Lorton Community Action Center volunteers Bill Evans and Rachel Grippo talk to community members at the 2014 Springfest. Photo courtesy of Lorton Community Action Center
An Earth Day celebration wouldn’t be complete without ponies and food trucks. At least the combined Earth Day and Arbor Day event in Fairfax County, known as SpringFest Fairfax, wouldn’t.
Jen Cole, executive director of Clean Fairfax, expects those two attractions to be among the most popular of 40 to 45 vendors and exhibitors for children and adults at the day-long educational festival held April 25 on the grounds of the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton.
“It’s all about clean water, clean air and sustainability,” Cole said. “It’s not just some event; it’s officially the county’s Earth Day.”
Clean Fairfax is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services to educate schools, businesses and other groups about sustainability and environmental issues. They host the event with several partners, but largely produce it from their own operating budget. Last year the cost to Clean Fairfax to put on the free public event was $35,000.
OTHER VENDORS and presenters include representatives from the Fairfax County Park Authority, Fairfax Water, plant sales, seed exchange and other public works agencies.
“Stormwater, wastewater, forestry, recycling, all the Park Authority and nature centers -- County agencies alone make this a great event,” said Cole. “They really go all out.” Educational programming such as an environmental passport project will be mixed with entertainment like the ponies and a moon bounce.
Cole is particularly hyped for the return of Fairfax Water’s “water bar,” a hydration setup with wooden taps for pouring County water into commemorative, reusable cups. Otherwise there are no-bottle and limited paper policies in place on the campus.
“We encourage vendors to not give away anything that can become instant trash,” she said.
Of the roughly 15 food vendors, around half will be food trucks from around the region, including Washington, D.C-based The Big Cheese, Good Grubbin’ fajitas from Ashburn and Teachers Making Dough-Nuts from the Fairfax Community Farmers’ Market.
Cole said the goal is to grow that element of the festival: “Food trucks, local food, farm-to-table -- it all is really sustainable and resonates with people.”
Held for decades at the Northern Virginia Community College Annandale campus, the location switched to the Fairfax County Government Center when the campus was undergoing some development and construction. After two years, Board of Supervisors chairman Sharon Bulova suggested the event might be better situated at the Workhouse.
“It’s a beautiful location and a really interesting place,” said Bulova, adding that the adaptive reuse of the former Lorton prison buildings “is a demonstration of recycling and sort of embodies our environmental agenda and goals.
“It’s cross from the Water Authority,” she continued, “next to Occoquan Park and down the street from the waste energy facility. There’s a lot of things happening in that part of the county that demonstrate the County’s commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.”
One of Bulova’s favorite aspects is also that the Workhouse artist studios are open for people to explore and even purchase artwork.
Since coming to the Workhouse in 2013, Cole said SpringFest Fairfax attendance doubled each year, with 5,000 people at last year’s event.
THE FESTIVAL will also include a food drive for the Lorton Community Action Center, which is asking specifically for dry breakfast cereal and individual packages of children’s snacks such as Goldfish or peanut butter crackers.
As the temperature increases, so does the need of individuals from the community who look to the Lorton Community Action Center for support. Director of Development Andrea Clay said their pantry will generally give out more than 240 boxes of cereal each week, as well as offer fresh produce over the summer.
“People need to understand that’s a local problem, not a theory, something that happens to someone else,” Clay said. “We’re thrilled to be a part of SpringFest again, an event where someone wouldn’t think of local issues of hunger.”
SpringFest Fairfax is scheduled to take place rain or shine on April 25, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, located at 9518 Workhouse Way in Lorton. The event is free, though some activities require a $5 all-access wristband.
For more information visit www.springfestfairfax.org.