It’s that time of year again. Time for the hottest event on Vancouver Island – the Organic Islands Festival and Sustainability Expo – which also has the distinction of being the largest outdoor green festival in Canada. Now it its sixth year, the Organic Islands Festival has grown from event organizer Deb Morse’s simple desire to make a difference to an enormous thriving sustainable community that takes over 10 acres at Glendale Gardens and Woodland each year.
With a belief that a festival would bring the sustainable community together, five years ago Morse set off to create an event that would inspire those new to the environmental movement while also supporting individuals who were already working in sustainability issues.
Fast forward to today when the festival has grown to a super-sized event with more than 150 exhibitors, great guest speakers and sustainability forums, first-rate entertainment, a farmer’s market and extensive green shopping section. Add in the fact that the event is solar powered, near zero waste and includes more than 40 food vendors (offering free snacks and drinks) and you have the perfect mix for an amazing eco-weekend of information and inspiration.
But somehow, amongst all the hustle and bustle of the growing green movement, the festival manages to retain its country charm, which is a testament to Morse’s desire to raise awareness about sustainability while keeping it fun and engaging.
“The event has all the sights and sounds of a summer festival, it has the music, plus the fun stuff for the kids, great food, but it is also the kind of experience where you are living sustainability for the day,” explains Morse. “From the moment you walk in the door, the ramp you walk on is made from rigid plastic recycling right here in Victoria. It’s an opportunity for people to see how to live sustainability. It’s a celebratory expo.”
Festival attendees will find information about how to green your home, install a solar panel, keep a chemical free home, grow a Zero Mile Diet, convert their vehicle to bio-diesel, raise a backyard chicken flock, permaculture gardening and even information on composting pet waste. There is also an extensive Children’s Village including nature walks, bug hunts, face painting, community mapping and a beautiful children’s garden.
“New to the festival this year is the Transportation section, we are going to have a million dollar fuel cell vehicle which is available for test driving,” explains Morse. “The Victoria Car Share Co-op will also be there with the new Nissan Cube vehicle.”
Always with her focus on keeping the Organic Islands Festival as green and cutting edge as possible, Morse has partnered with a group of young entrepreneurs from Small Feet to survey festival attendees, partners and exhibitors to find out how they travel to the festival in order to ascertain the carbon emissions footprint of the event.
“Each year, I do try to go a step further in greening the festival. The last two years we worked very diligently on the zero waste commitment. This year the nut to crack is the transportation issue,” explains Morse.
Entertainment on the mainstage includes Indy performer Hannah Georgas, folk artist T. Nile, bluegrass band The Sirens, Old Time Fiddle Kids and Vancouver singer-songwriter Karly Summers. In addition to the amazing line-up of music, there are three panels on Sustainable Transportation, Green Homes, Building and Development and Raw Foods with a keynote presentation by Zero Mile Diet author Carolyn Herriot.
“You might not know what to do about climate change, but when you leave the festival you will feel empowered that you can do a lot of things to make a difference,” she enthuses.
Even though Morse is the orchestrator of the largest outdoor green festival in Canada, she keeps her eye on the prize –education and inspiration and surprisingly enough, seems to have no ego about the huge contribution she is making to the environmental community.
“I feel humbled by it, I am the kind of person that is always thinking about what more I can do,” laughs Morse. “I think the exhibitors and volunteers are the true eco-stars. Those are the people that inspired me to get started.”
The Organic Islands Festival and Sustainability Expo runs July 10th & 11th from 10am to 5pm at Glendale Gardens (north of Camosun College Interurban Campus) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Tickets are available at the event: $12.75 adults, $10.25 senior/youth (tax not included).
Visit: http://www.organicislands.ca/
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