Spring Fest 2022 welcomes the new season
Spring Fest brings excitement and environmental awareness.
Children laughed while doing arts and crafts and hula hooping, live music floated in the air, trees were planted by loving hands, and the air was crisp in Brookline’s Frederick Law Olmsted park as it was brought to life by the 2022 Spring Fest.
The idea for Spring Fest was organized by Alexandra Vecchio with the heavy support of The Brookline Department of Public Works. Held on Saturday, May 7th 2022, the goal of the event was to celebrate Brookline’s trees and educate the community about the value of nature.
The event accomplished its goals and so much more, full of educational and fun activities for residents of all ages. Over 500 people attended Spring Fest, and the event was flooded with people of all ages simply enjoying nature.
Children were brought into the joy of the event through activities that included arts and crafts, mega foam block building structures, face painting, chalk, hula hooping, and lawn games. I was especially blown away by the giant cupcake tree; 100 cupcakes were assorted and decorated to take the shape of a tree. It was obvious that great effort and planning had gone into creating opportunities for children to enjoy themselves in nature.
The event was just as joyful as it was educational. Booths were stationed around the park, set up by nonprofit organizations and town departments, educating community members on things like private tree care and maintenance, forestry pests, tree protection in Brookline, and the recently completed Urban Forest Climate Resiliency Master Plan.
The community members stationed at the booths were passionate and committed to educating, which created an uplifting and inspiring atmosphere. SpringFest did an amazing job of giving a platform to hardworking climate activists around the area, and educating Brookline residents about local climate projects. This left me feeling aware of my role in tackling climate change on a local level.
Katie Weatherseed, the Zero Waste program manager and one of the SpringFest core organizers. Weatherseed believes that SpringFest is going to become an annual event for the Brookline community, and is excited to see what future SpringFests bring.
“It is our hope that Spring Fest made the Brookline community a little stronger – a place where attendees were able to discuss their shared goals and visions for the Town over a cupcake or bag of popcorn, and left feeling seen, understood, supported and empowered,” Weatherseed said.
The 2022 Spring Fest accomplished all it set out to do, and was a beautiful way to bring community members closer to the nature that surrounds them. It was obvious that the event was both thoughtfully organized and well appreciated by the community, and it is my hope that SpringFest continues far into the future.
