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Earth Day is on April 22, 2020, and the environment is celebrated with the Party for the Planet outside Surrey’s City Hall and a small parade in Vancouver.

Other Earth Day events also happen in the Lower Mainland, with some on April 22nd, but others (including Party for the Planet) taking place on other days.

Earth Day Celebrations in Vancouver

Party for the Planet is definitely the largest Earth Day event in the Lower Mainland, but other smaller events on the weekend include the following:

Click on any of the above links to jump to a specific event or topic, or continue reading to learn about all of the region’s various events celebrating planet earth.

(Note: Event dates, locations and other details are subject to change. See official event websites for exact information.)

Party for the Planet

In 2019 the Party for the Planet ran from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday, April 13th, at 13450-104th Avenue at the City Hall Plaza in Surrey. So it doesn’t actually take place on Earth Day; rather, most years, it happens just over a week before.

Concerts and performances take place on three or so different stages throughout the day. Appearing at the event most years are a Raptor Ridge Birds of Prey exhibit, Bobs & Lolo to entertain children and various bands. Virginia to Vegas, Willa and Shawn Hook all performed a couple of years ago. Sam Roberts was the headliner last year. In 2019 entertainment was with a variety of local groups.

See Party for the Planet for more information.

Vancouver Earth Day Parade

The annual Earth Day Parade & Festival is a small student-organized event that usually takes place along Commercial Drive on the Saturday just before April 22nd starting at 1 pm. For 2019, the celebration happened on April 20th.

Students from Windermere High School’s Youth for Climate Justice put on the event. The procession goes from the corner of Commercial Drive and Broadway to Grandview Park. After the parade, at the park, there are usually speakers and live entertainment.

Click Earth Day Parade for more information, including a video on the event.

Pilgrimage to Burns Bog

The Earth Day Pilgrimage to Burns Bog takes place at the Delta Nature Reserve at 10389 Nordel Court. In 2019 it was scheduled to happen on Sunday April 28th from 1:30 until 4:00 pm.

At the family-friendly event there is singing, drumming and dancing while participants walk together through the trails of the park.

In 2019 the event’s keynote speaker was scheduled to be Abhayjeet Singh Sachal who is an activist and co-founder of Break the Divide. Entertainment in 2019 included music with Aline LaFlamme & the Daughters of the Drum and Susan Summers & the Sacred Web Singers.

The Delta Nature Reserve is located in northeast Delta off Nordel Court and Nordel Way just south of Annacis Island. The event starts at the northern end of the reserve not far from Delta’s Planet Ice its facility’s parking lot.

Click Burns Bog Pilgrimage for more information.

Earth Day in Stanley Park

The Stanley Park Ecology Society hosts a fairly “down-to-earth” event from noon to 4 pm in the area of Stanley Park’s Nature House which is located on the southeast shore of Lost Lagoon at the north end of Alberni Street (so close to the edge of the park and the city).

A couple of years ago the Earth Day event with the Stanley Park Ecology Society took place on Saturday, April 21st. In 2019 it happened on Saturday April 27th.

Activities at the Stanley Park event most years include weaving crafts using invasive species of plants, planting native plants in the park and helping dig out invasive blackberry bushes (so bring your gardening gloves and dirty clothes).

Also at the Stanley Park event there are heron colony walks, activities for children and exhibitor tables. Free cookies and complimentary coffee are also usually available.

See the Stanley Park Ecology Society website for more information.

Earth Day at UBC

The University Neighbourhoods Association hosts Earth Day activities at the Wesbrook Community Centre at 3335 Webber Lane on the campus of the University of British Columbia. In 2019 the event took place on Saturday, April 27th, from 10 am until 2 pm. Admission was free.

Activities at the family-friendly event included environmental-themed games, a clothing repair workshop, recycling drive, seed exchange and UBC Pop-up Market. If you took your own mug there were also free hot drinks.

Click Earth Day at UBC for more information.

Earth Day at Everett Crowley Park

The Champlain Heights Community Centre hosts a special Earth Day event in South Vancouver each year. In 2019 it took place on Saturday, April 27th, from 11 o’clock until 3 in the afternoon.

The community centre is located at 3350 Maquinna Drive and the event takes place outdoors at Everett Crowley Park. Weather permitting, between 200 and 300 people usually show up.

Activities include the community planting of flowering native shrubs, interpretive walks, and entertainment by the Tiddley Cove Morris Dancers. Free refreshments are also served.

Bring your gardening gloves!

Click Earth Day at Everett Crowley Park for more information.

Earth Day Movie in Richmond

The animated movie The Lorax showed at the City Centre Community Centre at 5900 Minoru Boulevard in Richmond on April 22nd in 2019.

The film is by Dr. Seuss and has an environmental and “save the earth” theme. Family-friendly Earth Day-themed activities started at 5:30 pm and the movie began at 6:30. Admission was free.

For more information see the City of Richmond‘s website.

Earth Day in North Vancouver

Earth Day is celebrated with workshops, games and an invasive plant removal work party in North Vancouver at Loutet Farm. The event took place from 10 am until 1 pm on Saturday April 27th in 2019.

Loutet Farm is located at 1400 Rufus Avenue which is in Loutet Park at East 14th Street and Rufus Avenue.

The event is a fairly small gathering of dedicated folk of all ages. Tools and snacks are provided. Workshops in 2019 included a drop-in session of sculptural mushroom cultivation with artist Willoughby Arevalo, and one on planning a garden and seed starting presented by the Edible Garden Project starting at 12:15 pm.

Click Earth Day in North Vancouver for more details.

Earth Day in Maple Ridge

Maple Ridge celebrated Earth Day on Saturday, April 13th in 2019, from 10 am until 2 pm at the Memorial Peace Park.

At the Maple Ridge celebrations there was a Freecycle event where people could bring their gently-used sports equipment, toys, books and clothing. At the same time and place they could find great “new-to-them” treasures to take home, all for free.

Also at the event there was live entertainment, a selection of food trucks and a number of farmers’ market vendors.

For more information check out the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society website.

Tips and Advice

Below are some tips and suggestions to help you make the most out of your Earth Day experience.

TIP #1: It’s Earth Day, so don’t drive your Hummer to the event. Ride your bike or take public transit if you can instead!

TIP #2: If you’re out in Surrey anyway for the Party for the Planet event, consider dropping by beautiful Bear Creek Park. The spring flowers are starting to come out, so it’s another perfect place to celebrate Earth Day. If you’ve never been, it’s worth visiting.

TIP #3: Do something nice for the environment – join an invasive weed pull in your neighbourhood, go for a bicycle ride, turn off your lights early in the evening and go green for the day.

TIP #4: Although Earth Day is on April 22nd, most events take place on either the weekend before or after. If not a lot is happening on the official day in your neighbourhood, do your own thing – get outdoors and explore a park or other place in nature!