Greentopia Festival

What is the Green­topia Festival?

The Green­topia Fes­ti­val will be a two-day vir­tual “World’s Fair” of envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion, arts, music, activism and inspi­ra­tion. Atten­dees will enjoy vision­ary speak­ers, authors, how-to work­shops, cutting-edge films, unique fam­ily fun activ­i­ties, com­mu­nity recy­cled art instal­la­tions, great organic food and bev­er­ages plus diverse, live music.

What is the goal of the Green­topia Festival?

Every­one who attends the Green­topia Fes­ti­val will gain at least one new idea or con­nec­tion that helps them take the next green step in their lives and for a more sus­tain­able Greater Rochester.

Who will exhibit at Greentopia?

Festival-goers will be able to shop at over 100 eco-friendly exhibits — every­thing from all-natural body care prod­ucts and organic cot­ton cloth­ing to Fair Trade gifts and money-saving, energy-efficient home and build­ing prod­ucts. Atten­dees will expe­ri­ence the largest plant sale in the region along with gar­den themed art. At the fes­ti­val atten­dees will meet with real green busi­nesses that are screened for social and envi­ron­men­tal respon­si­bil­ity. Festival-goers will also be able to meet rep­re­sen­ta­tives from non­profit orga­ni­za­tions and learn about how they can make a dif­fer­ence in our com­mu­nity and the world.

Facts

When and where will the Green­topia Fes­ti­val take place?

The Green­topia Fes­ti­val will take place in Sep­tem­ber, 2011 (exact week­end dates and times to be deter­mined). Fes­ti­val grounds will include the streets of the High Falls area, the perime­ter of the Gene­see Val­ley Gorge, Brown’s Race Build­ing and pos­si­bly the Gene­see Brew­ery grounds.

Why the High Falls area?

The High Falls area was selected for the fes­ti­val site because it was here that Rochester’s indus­trial life began and it is at this loca­tion a new 21st-century park will be estab­lished — The GardenAerial.

The fes­ti­val will become one of the sig­na­ture events for the area and, unlike any other fes­ti­val, it will show­case the past with a look towards the future. The High Falls was about clean, nat­ural energy and in many ways the fes­ti­val harkens back and urges us for­ward in how we think about our world, the nat­ural resources of the area and how together we can ensure a bet­ter place in the future.

What are the Fes­ti­val Components?

Speaker Events — Lead­ing authors, edu­ca­tors and speak­ers offer­ing their ideas about many aspects of sus­tain­able econ­omy, eco­log­i­cal bal­ance and social justice.

• Huge Green Mar­ket­place — Shop more than 100 eco-friendly exhibits and learn more about local “green” com­mu­nity organizations
• Green Home Pavil­ion — How-to and do-it-yourself workshops
• Music Stage — Live performances
• Move­ment Area — Yoga & Pilates sessions
• Organic Din­ing, Beer & Wine — Eat, drink and be green!
• Green Kid’s Zone — Spe­cial pro­gram­ming for chil­dren in this selected area of the Fes­ti­val includ­ing an edu­ca­tional scav­enger hunt.

What makes the Green­topia Fes­ti­val different?

The fes­ti­val will set a new stan­dard for event waste diver­sion and greening:

• Every­thing that can be recy­cled at the event will be recy­cled. Enthu­si­as­tic vol­un­teers and staff will be avail­able to assist atten­dees in this process.
• Event signs will be designed with reuse in mind. Each piece will be made from envi­ron­men­tally friendly materials.
• All Green­topia Fes­ti­val col­lat­eral will be made with recy­cled materials.
• Green­topia Fes­ti­val will pro­vide incen­tives for par­tic­i­pants using greener modes of transportation.
• Green­topia Fes­ti­val will be a plas­tic water bottle-free event!
• Every plate, fork spoon, knife, cup, bowl, nap­kin, cof­fee stir­rer and sam­ple cup will be 100% biodegradable and will be col­lected with all food scraps to be composted.
• Green­topia Fes­ti­val exhibitors will be screened for their com­mit­ment to sus­tain­able busi­ness prac­tices using Green America’s green busi­ness standards.

Who are the Green­topia Fes­ti­val Pro­duc­ers and Organizers?

The Green­topia Fes­ti­val will be a major spe­cial event for the newly formed Friends of the GardenAerial.

The event will be pro­duced by The Philip­son Group, a com­mu­ni­ca­tions and mar­ket­ing firm spe­cial­iz­ing in graphic and web design, spe­cial events, con­fer­ences, pub­lic rela­tions and marketing.

Visit us on the web at greentopiafest.com