Parade, live music highlight Durham Earth Day Festival

Durham will celebrate the environment on Sunday with an Earth Day Festival at Durham Central Park

The event will include a family fun zone, parade, vendor market and live music from noon to 5 p.m.

Last year the event was "drive-thru" only with performers and speakers but not exhibitors.

“It’s important to offer something where people can come together and feel a part of the community,” said Kristen Perez, special events coordinator at Durham Parks and Recreation. “It’s also a great way to welcome Spring and get people thinking about how to take care of our earth.”

This year, the festival has added the "Way to Go Durham Sustainable Transportation Expo" presented by Durham’s Department of Transportation and non-profit advocacy organization Bike Durham.

The expo will showcase GoDurham’s new electric bus, and give attendees the chance to test drive electric scooters and bikes. Another perk for kiddos: a traffic garden, where children – on a miniature world of streets – can learn about road safety and interactions.

“The 'Way to Go Durham' program is focused on encouraging our residents, commuters, and visitors to look at sustainable modes of transportation,” City of Durham’s Director of Transportation Sean Egan said.

Other festival highlights include the Durham H20 2-Go Hydration Station — where attendees can fill up their own water bottles – and the Zero Waste Project that includes stations installed across the park for people to recycle, compost, reuse and trade their trash.

Local environmental leaders and educators will also be on hand to present short demos. Among them is Audrey Vaughn, an AmeriCorps environmental educator with the Eno River Association. She will discuss the negative impact of climate change on important river systems like the Eno River, which flows near urban areas of Durham and Orange counties.

“I want people to realize that climate change can affect us in our backyards and in our communities,” Vaughn said. “We can’t shy away from it.”

Other speakers include Tobin Freid, Durham County Government’s sustainability manager, and Glen Gonzalez, an earth and environmental science teacher at the Southern School of Energy and Sustainability.

“We want to bring awareness to what's going on,” Gonzalez said, “whether that's awareness at our school, what's going on in the world, or in the city of Durham.”