Mark you calendars! It’s almost time for the second annual Blue Lake Nature and Culture Festival.
This year’s festival, on Saturday, Sept. 17, will mark the end of summer and celebrate the diverse communities who use the park, says Ellen Wyoming DeLoy, a senior engagement coordinator at Metro.
“Everyone comes to the park. Let’s celebrate that,” she says.
Six food vendors will sell dishes from as far afield as Argentina, Kenya and Vietnam. Offerings include churros, bahn mi, pupusas, fresh coconut, sandwiches and salads – helping visitors fuel up for a day of activities.
The Sacred Poets from the Native American Youth and Family Center open the festivities at 11 a.m. with traditional drumming and singing. After that, there are performances on the hour through 3 p.m. with a D.J spinning tunes in between. Enjoy live music and dancing that includes Russian folk songs, salsa and cumbia, Japanese drumming and Afro-Peruvian beats.
This year, says DeLoy, the event will feature a scavenger hunt that takes visitors through the park’s nature play area, wetlands, natural garden and more. After focusing on food at last year’s festival, she says, “we wanted to emphasize nature this year.”
Helping to familiarize visitors with the plants and animals in and around Fairview’s natural spring-fed lake will be the Blue Lake Young Rangers.
These 10 middle and high school students from area schools spent the summer leading nature walks, scavenger hunts, and art and craft activities at Blue Lake. The Young Ranger program is a partnership among Metro, 4-H and Oregon State University’s Extension Service. The Young Rangers, who speak eight or nine languages among them, also help Metro staff identify ways to make the park more accessible to all populations.
At the festival, the Young Rangers will launch visitors on the scavenger hunt. They’ll also run a nature education station where people can learn about animal pelts and tracks, says Lupine DeSnyder, a volunteer coordinator for Metro’s park system.
Visitors will also be able to rent a boat, play disc golf, go fishing, have a swim or play in the water features at the “sprayground.”
The Blue Lake Nature and Culture Festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 at Blue Lake Regional Park, 20500 NE Marine Dr. in Fairview. Parking is $5 per car or $7 per bus. Free for pedestrians and cyclists. A free shuttle bus will run throughtout the day from Glendoveer Golf Course, the 181st Avenue MAX station and the Gresham DMV.
Get details, including the performance lineup and shuttle bus pickup times and locations.