The second Narara Ecoburbia Festival will be held at Narara Valley High School on Saturday, April 11, and will highlight ‘the reinvigoration of sustainability’.
There will be music, markets, activities for children, talks, workshops, food and entertainment.
Not to be missed are: a lunchtime concert by Marysville steel band ‘Hot Pans on Fire’, telling the story of how music helped to rebuild their community after the terrible Victorian bushfires; passionate and controversial Sydney Morning Herald opinion writer Elizabeth Farrelly, speaking on the dream of sustainable suburbia; Viva Living Homes demonstrating how to build natural homes; integrative medical practitioner Dr Mark Donohoe talking about health and the connection between the ‘In-vironment’ and the environment; Dr Samantha Graham on ‘Meditation and Mindfulness’; Permaculture expert Kerrie Anderson on growing herbs for health; and, television personality Angus Stewart on healthy soil and healthy business.
In-depth topics include zero-carbon living, the latest renewable energy technology, sustainable population and spirituality and ecology.
Activities for children include all-day drop-in workshops by Art Tank, where they can make musical instruments from recycled materials, a chance to visit the school farm or to try the steel drums, live animals, yoga for kids, jugglers and hoola-hooping.
“When combined with 70 exhibitors and market stalls, six musical groups, seven food stalls, there’s just so much to see and do,” said Joan Cassels, one of the coordinators.
“The festival theme is ‘sustainability’. “Sadly the word ‘sustainability’ has suffered from excessive overuse. “It is so easy in lucky Australia to forget how bad ‘unsustainability’ is. “You only have to look overseas to see how bad it can become when everything unravels.
“Sustainability is not passive, it’s not just about ‘protecting’ biodiversity, it’s about regenerating it. “It’s active, it’s positive. “It involves seriously thinking about our future generations.
“It’s about making the transition out of the dying industries of coal and gas mining, and stepping away from profiting from polluting. “It’s about reinvigorating community, local ecosystems, local employment and natural good health.
“Sustainability is about everything because it’s all linked: healthy soil, healthy food, healthy bodies (the ‘Invironment’), healthy minds, healthy ecosystems, healthy climate, healthy economy, healthy community, and healthy government.
“The Central Coast is full of people venturing into the new worlds of more sustainable living. “The Narara Ecoburbia festival is a place to meet, mix and mingle with these ‘Sustainability Adventurers’,” said Ms Cassels.
Admission to the festival is free.
Media release, 2 Mar 2015
Richard Cassels,
Ecoburbia