Mississipi Earthtones Festival
09/19/2009 11am - 7pm
FREE Event

The 3rd Annual Mississippi Earthtones Festival will be held from 11am-7pm on Sat, Sept 19th at Riverfront Amphitheater. Festival-goers at this free & family-friendly event will find countless ways to celebrate the Mississippi River through art, music, and conservation. Come learn more about our area's conservation-based programs, and local businesses that are working to help us all "green" our lives. Agencies such as the Sierra Club, National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, and the McCully Heritage Project will teach consumers how to incorporate more sustainable practices into their daily lives. Educational exhibits will be presented by The Nature Institute, American Water, & Alton's Cool Cities Committee.

Wind power credits will be purchased to offset the energy used at this sustainable event, and festival-goers will have many chances to have other positive effects on the environment throughout the day. The MEF committee is organizing a 2-hour river clean up that will depart from Piasa Harbor at 9am to remove litter from the riverbanks and islands (please call 462-6802 to RSVP). Also, the public can bring plastic gardening pots and old cell phones to the festival to be recycled. There will be a car seat safety check from 11am-1pm courtesy of the Alton Fire Department. Many fun outdoor activities are planned for families, such as nature-related arts & crafts projects, and solar-power experiments. Two organized bike rides along the levee and country roads will depart from the festival grounds at 9am & 11am (helmets required). Pre-order a rain barrel & pick it up at the festival reserve & pay for yours online at: http://prairierainharvester.com/earthtones

Various nature crafters and artists will be on hand-vote for your favorite river-related painting and photograph! Kids 6th-12th grade can enter their design for a chance at having their artwork published in a coloring book that will be given away at the festival - but hurry, the deadline is Sept 4th! (For more info on entering the art contests, please call 463-1016). Vendors will be serving lunch & dinner, and great music will fill the air throughout the day!

MEF Musical Guests:

Alton River Ramblers (4pm-7pm) a traditional bluegrass band featuring some of the area's favorite pickers in a brand new incarnation: Jason Gordon - guitar & vocals, Kris Shewmake - banjo, Matt McGibany - fiddle & Will Miskall - stand-up bass & vocals

Jake's Leg (1pm - 4pm) a jam band based out of St. Louis that has been interpreting the music of the Grateful Dead for over 30 years

Irony Rains (11am-1pm) a wonderful alternative pop band featuring Josh Davis on guitar /vocals & Alicia Clayton on violin