towards an end goal of zero waste. Please bring your own insulated drink container for hot or cold drinks.
Also check out other Workshops in Carleton Place, Arts events in Carleton Place, Literary Art events in Carleton Place.
