About the Festival

Each year in the spring, the 30 acre Forsyth Park at the heart of the historic district becomes the nucleus of the city’s green initiatives.  It is a celebration of environmentally responsible living and business in coastal Georgia.  Earth Day Savannah serves as an important opportunity for local government, businesses, non-profits, and community groups to connect with the public and each other.  It is the City’s largest environmental outreach event of the year, and the largest education event in conjunction with Earth Day in Georgia.  

When the first Earth Day celebration was held in 1970, the goal was to unite the nation’s fragmented environmental movement to better reach the public and mobilize a response to water and air quality issues.  While many Earth Day festivals take place around the state and country each year, Savannah’s is one of the few that are still truly focused on education and activism, rather than crafts and entertainment.  Modeled after the early Earth Day celebrations, the goal of Earth Day Savannah is to open dialogues about environmental issues affecting Savannah as citizens are welcomed by a festival of tents draped by 100 year old live oaks. A wide variety of exhibitors and workshops take place with something for everyone.  The exhibits range from state and federal government programs, local government initiatives, national conservation organizations, environmental education centers, local sustainability non-profits, academic institutions, energy companies, industries, lobbying groups, public utilities, holistic health practices, youth groups, religious institutions, and local businesses and green contractors.

Providing a venue for these exhibitors to get their names out, educate the public about their causes, network with each other, and recruit new members or clients has not only strengthened the environmental network in Savannah, but has also generated new activists and organizations by introducing many to these issues for the first time.

Savannah is a diverse city, in demographics, values, and interests.  Earth Day Savannah serves to unite the many different interests that would otherwise be celebrating the day independently.  By hosting a central Earth Day festival we are not only working to unite Savannah’s environmental interests, but also to unite it’s politically and socially divided communities. These communities join in a common cause to sustain the precious natural resources of coastal Georgia.