There will be bands playing, art activities for kids, poetry, delicious food, and booths where artists will be 
displaying and selling their works. Inside the Veterans Memorial Building will be vendors that will share information about activities of local environmental and green action groups, workshops, and all the things you can do to make Albany an even greener city. So come to the Albany Arts and Green Festival to dance, have fun, and enjoy our beautiful and green city!
Activities Thoughout the Day:
Click here for a PDF version of the Workshop & Performance schedule
Green Workshops (Inside Veterans Hall):
11:45 am: Green Remodeling Projects and Examples in Albany - Presenter: David Arkin of the Planning & Zoning Commission
Planning & Zoning commissioner and award-winning local green architect David Arkin will highlight Albany's green building standards and successful remodeling projects in Albany. Remodeling can be made green to benefit the environment and your family's health.
12:20 pm: Free Advice on How To Go Efficient and Solar - Presenter: SmartSolar (nonprofit serving Albany)
Are you interested inmaking your home or business more energy efficient and self-sufficient? Would you like more information about solar technologies before talking to a contractor? SmartSolar is here to help! We offer free, independent, site-specific analysis of solar and energy efficiency opportunities. Our workshop will help you demystify solar and energy efficiency investments by providing you with unbiased, consumer-friendly information and advice on the basics of solar technologies and project planning, including a discussion on current and upcoming financing and rebates programs for energy efficiency and solar projects.
1:00 pm: Sustainable Landscaping Choices - Presenter Suzanne Schrift of the Sustainability Committee
Suzanne Schrift, Sustainability Committee member and professional landscape architect will discuss ways that you can manage your landscape sustainbly. Drawing on many years of experience as an organic nursery owner and organic farmer and gardener, she'll provide tips for increasing the health of your soil and plants. She'll talk about ways to integrate edibles into the landscape along with drought tolerant plants, while reducing pollution, sequestering carbon, increasing biodiversity and creating habitat in the garden.
2:00 pm: Building Community Resilience, the Best Preparation for an Uncertain Future: An introduction to Transition Towns and Transition Albany - Presenter Catherine Sutton
Transition Albany invites all of Albany to create a positive transition from fossil fuel dependency to vital, engaged, resilient, and interdependent community. Catherine Sutton will be presenting the principles of Transition Towns, with updates from her recent visit to some original Transition Towns in England.
2:30 pm: Greening Albany Schools Panel (to be confirmed), perspectives from teachers, students, and administration
A panel representing various perspectives of the schools' greening activities will provide a brief update and engage in a discussion with the audience around the exciting new developments in AUSD, including the state of sustainable practices in school operations, the state of "green" curriculum, the proposed or in-progress green developments, and why Albany schools are ahead of the game.
Performance Schedule:
11:00 am: Opening Ceremony with Albany's Poet Laureate Christina Hutchins
11:05 am: Albany High School Jazz Band
11:40 am: Rhythm Bound
12:10 am: Maypole (participatory)
12:30 pm: Crowden Suzuki Violins
1:00 pm: Marin Singers
1:15 pm: Albany Middle School Chamber Choir
1:30 pm: Balkan Dance (participatory)
1:30 pm: Chinese Dance & Tai Chi Sword Dance (inside Veterans Hall)
2:00 pm: Featured Band "Wake the Dead"
About Wake the Dead:
Wake the Dead, the World's Only Celtic All-Star Grateful Dead Jam Band, will make their Albany debut at the Arts & Green Festival! Wake the Dead is a a sizzling acoustic East Bay septet that blasts away the boundaries between Celtic music and the songs of the Grateful Dead. Selling out concert halls and dance clubs since 2000 all over Northern California, Wake the Dead released their third CD, Blue Light Cheap Hotel in 2007. Wake the Dead is Danny Carnahan (vocals, fiddle, octave mandolin), Sylvia Herold (vocal, guitar), Paul Kotapish (vocal, mandolin), Kevin Carr (uilleann pipes & fiddle), Cindy Browne (bass), Maureen Brennan (Irish Harp) and Brian Rice (exotic percussion). Their sound is unique, their energy extraordinary - a rare collision of worlds that leaves everybody dancing and grinning!
Kids' Zone
Make fun objects using recycled materials (inside Veterans Hall), make a friendship bracelet, chalk art for fun, face painting and coloring tables!
Free Bicycle Valet Parking
Thanks to a generous contribution by our sponsor, Bua Luang Thai Cuisine, Albany Strollers and Rollers will provide free Bicycle Valet Parking. Cycle over to the Festival and we'll watch your bike free of charge. We will also have a display of bikes of all types, to show you how to leave your car at home and live a greener lifestyle!
Free Bicycle Tuneups
For the third straight year, Street Level Cycles is offering free bike tuneups to get your bike running perfectly in preparation for Bike to Work Day on Thursday, May 13. So roll, drag, push or pull your old bike over to the Festival, and Street Level Cycles will help you get it working better then you'd imagined.
Albany today is developing a reputation for having a vigorous public arts program and being one of the greenest cities in the country. So it's not surprising that this year we are celebrating "arts and green" together! Art helps see and appreciate beauty, and protecting the environment helps create a beautiful world!
Event Sponsors
City of Albany Recreation Department, Albany Arts Committee, Albany Sustainability Committee and
Albany Community Foundation.