Green Festival SF 2006 - WOW

Still pretty exhausted - but here are some first impressions.

The buzz was energizing, the crowds were intense. I saw lots of commerce, lots of community, lots of green folks sharing a great vibe. As usual, the Green Festival is a bit overwhelming when you first walk in the door. This year we assigned ourselves the task of getting interviews with the founders of the festival and with San Francisco-based green businesses. We did pretty well in meeting our goal. We got some nice interviews with Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange and Alisa Gravitz of Co-op American. We fit in as many interviews with local businesses as we could including interviews with Verde Green Cleaning, Woodshanti, Eco-Talk Radio, Sustainlane, Dropwise Essentials and many more. It will take a while to get the videos edited (we shot about 4 hours of video), but we should have some photos up within a few days.

All in all, the Green Festival is like nothing else on earth. It is definitely overwhelming to the senses - but in a good way. We are ready for the day when the Green Festival (or Green Mart) has a permanent home we can visit any day of the year. Until then the annual Green Festival keeps our hopes and spirits high.

Check out these folks who are writing about their Green Festival experiences...

• Green LA Girl has some nice coverage of the coffee and chocolate scenes (yum)



• Digital Crusader describes the festival from the volunteer point of view Green Festival volunteers are my personal heros.



• j from Treehugger has a nice wrap up



• Signal hacking has a more "glass-half-empty" take on the Festival.



• Bliptv has a couple of videos up.



• The Water Seeker wrote a thoughtful post about the dilemma faced by green car-lovers.



• reiko at MySpace reports they were the winner of the Sustainlane electric car but might not have money for the registration and taxes.



• EcoSpree describes the heavy duty shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.



• Heliosphan rode a bike to the festival and describes the overwhelming nature of the crowds.
  

I suspect there will be more blog posts once folks have a chance to get home and catch their breath. The San Francisco Green Festival was an amazing accomplishment and deserves to be celebrated and honored. Congratulations to the people who make this happen.

The Green Festival is Coming Nov. 10-12

If you are at all interested in the San Francisco Green Scene, you have to make time to go to the San Francisco Green Festival November 10-12. This year the festival is 3 days long with 100 speakers and over 400 exhibitors. Whether you are interested in hemp products, political speakers, solar panels, great food, fair trade or just some great holiday shopping, the Green Festival is a wonderland.

The Hours this year are:
Fri, Nov. 10 2pm to 8pm
Sat, Nov. 11 10am to 8pm
Sun, Nov 12 11am to 6pm

A 3 day ticket is $29 and includes: adminisstion for all 3 days, an organic cotton t-shirt, one-year memberships in Global Exchange and Co-Op America and more. A one day ticket is $15. If you ride your bike to the festival, you can get in for $7 a day and there's a free bike valet. Senior, students and union members (all with ID) also get in for $7 for the day. Children under 12 are welcome with no charge. As usual the Festiva l is at the Concourse at 8th and Brannan.

There is a a Benefit Party on Friday Night. Tickets are $50 each with proceeds going to the Green Festivals. You'll feast on yummy organic and vegetarian food, beer and wine. There's a silent auction if you're looking for something a little different. Ticket includes a free ticket to the Green Festival as well.

Tickets are on sale now at the Green Festival site. If you're low on cash, you may be able to volunteer in exchange for free entry.

The Green Festival is a project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, two amazing organizations you should know more about. Get your tickets early and plan to be there all day. As the say, it's a great "party with a purpose."