Lowell celebrated Earth Day with a grand parade and festival on April 23. A number of organizations joined together with music, costumes and crafts. Schools such as Lowell High School and Moody Elementary School created Earth Day themed crafts, such as dreamcatchers with animals woven in or large plant and animal puppets. Numerous bands, such as the Hot Tamale Brass Band, walked with the parade, playing trumpets, trombones and more. Spectators followed the parade or stood aside on the sidewalk, enjoying the music. The parade began at the National Park Visitor Center and took to Merrimack Street and Central Street, finishing at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center (ICC).

The parade then joined the ongoing festival inside the ICC ballroom. In the ballroom, organizations had set up tables with brochures, free gifts such as honey sticks and pins, free raffles, and a presentation for viewers to interact with. The Mass Audubon even brought eight-month-old snapping turtles that they had kept through the winter. The representative there explained that these snapping turtles were larger than the average turtles their age, as they had remained active and warm through the winter due to not being in the wild.

The ballroom was filled with tables, all contributing to Earth Day in different ways. This includes some UMass Lowell groups, such as the UMass Recreation Center. They had information about the Bike Share and the Kayak Center. The Masspirg table had petitions for people to sign that called for a stop on neonicotinoid pesticides that kill bees. There were also about 10 solar power organizations there, such as Yeloha, a Boston solar sharing business. Mill City Grows, a non-profit urban farming organization, had their own table as well, who not only attended but co-hosted the event. They also had workshops earlier that morning to teach urban gardening skills.

There was no short of entertaiment

at the festival. Life Force Rhythms offered a community drum circle and Hoopy Hoops entertained in the ballroom. Johnny Fireseed and the Junkyard Dogs even played using recycled instruments. The dance floor in the center of the ballroom was open for anyone throughout the Festival.

This is Lowell’s forty-sixth year celebrating Earth Day and its second year celebrating Earth Month. Throughout the entire month of April there have been opportunities for the Lowell community to get involved in film nights, canal cleanups, and other ways to educate about global warming and energy sustainability. This year’s celebration has been by far the largest, as a new record of organizations have become involved and the festival brought interest to many in the community. This city-wide celebration was a success and hopefully will grow to be a defining part of Lowell in the future.