CONWAY — Even faithful EcoFest attendees can experience new activities and exhibits at this year’s eighth annual festival, which organizers said is the biggest yet.
“There are a lot of good things going on this year, a lot of new things,” said Debbie Plopper of Conway, founder of the festival and co-coordinator of this year’s event.
The festival, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Laurel Park, 2283 Prince St. in Conway, highlights environmental concerns. It includes hands-on activities for children, interactive displays, demonstrations and events such as a recycled-materials-car derby. Admission is free.
A new Enviro-Maze is being publicized as “the ultimate eco challenge” and is geared toward young adults and adults, Plopper said.
Treci Buchanan of Conway, co-coordinator with Plopper, said the maze will have an 80-foot circumference. It will be made of metal painters’ scaffolding and metal arches, which will be linked together.
Participants can solve riddles, answer questions or do hands-on activities throughout the maze, based on what they’ve learned throughout the festival, Buchanan said. People will answer questions via their phones or other devices as they interact in the maze. A website tracks the time and correct answers to determine three winners, who will receive a hammock, a kayak or the grand prize of a float trip, she said.
Plopper said this year’s maze is just the first phase.
“We want to know from the community, ‘What are you interested in? How would you like to take this to the next level?’ It’s cool, but to me, it’s just unlimited with the potential,” she said.
The transportation section of the festival has expanded this year, the women said.
“Our transportation area has really grown,” Buchanan said. “We’ll have alternative-fuel vehicles sponsored by Arkansas Clean Cities. We’re going to have bio-diesel, … hybrids, CNGs (compressed natural gas vehicles) — there’s just going to be a ton out there.”
Plopper said everything from an electric motorcycle to a propane-powered commercial lawn mower will be featured.
Smith Ford and Caldwell Toyota, both in Conway, will also have alternative-energy vehicles on display, she said.
“It’s going to be a lot bigger than it has been,” Plopper said of the festival. “I’m really excited
about that.”
One of the more popular events, a recycled-materials-car derby, previously just cardboard cars, is back, Buchanan said.
The derby is scheduled to begin at 12:25 p.m. with Ida Burns Elementary School’s choir singing the national anthem.
More information and a schedule of events are available at conwayecofest.com.
Volunteers are still needed, now and the day of the event, she said. “We need them — big time,” Plopper said. Anyone who wants to help can sign up on the website or call Plopper at (501) 472-0901 or Buchanan at (501) 538-5878.
Another aspect of this year’s EcoFest is looking at watersheds, Plopper said.
“It’s geared for residents to see how what we are doing, knowingly or unknowingly, impacts our water bodies — lakes, streams. A lot of things we do even with our leaves … or what we put in our streets, get washed into sewer systems that are treated.”
A mascot, Stormy the fish, will be introduced this year. Stormy’s role will be to teach “about basic storm water,” Plopper said.
Innovation Alley will feature a drone and a solar oven, as well as Lego robotics. The Mid-America Science Museum
in Hot Springs will make simple machines out of recycled materials, Buchanan said.
All things creepy and crawly, as well as warmy and fuzzy, will be featured at the festival, too.
“The Museum of Discovery [in Little Rock] brings their bugs — hissing cockroaches and stuff like that; that’s probably the one that gets everyone’s attention,” she said. The museum will also build habitats out of Legos.
Raptor Rehab will be back with its birds of prey, or raptors, such as eagles, owls and hawks, and the University of Central Arkansas Biology Department will return with its reptiles, Buchanan said.
On the softer side, alpacas will be at the festival again, as well as rescue animals.
A marketplace area will be back and bigger than before, Buchanan said. The theme is buying and eating local food, as well as natural products. Exhibitors will be making sorghum, and a pumpkin patch has been added this year.
Two Conway farmers markets will have representatives selling locally grown food, too, Buchanan said.
EcoFest is “all about education, but come with some funds; we’ll have some commerce out there, too,” she said.
Food trucks will be on-site for attendees to buy snacks or lunch.
Another area of the festival will feature eco homes and businesses, where attendees can learn about options for energy-efficient houses, and experts in different areas will be available.
The festival doesn’t just talk the talk; it walks the walk.
“Half of our event is powered by solar,” Buchanan said.
A recycling area will be “huge,” she added, and the Conway Sanitation Department will have representatives on hand.
Entertainment, from a magician to live music, will be performed on a main stage during the day, she said.
Activities in the midway will include kite-making again this year, but a new event will be making solar balloons.
“We have our little eco midway, where it’s just fun human-powered games,”
Buchanan said, such as hopscotch, Jenga and pickup sticks.
“One of the eye-catching things is a big, inflatable brain that you can walk through,” she said, which is sponsored by Conway Regional Medical Center.
At the end of the day, organizers hope attendees will have expanded their own brains with information about how to live eco-friendly lives, and that they had fun doing it.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.