Marlborough’s Earth Day celebration, Picnic in the Park returns to Blenheim!

The Earth Day event, hosted by Envirohub Marlborough, will make its return to Pollard Park on Sunday 30 April, 10:00am to 3:00pm. After being forced to take a year off due to Covid-19, the family-friendly event will return bigger and better than ever with live music and entertainment, craft market, food vendors, conservation displays, workshops, a Repair Cafe and more.

The aim of Earth Day Picnic in the Park is to provide a free event while providing information for the community on how to tread a little lighter and minimise their carbon footprint, as well as showcasing conservation in action throughout our region.

Each year on April 22nd more than a billion people celebrate Earth Day to give attention to the need to protect our planet from things like pollution, deforestation, climate change and the loss of our rich diversity of plants and animals. By taking part in activities like growing our own veggies, making compost and recycling our rubbish, protecting natural habitats, and planting trees, we are making our world a happier, healthier place to live.

With assistance from Marlborough Events Ltd, Envirohub Marlborough has continued to build on the successful 2021 event, keeping with the glamping picnic style and inviting members of the public to bring their own picnics or purchase from one of the food vendors on-site with cutlery, crockery and cups provided by the Envirohub Zero Waste Dishwashing Trailer.

Local musician Midge McLeary will entertain with an acoustic set of his engaging blend of blues funk folk jazz based on his percussive, finger-style guitar playing. This year will also showcase some local international talent with help from our friends at the Marlborough Multicultural Centre.

A craft market featuring only earth friendly goods will tempt a range of shoppers, while children will be kept entertained with a number of activities at the Conservation Kids NZ Kid’s Zone, providing a full children’s programme throughout the day, in addition to family-friendly interactive displays, games and activities by many of our local community and conservation groups.

Conservation groups hosting displays include Climate Karanga Marlborough, Picton Dawn Chorus, Kaipupu Sanctuary, Department of Conservation, Te Whanau Hou - Grovetown Lagoon, Forest & Bird, Repair Cafe, East Coast Protection Group, Te Paranui Animal Farm & Sanctuary, Envirohub Marlborough and more. Attendees may even drop in to one of the workshops in the Workshop Marquee, programme to be announced shortly.

The public is also invited to bring along any of their items from home they wish to have mended or repaired as the Repair Cafe will be operating between 11am and 1pm.

This year, Climate Karanga Marlborough will also be launching their popular essay competition. This year’s topic is a letter to the Prime Minister asking: “What I’d like you to do for Papatuanuku”.

Picnic in the Park is a completely Zero-Waste event. All vendors will comply with the “Pack it in, pack it out” philosophy. Everyone attending will be asked to BYO picnic set for their food and drinks or can use utensils, plates, cups and crockery supplied by our Zero Waste Dishwashing Trailer - see it and our team in action on the day!

EARTH DAY MISSION: To build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet.

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