Valerie Cassity
Special to the Sun

Get ready to paint the town green this weekend as Kern River Valley Revitalization (KRVR) hosts the second annual Living Green Festival March 17-21!  After the great success of the first festival last year, this year’s event looks to be even bigger and better with new events, more volunteers, and even more children’s activities.

The Living Green festival, conceived of and planned by KRVR Board Member Richard Rowe, will encompass four jam-packed days of events for anyone and everyone to enjoy, kicking off with a Green Leprechaun Dinner at the Oddfellows Hall, which will feature the traditional St. Paddy’s Day corned beef and cabbage, as well as displaying the entries to the recycled art contest sponsored by the Kern Valley Art Association.  Saturday will be busy for those who want to participate, with workshops on a variety of topics on how to make small adjustments in your life to be more environmentally friendly, a Green expo which will feature local businesses that do their part to embrace practices that are not harmful to the earth, and a music event that will showcase local talent, all happening concurrently at the Family Life Center in Wofford Heights.  Right across the street at the Reel Cinema, enjoy a free kids green film festival featuring three children’s films that focus on environmental issues.

Sunday, the action will be in Lake Isabella at the Senior Center, where a Community Faire will take place to showcase various non-profit organizations and clubs in the Kern Valley.  In addition, there will be a “Kids Reuse, too” event, which will feature a children’s clothing exchange, creation of musical instruments from recycled materials,

Incredibly, the festival will contain 50 events, with at least 27 that are kid-friendly, and some kid-specific, and nearly everything is completely FREE.  Rowe is quick to point out that the festival would not be possible without the dedication of the volunteers that make the Living Green events such a rousing success.