Thank You Seattle!

Green Festival continued its 10^th Anniversary celebration at Qwest Event Center with enthusiasm and inspiration. Participants escaped the rainy weather to celebrate Seattle’s Green culture and share ideas and solutions to create a more sustainable world.

Thanks to Green America and Global Exchange, as well as every attendee, volunteer, exhibitor, partner and nonprofit ally who came together to make Seattle Green Festival a successful event!

Weekend highlights included Edward Humes providing an enlightening window into the change of culture required in a mega-corporation to embrace sustainability, when its history emphasizes the opposite.

"Democracy Now!" host, Amy Goodman brought a full house for her moving talk, in which she declared, “We will not be silent!” to thunderous approval.

Green Festival was honored to host Rep. Dennis Kucinich on Sunday as he shared his thoughts on healing the planet through reconnecting with the natural world. Amidst current news that Kucinich may or may not be making the state of Washington his new home, the Green Festival community welcomed his return with excitement and enthusiasm. In an inspiring meeting of minds, John Perkins interviews Kucinich about his thoughts on the meaning of Green Festival, a greener, more integrated economy, transformation and encouragement for the future:

Other highlights included a spirited community rally led by Hip Hop Caucus founder Reverend Lennox Yearwood; an enriching Green Business Pavilion with topics from finance, to greening your office, to embracing social media; a beautiful performance from St. George’s children’s choir; colorful interactive art projects with the Art Affect and much more.

Congratulations to the $5,000 Ford Community Green Grant winner, Homestead Community Land Trust! Homestead CLT representative and proposal writer Sheldon Cooper accepted the reward, which was presented by Ford’s Manager of Environmental Policy Nancy Homeister.

Thanks to all Green Festival exhibitors for representing your business so well. Green Festival is extremely lucky to have such an innovative, diverse, environmentally-responsible and socially-just marketplace. The Green Marketplace was hustling and bustling throughout the weekend as participants enjoyed an amazing variety of local, regional and national green and sustainable businesses. Delicious vegan and vegetarian samples and cuisine were abundant, as well as organic body products, beautiful organic and Fair Trade eco-fashion, non-toxic cleaning products for the home and office, children’s products and so much more.

Green Festival is privileged to connect with the local community through an incredible 46 local nonprofit allies! Thanks to all of these wonderful organizations for their hard work in creating a cleaner, greener, socially-just and culturally-rich Seattle community.

Special thanks goes out to all of the volunteers whose dedication and spirit are the backbone of every Green Festival and upon which, every successful event depends. You are all extraordinary individuals and your concern and passion is an inspiration to the global community. Due to the diligent efforts of the volunteer Green Festival Green Team, only 80lbs of leftovers went to landfill from the entire weekend!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated, shared their wonderful experiences through social media and followed along and supported Green Festival from across the country. The green and sustainable economy grows stronger year by year with your continued dedication.

Summer approaches as Green Festival gears up for another full and fun Festival Fall! Green Festival will visit New York October 1-2, Los Angeles October 29-30 and San Francisco November 12-13, so mark your calendars now! For exhibit information for fall events, visit the Exhibit Page or call 828-333-9403 ext. 300. Keep up with green tips, amazing stories and more throughout the summer months on the Green Festival Facebook and Twitter.