The 9th Annual Green Festival Returns to San Francisco

07 October 2010

Join us at the 9^th Annual San Francisco Green Festival November 6^th-7^th at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center!

There is something for everyone at Green Festival. You can learn a new skill, listen to inspiring words from political, intellectual and cultural icons, shop at any of our green vendors ‘til you drop, find new styles, munch on delicious cuisine, enjoy a glass of organic wine, peruse recent publications in the bookstore, sample fair trade chocolate and coffee, engage with local nonprofit organizations and much more! New admission options will give you the immediate benefit of getting into Green Festival, while also giving you the lasting benefits of engaging with your local community to make your world a better place.

Must See Speakers:

• Eco-Pioneer Fashion designers Stewart and Brown will discuss designing with organic and earth friendly fabrics.
• Nationally syndicated radio host Thom Hartmann will talk about the new supreme court ruling that allows corporations to give unlimited amounts of cash to political campaigns and politicians.
• John Perkins will speak about creating healthy economy and encouraging corporate responsibility.
• Renowned activist and 350.org founder Bill Mckibben will speak about 350’s efforts to build a global scale, grassroots movement to fight climate change.
• United Farm Workers of America co-founder, Dolores Huerta, will discuss the important of grassroots movement in the effort to create a greener world.

* Sign language and Spanish interpreters will be available.

Stage and Pavilion Highlights:

• Eco-Fashion Shows will profile the best of the season's designs, new textiles, beautiful hairstyles and makeup and amazing accessories.
• Green Business Seminars by Green Business Network at Green America designed for green business owners or businesses wanting to go green. Business owners and managers will be on hand to provide first-hand experience and advice on ways to create a more sustainable workplace.
• The Music Stage is back with the ever popular beer and wine garden and local, organic vegetarian food court.
• The Planet Café Kitchen Stage with live demos in which local chefs cook up your favorite recipes.
• "Youth rising up" - Sat. Nov 6th in the Community Action Pavilion from 1:30 - 2:15pm will feature the winner of the Earth Island Institute Brower Youth Award (for award nominees, check out the press release on our press portal).

We are excited to highlight local sustainable initiatives within the Bay area, such as, greening the school system and raising the city wide goal of waste-diversion from 77% to 100%. Representatives from the SF Department of Environment will be on hand to discuss current ongoing environmental initiatives in San Francisco and talk about local and regional policies that will accelerate the city’s transition to a greener economy, including Senator Mark Leno, EPA Representative Enrique Manzanilla; Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment, Melanie Nutter; City Employee for Community Relations, Daniel Homsey; San Francisco Unified School District Sustainability Director Nik Kaestner; and School Board members, John Rizzo and Hydra Mendoza.

Plus, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute will join the Biomimicry Institute to speak about bio-inspired design for products and business. They will reveal the latest in the new open source Cradle to Cradle designs to be used worldwide, along with product manufacturers that use these techniques and others in their work methods.

The Fair Trade movement is growing, and Green Festival wants to help it expand even more! The Fair Trade Pavilion will feature discussions and samples of many fair trade products including wines, chocolate, coffee, jewelry and more. There will be a screening of clips from the documentary "The Dark Side of Chocolate," which exposed appalling child trafficking and slavery on cocoa farms, and you can also learn more about the Green America and Global Exchange “Hershey Campaign.”

Urban Farming and Slow Food are hot topics in the Bay Area. Explore the Organic Gardening and Urban Farming Pavilion to learn about urban beekeeping (a future possibility in San Francisco with current proposed legislation!), composting, permaculture and medicinal plants. You will also get a preview of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center’s school garden course and find out how easy it is to plant a garden at your child’s school! In addition We are honored to host Master Jian Hu. Known as “the Green Monk,” Master Hu will suggest a road map to realize a safe and healthy environment (the Pure Land) in which all beings live in harmony and contentment.

Join us in the Green Building Pavilion to learn about neighborhood rehabilitation through Green Works Development and hosted by the city of Oakland and DIG Cooperative. The Green Building Pavilion will also include many different Do it Yourself workshops in topics such as green remodeling, solar and earthen plaster. You will learn practical steps to help achieve a green, clean and healthy home.

Green Festival is fun for the entire family! Visit Annie’s Green Kids Zone for creepy, crawly, colorful fun for kids of all ages! Annie’s Green Kids Zone hosts include: San Diego Zoo, Friends of Urban Forest and National Parks Service, The Earth Pledge and Rockin Reptiles and Insects. Kids will love the jam packed two days of activities - and parents and grandparents will enjoy them too! See and hold real reptiles, or take part in the Trash Mash-up. Kids will take materials out of the waste stream and make maskostumes - original pageant masks reflecting customs inspired by traditions around the world. Organic Valley will teach kids how to make butter, and kids will also learn about the importance of fair trade with Equal Exchange's Reverse Trick or Treating Campaign!

Join us for two days filled with the best in green for family, friends, business, community and home. Celebrate what is working in our communities and explore socially responsible and eco-innovative possibilities for people, business and the environment at the 9^th annual San Francisco Green Festival.