EcoFest West features 120 events

EcoFest West 2021 is on its way! This annual community festival, now in its tenth year, runs from 20 March to 18 April 2021 and celebrates our beautiful environment by sharing practical ideas to make sustainable living easy, for a better future.
 
Organised by EcoMatters Environment Trust, EcoFest West is Auckland's biggest environmental festival and features more than 120 events hosted by a range of organisations.
 
EcoMatters Environment Trust's CEO, Damon Birchfield, says, "The festival has been designed to inspire environmental action amongst all Aucklanders. It champions our unique environment, supports collaboration, and celebrates our local communities."
 
“This year’s programme includes interactive workshops to deepen your connection with nature, community events that celebrate and restore our natural environment, and experiences that share ways to live more sustainably in our neighbourhoods.”
 
Events categories include Waka Hourua/Clean Transport, Kīnaki Kai Reka/Foodies’ Fix, Te Whaihanga/Makers’ Mayhem, Torohē Nuku/Explore Nature and Mauri Noho/Conscious Living. Covering a wide range of topics and subject matters, most events are free or low-cost, and whānau friendly. Many events will also be available at any Covid-19 alert level through webinar or other digital options.
 
Festival highlights include:

• Explore the coastal scenery as you Walk and Collect Photos of Wildlife, from Green Bay to Blockhouse Bay Beach with Stephen Thorpe from iNaturalist.
• Join the Growspace Seminar, a presentation of a radical permaculture design for an urban public park with multi-talented designer and fabricator, Baptiste Natali.
• Get the kids involved and learn to Make Your Own Mini Worm Farm from recycled materials with Blockhouse Bay Library.
• Take part in the Twin Streams and Tapas Ride for a cruisy Sunday afternoon bike ride along the Henderson Creek Path and the Oratia Stream to Bodega Eatery.
• Support Māori business at Te Mākete, a market held every month at Hoani Waititi Marae. Enjoy live entertainment, modern and traditional Māori cuisine and artists.

 
New to the festival is the EcoFest West Speaker Series 2021: Ngā Karanga o Ngā Wāhine Toa. A collection of live events and webinars, the Speaker Series offers an opportunity to hear from four wāhine toa, or women leaders, as they reflect on their learnings from 2020.
 
Whether joining the live event at EcoHub in New Lynn, or watching the live Zoom webinar, visitors will hear from Dee West, Dr. Nicole van der Laak, Dr. Karlo Mila and Robin Taua-Gordon. Each of the speakers have been active in conversations about sustainability, science, environmentalism, and carbon divestment through a range of mediums and forums. 
 
Coming up near your neighbourhood during EcoWest Festival:

• Walk and collect photos of wildlife Saturday 20 March, 9-11.30am, Craigavon Park, 85 Connaught Street, Blockhouse Bay
• Creatures of the night Monday 22 March, 7-10pm, Blockhouse Bay Recreational Reserve, Rathlin Street, Blockhouse Bay
• Ngā Karanga o Ngā Wāhine Toa 25 March, 1 April, 8 April & 15 April, 7-8.30pm, Online/EcoMatters, 1 Olympic Place, New Lynn
• Make your own mini worm farm Wednesday 31 March, 3.30-4.30pm, Blockhouse Bay Library
• Urban food forest design Saturday 10 April, 10.30am-3pm, EcoMatters, 1 Olympic Place, New Lynn

 
To see full details of all EcoFest West events, please visit www.ecofest.org.nz.
 
EcoFest West is brought to you by EcoMatters Environment Trust, with events hosted by a range of organisations, generously supported by the Whau, Henderson-Massey, and Waitākere Ranges local boards.