Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, and refillable cups, and celebrate Earth Day with the Nature Preserve Foundation at the Edwardsville Earth Day Festival.

This annual event connects the community with local organizations, groups, and businesses that share a commitment to Earth Day values. This year’s celebration features live music, food trucks, guided nature tours, community vendors, native tree giveaways, nature-centered programs, goat yoga (yes, really), Youth Discovery Day, and so much more.

With this year’s theme, Pedal to the Watershed, guests are encouraged to take a more intentional route to the festival, whether that’s biking in, exploring alternative transportation, or joining the free community bike ride. What was once a 5K has evolved into something a little slower and more meaningful, a day meant to be enjoyed, not rushed.

Expect live music drifting across the water, a native plant sale, shED Talks, hands-on Discovery Day activities for kids, and small moments of spring woven throughout the experience.

For those looking to start the day in motion, a community bike ride from Richards Woods along the MCT Trails, in partnership with the Edwardsville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, offers a scenic way to arrive before settling in for the afternoon.

This isn’t just something to attend, it’s something to be part of. A shared celebration of place, community, and the season that calls us back outside.