12th annual Halton Eco Festival Sets New Attendance Record with 2,550 Visitors
12th annual Halton Eco Festival:
A Free-to attend, One-Day Environmental Fair for Sustainable Living and Biodiversity on Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 10 AM to 5 PM
Organized by the:
Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR)
P.O. Box 52007, Oakville, ON L6J 7N5, Telephone: (905) 849-5501
www.oakvillepeacecentre.org/haltonecofest, info@oakvillepeacecentre.org, HST # 88267 8915
Sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers made a great contribution to the success of the twelfth annual Halton Eco Festival on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the Glen Abbey Community Centre in Oakville.
We were very pleased by the results of this year’s environmental fair which saw a record 2,550 visitors attending.
There was a constant flow of people into the arena. A volunteer was stationed at the entrance to count heads and he reported the numbers to us on an hourly basis. By 11 am, almost one thousand people had entered the arena. 500 more people entered between 11 am and noon, another 300 visited before 1 pm, 350 more entered between 1 and 2 pm, 340 arrived between 2 and 3 pm, and then an additional 150 arrived after 3 pm. It was a fantastic turnout!
By all accounts, the visitors were very pleased to be there.
Sponsor Halton Region distributed a record 500 free blue boxes this year and they were all gone by 1 pm. Sponsors and exhibitors reported that visitors were very interested in their products, services and campaigns.
The food booth was busy all day long. The kid’s eco fun area fortunately had lots of volunteers to accommodate the number of children playing. And, attendance at the free presentations was exceptional this year with almost 300 people viewing the presentations by Ron Woolley of Exotic Critter Tales.
We received evaluations from thirty-eight sponsors and exhibitors. Overall, they were pleased with the event and felt that it met their expectations. According to them, it was very well organized and fairly well publicized. They found the layout and design to be very well done and the food booth met their expectations. They found the promotional poster to be very good and they rated our fifty volunteers as being very good to excellent! We are very pleased to report that most every sponsor and exhibitor said they’d return in 2013.
The Halton Eco Festival was once again a minimal waste event thanks to the efforts of BurlingtonGreen volunteers. Kale Black, Ana Bianca, Barbara Frensch and her sons Peter and Matthew reported that there was only one garbage bag consisting mainly of plastic wrap; meanwhile, two large apartment size blue totes of recyclables and one green tote of compostable paper and food waste were diverted from the local landfill.
The winner of the Free Entrance Draw for $500 worth of organic bedding from sponsor Dormio was Trish Sveistrup of Dundas, Ontario. Congratulations and enjoy the duvet and pillows, Trish!
Sustainable living and biodiversity was the theme of this year’s eco fair.
In the words of one visitor this year, I did not know there were so many interesting people involved in the environment and so many ways to make a difference until I came here to the Halton Eco Festival.
Together we are making a BIG difference for our community, the natural environment and the health of people living in Halton Region.
To volunteer for next year’s event or to register as a sponsor or exhibitor in 2013, please contact Stephen Dankowich at (905) 844-3784 or info@oakvillepeacecentre.org.