Earthfest Quick Facts:
Saturday, April 26, 2008
11am-7pm
Pellissippi State Technical
Community College
Knoxville, TN
Admission is Free!
Event Site Info:
Campus Map
Personalized Directions
Pellissippi State Facility Policies
EF History:
Event History
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EarthFest 2000-2008:
History
EarthFest, an annual celebration of Earth Day in Knoxville,
has had a major impact on our community promoting
environmental awareness and opportunities for individuals to
reduce their environmental footprint on East Tennessee.
Over the years, this event has grown from
attracting a couple of thousand attendees in Concord Cove
Park to being one of the premier environmental festivals in
the Southeast at the World’s Fair Park-- in 2007, attendance
reached thirteen thousand! After outgrowing our previous venue at
World's Fair Park,
EarthFest in 2008 has moved locations to Pellissippi State
Technical Community College.
Environmental Awareness is the main focus of EarthFest.
EarthFest has worked to create public awareness of such
environmental issues important in East Tennessee, such as
clean air, water, sustainable transportation, waste
reduction and recycling, and urban forestation, just to name
a few of the event’s themes. Special attention is given to
the creation of a day-long kids’ activity area, that
emphasizes creative and fun educational opportunities around
each year’s theme. Yearly inserts in Metro Pulse and
the Knoxville News Sentinel not only contain
information about the event but articles about energy
conservation, solar power, green waste, recycling, and water
pollution. It is designed to be used as a resource that
citizens can refer to throughout the year.
Run by a volunteers each year, the EarthFest Steering
Committee, led by John Homa and Cat Wilt, brings together
city and county officials, corporations such as KUB and Koyo
Steering, local media outlets, and environmental groups.
The steering committee representatives spend literally
hundreds of hours planning the event, and untold, in-kind
resources to pull off the event. Due to the success in
attracting exhibitors and sponsors, EarthFest also gives
back to the community, donating proceeds to fund activities
such as the purchase of plants and trees in the James Agee
Park and funding community creek litter programs at UT and
Beaver Creek. In 2005, EarthFest spawned a new,
environmental non-profit organization called the Tennessee
Valley Earth Partnership, with a mission to continue to grow
EarthFest and create additional outreach and awareness
opportunities for environmental groups in East Tennessee.
EarthFest has truly become an annual event attracting
exhibitors and attendees from around the region. The
event draws local organizations like the East Tennessee
Clean Fuels Coalition, Knoxville Recycling Coalition, the
Knox County Bee Keepers Association, Beardsley Community
Farm, and Keep Knoxville Beautiful, and combines them with
state agencies and organizations such as the National Parks
Conservation Association, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of
the Tennessee Valley, the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and
Conservation, and the Tennessee Clean Water Network. Through terrific
media exposure, great local entertainment and music on
stage, a kids’ learning area, and hundreds of exhibitors,
EarthFest has created an ongoing community event with
something for everyone which is an asset to Knoxville and
East Tennessee.
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