Michigan Energy Fair, Green Living Festival Both This Weekend
SOUTHFIELD -- Twin -- and for the moment, competing -- energy and green living fairs are scheduled for this weekend in Michigan.
The seventh annual Michigan Energy Fair is being held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Mason County Fairgrounds in Ludington. Sponsored by the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, the fair offers exhibits, workshops, and special activities to keep attendees up to date on the latest in products, policies, and educational and training opportunities.
Tours of the Consumers Energy Lake Winds Energy Park will also be part of the Energy Fair this year and children's activities will be held on Saturday. Earlier versions of the fair have attracted more than 6,000 people over the weekend.
Meanwhile, closer to Detroit, the seventh annual Green Living Festival will also be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday in downtown Rochester.
More than 50,000 people are expected to check out what's described as one of the largest green and wellness events on the planet. Will Rex, operations manager of the event's sponsor, MI Green Team Inc., said the event started out as an Earth Day observation at Oakland University, but John Batdorf, Green Team president, "wanted to get it closer to Main Street, so we moved it to downtown Rochester four years ago."
This year, the event moved from Earth Day to the weekend after the summer solstice -- the longest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere -- to guarantee better weather.
The Green Living Festival takes place Friday from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Third and Water streets. Admission is free and open to all ages.
The event features exhibits of green and wellness products, services and programs arranged into 10 groups, including "Wellness Way," "Green Living," "Green Home" and more, featuring everything from how to set up a rain barrel to capsule wardrobing, solar power and an art fair.
There will also be displays of hybrid and electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and other innovative technologies.
The event will also feature presentations by national wellness leaders Dr. Michael Greger, preventive nutrition physician, best known as Oprah Winfrey's food safety expert; Dr. Kerrie Saunders, diet and disease prevention expert and best-selling author; Dr. Joel Kahn, director of preventive cardiology and wellness programs at Detroit Medical Center Hospitals; and others. In addition to wellness programs, the festival will feature a variety of presentations on green living including local food systems, detoxing your life, biodynamics, the Clean Air Act, yoga, super foods and more.
And there will be a local Farmer's Row and organic Food Court.
A "party for the planet" entertainment area will run until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights, featuring more than a dozen bands. And there will be a green living parade and pep rally at 11 a.m. Saturday around the festival and down the Paint Creek Trail.
More at www.miglf.com.
Rex said there have been talks about consolidating the two events into a single, statewide green celebration. Those talks will continue after both organizations put on their events this weekend, Rex said.
