SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Stewardship is a key component of living at Lake Tahoe, and Earth Day allows communities to celebrate the beautiful landscape they live in.

This year, South Lake Tahoe agencies and leaders have organized the South Tahoe Earth Day Festival at Bijou Community Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 24, to celebrate the planet and educate others on how to take care of it.

Lauren Benefield at South Tahoe Public Utility District has been working to organize the vendors and booths for the event back in December when the event’s committee came together to begin planning activities and events for the festival. The event will be hosted primarily by volunteers from the Tahoe Earth Day Foundation with the help of the other nonprofits, local agencies and businesses.

“It’s important to celebrate Earth Day in Lake Tahoe to remind us that we are stewards of the land we live and recreate on and that it is our duty to take care of our beautiful home,” Benefield said. “It also is a great way to remember that little things have a big impact. There will be 42 different eco-friendly booths for festival goers to visit.”

The event will have live music for the entire day, with performances from the Lake Tahoe Unified School District middle school band, the LTUSD choir, and Bison Bluegrass Band. There will also be plenty of guest speakers present, including the Mayor Devin Middlebrook, and speeches from the LTUSD High School Generation Green Club. In addition, Herman Fillmore from the Washoe Tribe will be giving a Washoe Welcome.

A plethora of free events will be held at the festival as well, with something fun for everyone in the family. With the encouragement to walk, bike, or take public transportation to the event, the Tahoe Bicycle Coalition will be offering a bike valet. Kids can enjoy the fun in the Kid Zone with mural painting, windmill creation and chalk art.

There will be food available to enjoy at the park from Sombreros, GetRad Pizza, and Betty’s Balls Food Trucks.

Those looking for something to get them active outside can participate in an interactive drum circle led by Liz Broscoe, or get moving with mini yoga or a Tai Chi session led by Tahoe Rising Yoga. A put-a-thon competition will be held by the South Tahoe Disc Golf Assosciation, and that’s only the beginning.

Tahoe Safe Alliance for Safe Kids will be present with a drug take-back bin. Education at the event is important and will be reflected through the vendors and booth holders and their presentations.

“Some of the education they provide is how to conserve water, reduce your carbon footprint, keeping bears wild, the importance of boat inspections, and getting involved in volunteer events,” said Benefield.

Members on the committee that will be contributing to the fun on Sunday include the South Tahoe Public Utility District, TRPA, Tahoe Institute for Natural Sciences, The League to Save Lake Tahoe, LTUSD, The Art League, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Sierra Club’s Tahoe Chapter, The city of SLT, South Tahoe Refuse, Take Care Tahoe, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association, Sugar Pine Foundation, and the Tahoe Climate Change Action Network.

The amount of contribution from community agencies and organizations comes down to how important it is to take care of the environment.

Following the start of the pandemic in 2020, partners in the committee quickly pivoted to celebrating Earth Day with a week of virtual activities that also complied with social distancing regulations. These activities are still something partners promoted throughout the entire week for people to do in preparation for the festival.

“Each daily challenge outlines easy ways that we can take care of our precious and fragile ecosystem,” said Benefield, who explained that helping the planet is not limited to one week out of the year. “There are many great ways to take care of our important ecosystem in Lake Tahoe. One easy thing people can do is pick up their litter, such as cigarette butts, dog pool, and wrappers. Everything that is left on the ground eventually ends up in the lake.”

People can learn more about the daily challenges and how to get involved at takecaretahoe.org.

To learn more about the free Earth Day Festival at Bijou Park, located at 1201 Al Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe, visit southtahoeearthday.org.