Queens Botanical Garden is inviting New Yorkers to its second annual Climate Arts Festival in celebration of Earth Day on Saturday, April 22.
The festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Queens Botanical Garden, located at 43-50 Main St. in Flushing. The family-friendly event will be a fun, impactful day filled with hands-on activities, art exhibits, music, interactive performances, tours, demonstrations, food, and much more.
There will be a Sustainable Vendor Fair to support local businesses. Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and the New York Restoration Project will be in attendance to host a tree giveaway. While the event is sold out, leftover trees will be given out at 3 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis at Parking Garden.
Jatnna Ramirez, director of Programs at QBG, said the event helps to connect people with nature, learn how to care for the environment, and raise awareness about the climate crisis.
“It’s going to be a really fun event that will bring people together for a good cause,” Ramirez said. “The first step is connecting to nature, so that you can take the next step of fighting to protect it. My favorite time at the garden is when we have these large community events and see the diversity of Queens and the city in one place.”
The QBG Climate Arts Festival aims to inspire people to get involved in climate action to make a difference in local ways — and that starts with learning about everyday lifestyle changes that people can make to help the planet thrive.
More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to a report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world, according to the report.
According to Ramirez, the climate crisis is hard to ignore at this point and is a cause for concern. At the local level, the Queens Botanical Garden has been doing its part to help make a difference in the community.
“Sustainability really is at the forefront of the garden. We let nature take its course. Sometimes when plants aren’t looking picture perfect, that’s okay. We use organic practices, we don’t use any pesticides or anything that would be harmful to the environment,” Ramirez said.
Additionally, the garden’s composting team is essential to its sustainability practices, Ramirez said.
“We collect food scraps from that we turn into compost and distribute it for free,” Ramirez said. It’s a big part of the work that we do, in addition to education programming, where we touch our kids about sustainability practices helping them connect with nature. It’s all about creating consciousness and urgency in protecting the environment and climate.”
Ramirez is encouraging people to learn more about the environment and everything that nature has to offer.
“People can get involved by coming to the garden. We have a robust volunteer program, where people can come and learn about gardening and connect with others in the community,” Ramirez said. “It’s also about connecting with their elected officials in letting them know the city has to take a role in tackling the climate crisis.”
For tickets and more information on QBG’s Climate Arts Festival, click here.
