12th annual Green Festival on tap in Burrillville

BURRILLVILLE — The Pascoag Utility District and the Town of Burrillville Parks and Recreation Department will hold its 12th Annual Green Festival on Saturday, Sept. 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Stillwater Mill Center, 100 Tinkham Lane, Harrisville. The rain date is Sept. 22.

Reusable bags packed with energy saving information, recycling tips and much more, will be given to the first 500 attendees.

Once a year, the Green Festival brings families from Northern Rhode Island together to explore ways to have a more sustainable lifestyle and future. Children will enjoy free fun activities, face painting, giant yard-size games and bucket truck rides, while adults can learn various ways to create a more environmentally conscious lifestyle from the more than 30 “green” vendors that will be participating in the festival.

The Burrillville Farmers Market will be onsite with local fruits, vegetables and other fine products. Gotta Q Smokehouse BBQ will be offering lunch and snacks to purchase. There will also be “Good times, good music” with local musician, Jimmy Joel.

For the first time ever this year, the Green Festival will feature an electric car show and test drive event. In coordination with the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, People’s Power & Light and Rhode Island DEM Air Quality, electric car models will be displayed from Paul Masse Chevrolet, BMW of Warwick, and Central Mitsubishi. Vehicles slated to be on hand include the BMW i3, Chevrolet Volt and Bolt EV, and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, among others.

Visitors will be able to ride and drive the vehicles in a non-sales environment and learn how to switch to an electric vehicle without switching up your everyday life.

In addition, the Jesse Smith Memorial Library will be holding a Drive Green workshop in its community room. The free, 30-minute workshop, put on by People’s Power & Light, will let participants know how you can save on an electric vehicle with their group discount, dispel some of those EV myths and more.

A raffle will be held with donated items from various local business- es and green vendors. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Burrillville Weekend Snack Pack Program - a not-for-profit joint effort between Burrillville Parks and Recreation, the Burrillville Lions Club, the Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library, and the Berean Baptist Church to provide weekend food for at-risk Burrillville youth.

For more information on the Green Festival, contact Pascoag Utility District at 401-568-6222 ext. 223; the Town of Burrillville Parks & Recreation Department at 401568-9470; or online at www.pud-ri.org/greenfestival.