Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival Takes Over Alameda Park April 26 & 27, 2025
This year’s theme ‘Our Power, Our Planet’
Community Environmental Council Honors Environmental Heroes Dr. Leah Stokes and Charlie Eckberg
April 1, 2025 (SANTA BARBARA, CALIF) – The Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival will take over Alameda Park on Saturday, April 26 from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 27 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., 2025. Now in its 55th year, the community-organized festival is one of the longest-running Earth Day celebrations in the country and is one of the largest Earth Day festivals on the West Coast. Presented by the Community Environmental Council (CEC) and produced by longtime festival partner, CarpEvents, the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival continues to serve as a beacon for environmental advocacy and education.
"As we prepare for the 2025 Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival, we are reminded of Santa Barbara’s deep-rooted legacy as a pioneer in the environmental movement,” said Kathi King, CEC’s Director of Climate Education and Leadership. “This is not only a point of pride for our community but a constant reminder of the responsibility we carry in leading environmental stewardship and advocacy. The Community Environmental Council (CEC) is honored to continue this tradition, engaging with our community and beyond to foster a deeper connection with our environment and drive meaningful action towards a sustainable future."
This year, the festival is aligning with the Earth Day Network’s global theme of Our Power, Our Planet. This theme invites everyone around the globe to unite behind renewable energy and to work together to triple the global generation of renewable energy by 2030. To further amplify this critical initiative, CEC is pleased to announce Dr. Leah Stokes as the recipient of its 2025 Santa Barbara Earth Day Environmental Hero Award.
Dr. Stokes is a professor at UCSB focused on energy, climate, and environmental politics. An author of several books, Dr. Stokes was named an advocate on TIME100 Next, and as one of Business Insider’s top 30 global leaders working toward climate solutions. She is also an author of the Inflation Reduction Act, widely recognized as the most influential piece of climate legislation ever enacted.
We are also pleased to announce our first Earth Day Environmental Hero Pioneer Award recipient being presented posthumously to Charlie Eckberg. Charlie helped bring the Earth Day Festival back to Santa Barbara in the early 90s and was an influential environmentalist throughout his life. To learn more about Charlie’s impact on Santa Barbara’s environmental movement, we invite you to read this beautiful tribute recently published in the Santa Barbara Independent.
Activists like Stokes and Eckberg have dedicated their lives to making an impact on climate change and their work lights the way for communities everywhere. The Environmental Hero Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 26 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the Main Stage in Alameda Park, and Stokes will be on stage to accept the award, along with members of Eckberg’s family. KEYT anchor Tracy Lehr will serve as emcee.
The 2025 festival— which is free to attend — anticipates all of the fun of past years. Highlights of this year’s event include the Green Car show featuring free “Ride & Drive'' experiences, over 200 eco-friendly exhibitors, Beer & Wine Garden, Kids Zone, two full days of live music, plant-forward Food Court, and so much more.
"It’s truly an honor to be able to produce the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival, knowing what a profound impact this event has on our community year after year,” said Michael Lazaro, CEO of CarpEvents and Festival Producer. “This festival is more than just a weekend of activities; it's a catalyst for change, inspiring attendees to adopt more sustainable lifestyles and to think more deeply about their role in environmental stewardship. Our commitment is to produce an event that not only educates and entertains but also empowers every participant to make a positive difference in the world."
Community members can stay updated on details of CEC’s Earth Day at www.SBEarthDay.org, and can get involved in many ways:
Exhibit: Event registration for vendors is open, for details visit SBEarthDay.org/exhibit.
Sponsor: Over 60 eco-friendly businesses and organizations sponsor the festival each year. Learn how you can support the festival at SBEarthDay.org/sponsor.
Follow on social media for updates: Like “Santa Barbara Earth Day” on Facebook.com/SBEarthDay, and Instagram @SB_EarthDay
Earth Day Sponsors and partners, who contribute to this wonderful event, include (as of today): City of Santa Barbara, MarBorg Industries, Dave’s Killer Bread, SBCAG, Firestone Walker 805, June Shine, Bye Bye Mattress, Cox Communications, Santa Barbara Foundation, Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition, Central Coast Community Energy, Channel Islands Restoration, Learningden Preschool, e-bikery, GreenStart Electrify, Toyota of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Independent and TV Santa Barbara
About Santa Barbara’s Earth Day
Widely acknowledged as the birthplace of Earth Day, Santa Barbara’s involvement began with the devastating 1969 oil spill off its coast. This led a local group of concerned citizens to begin discussing a different way of looking at environmental systems. During that time, Senator Gaylord Nelson visited Santa Barbara to view the oil spill damage. When he returned to Washington, D.C., he introduced a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the earth. Over the next few years, the environmental movement was born across the country – including the Community Environmental Council (CEC). Led by a group of forward-thinking youth and elders, CEC incorporated in the spring of 1970 and its first act as a new nonprofit was to hold an Earth Day celebration – a one block long teach-in between State St. and Chapala St. along Anapamu. Around the country, 20 million concerned citizens attended similar events. We recognize that “every day is earth day” and that special events like this are a way to bring diverse voices from our community together as a reminder to tread lightly on the planet.
About Dr. Leah Stokes, 2025 Santa Barbara Earth Day Environmental Hero
An expert in climate and energy policy, Dr. Leah Stokes is the author of the award-winning book Short Circuiting Policy, which examines the role of utilities in undermining regulation and promoting climate denial. She was named to 2022 TIME100 Next and Business Insider 2022 Climate Action 30 lists. Trained at MIT, Columbia, and the University of Toronto, Stokes has been published in top scholarly journals, as well as the New York Times, Washington Post, and other popular media outlets. She is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a 2023-24 fellow of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, a senior policy consultant at Rewiring America, and co-host of the climate podcast “A Matter of Degrees.”
About the Community Environmental Council (CEC)
CEC advances rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis – including ambitious zero carbon goals, drawdown of excess carbon, and protection against the impacts of climate change. CEC was recognized as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year and a City of Santa Barbara Climate Hero, and is led by CEO Sigrid Wright who was recently named 2022 Congressional Woman of the Year. CEC has worked since 1970 to incubate and innovate real life environmental solutions that directly affect the California Central Coast. Our programs lead to clean vehicles, solar energy, resilient food systems and reduction of single-use plastic. Learn more about the work of CEC and why it receives high ratings from both Charity Navigator and Guidestar at CECSB.org/impact.
Find CEC on the web at CECSB.org and on Facebook.com/CECSB, Instagram.com/CEC_SB, and Linkedin.com/company/cecsb/.
About CarpEvents
With over 30 years’ experience in event management, Mike Lazaro (Carpinterian of the Year), and the CarpEvents team have been producing seamless events from concept to completion across the country and right here in Santa Barbara County. Mike has been involved from the ground up on fundraisers, street festivals, concerts, large corporate conventions and televised sporting events. In addition, the team provides logistical and managerial support on major events such as Summer Solstice and Avocado Festival as well as co-founded the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria and the Rods and Roses Car show. Visit https://www.carpinteriaevents.com/
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