The annual Mercer Green Fest, formerly called The Living Local Expo, invites all Mercer residents to join us at the fair and have fun going green!  The festival will be at Rider University’s Student Recreation Center located on the main campus in Lawrence Township.  It is Free and Open to the Public and will run from 11 am until 4 pm.  The event will feature live entertainment, local sustainable businesses, sustainable community groups, a farmer’s market, local fresh food at our lunch café, demonstrations, and speakers throughout the day.  There will be fun for the whole family!

More than 70 eco-friendly businesses and organizations will be offering information and incentives to help you go green and save money. Visitors can learn about a wide variety of sustainability issues and exciting community projects such as bike trails, food waste recycling programs, energy efficiency, electric cars, health, exercise & wellness, and science fair projects from area schools.

The Rider University Schimek Family Fitness Center will be open and some lucky visitor will get a free year membership! Learn more about the Fitness Center.

The event will feature entertainment for the whole family:

• Miss Amy, our local GRAMMY Nominated Artist Author/Educator, musician and Fitness Pro, will rock and roll with the kids at this year’s Festival from 11am -12 noon.
• The Green Planet Band recycle rock n’ roll one song at a time from 12 pm – 1 pm.
• Eyes of the Wild: Traveling Zoo will take the stage from 1 pm – 2 pm.
• The Grand Falloons will put on their recycling and a science show  with juggling, magic, comedy, song and dance from 2 pm – 3 pm.
• Solar Man will arrive and provide interactive fun experimenting with solar energy  between 3 pm – 4 pm.

The local farmers will have a great array of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as flowers, plants, herbs, and artisan food products for sale.

A family friendly lunch celebrating locally grown and seasonal ingredients will be available for purchase all day.

Art is an important part of a sustainable community! Everyone can have fun with our Art all Day area, designing creative art and crafts.

Time is running out, but it is not too late to secure a spot in our Green Fest through March 10 by contacting Teresita Bastides-Heron of Sustainable Lawrence at (609) 882-6367 or heron45sustainablelawrence@gmail.com or Joanne Mullowney of the Ewing Green Team at (609) 883-0862 or ewinggreenteam@gmail.com.

The Mercer Green Fest is organized by the partners of the Mercer Sustainability Coalition: the Ewing Green Team, the Hopewell Valley Green Team, Lawrence Environmental Resources & Sustainability Green Advisory Committee (ERSGAC), Sustainable Lawrence, Sustainable Princeton, the West Windsor Environmental Commission, and the Mercer County Office of Economic Development and Sustainability.