Green Festival San Francisco 2013

Photo courtesy of @GreenFestival on Instagram

Green Festival® is the largest sustainability event in the world and continues to grow year after year. A project of Green America and Global Exchange, Green Festival was in San Francisco this past weekend, and lots of people came out to celebrate, listen to speakers, shop, eat, laugh, learn, and a whole lot more!

Global Exchange was there with a booth filled with Fair Trade products from our stores and staff eager to engage with visitors and chat about our various campaigns and programs.

Also in attendance was Kevin Danaher, Global Exchange’s Co-founder AND Green Festival Co-founder,who had this to say about the Green Festival this past weekend:

“It was packed both days with thousands of people, showing that we have already beat the corporations at their own game; commerce.“

According to Kevin, the human rights movement is making a transition from focusing on negative things we want to eliminate to putting more emphasis on the next system we want to create.

In this 7-minute talk (brought to you thanks to compostory) Dr. Kevin Danaher explains why and how we can transform the current system of profit-focused enterprise into a triple-bottom-line model that integrates social justice, environmental restoration and financial sustainability.

Take-ActionTAKE ACTION!

Did you miss Green Festival in 2013? Not to worry! 2014 Green Festival dates have been announced, and here they are…

2014 Green Festival dates:

  • New York — April 26-27 2014
  • Washington, D.C. — May 31-June 1 2014
  • Chicago — Oct 24-26 2014
  • Los Angeles — Nov 7-9 2014
  • San Francisco — Nov 14-16 2014

Want more info?

Volunteer and be a part of the *magic* that is the Green Festival. The Green Festival is a celebration of what’s working in our communities—for people, business and the environment, and it turns 10 this year. (Omg, where does the time go? I remember the first one like it was yesterday!)

Volunteer sign ups for the San Francisco Spring Green Festival just began. The event is happening April 9-10, 2011 at the SF Concourse and Exhibition Center. Visit www.greenfestivalvolunteers.org/sf to register and reserve your shift(s).

You won’t want to miss the fabulous green speakers, exhibitors and DIY educators, along with all the delicious organic food and drink!

As many of you probably know, Green Festival relies on the support of over 1,000 volunteers at each festival. If you volunteer, here’s what you will enjoy:

  • Free admission all weekend (work a little, enjoy a lot)
  • An exclusive organic cotton event t-shirt (they’re super soft and sweet looking!)
  • Snacks, a free coat check and relaxation in the Volunteer Lounge (they had me at free snacks)
  • Free memberships in Green America and Global Exchange (Global Exchange membership alone usually runs $35/year so you do the math. $35 vs. Free = SCORE!)
  • 10% Discount in the Green America and Global Exchange festival stores (every bit helps in this recession)

That is the official list of what you get when you volunteer to be a Green Festival volunteer. Now I’m going to add 2 additional perks based on many years of personal experience volunteering at Green Fest:

1. You get to meet other awesome people with similar values.

2. Green Festival is a great place for job seekers…It’s a wonderful networking opportunity plus you can add “Green Festival Volunteer” to your resume:)

So hope you join us this April as a Green Festival volunteer. I’ll be there. Will you?

Green Fest volunteers literally jumping for joy Photo Credit: Green Festivals

Here’s a bit more about the various ways you can volunteer:

Volunteering with a Group
If you have a group that would like to volunteer, please email volunteer@greenfestivals.org to arrange for a group time slot. Group slots fill up quickly so email asap.

Capture the Magic! Join the Volunteer Media Team
Want to see your photo or video on the local news? All you need is your own equipment, a passion for the Festival and a bit of talent to be a part of our Media Team. Images, photos, tweets and blogs are all needed, and we’ll credit whenever possible. Upload onsite for instant fame. (fortune, well, that’s on you.) Interested? Email volunteer@greenfestivals.org.

Street Team Opportunities
Want ALL the benefits of volunteering, without having to miss a moment of the festival?  Be a member of our Street Team to advertise the Festival and recruit volunteers in these last weeks BEFORE the festival.  Interested? Email volunteer@greenfestivals.org.

Join Green Festivals on Facebook!
Join the SF Green Festivals page and receive updates year-round! To join the community, click here.

Got Questions?
Email the National Volunteer Director Kristi Koehler at volunteer@greenfestivals.org OR call 828-333-9415.

For more on volunteering at Green Festival, check out this Green Festival blog post, plus this recent list of Top 10 Green Festival volunteers.

Have you volunteered at Green Fest before? Funny story? Inspiring moment? Strange outfit siting? Share your experience in the Comments section below.