Ecofest 2010 will be held on 21 & 22 August 2010 at the Trafalgar Centre, Nelson.
It’s Ecofest’s Tenth birthday and will be big one, so watch this space!

Ecofest Expo – 15-16 August 2009

There were all kinds of green on display at this year’s Ecofest, with everything from clothes shwapping, composting and recycling to solar powered cars and green parenting ideas.
Held at the upgraded Trafalgar Centre, the 9th Ecofest was able to spread its wings and make the most of the space, and the event was well-attended despite grey skies. Free buses were available all weekend from Richmond and Stoke, and arrived at the Expo packed with visitors from Golden Bay and Motueka who had parked for free in Richmond. Visitors also took advantage of the carpooling website set up for the event.
Saturday’s events included workshops about home renovations along Eco guidelines and passive solar design, and an opportunity for Nelson residents to find out more about Nelson City Council’s Clean Heat Warm Homes programme.  On Sunday workshops about solar hot water and garden irrigation were followed by a showing of Al Gore’s slide show An Inconvenient Truth, given by climate messenger Trevor Houghton .  There was also an opportunity to learn about Green Parenting and the benefits of sustainable business practices.
Workshops on vegetable gardening, composting and container gardening were held on both days, giving visitors a chance to get their hands dirty and learn how to grow their own produce. The big Shwap was open on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and was a roaring success, with over 500 items on hand at the start of the first shwap, and very little left on the Sunday afternoon. “We had over 100 women through on both days,” said organizer Christine Johnston of Labels clothing store. Christine also organized and compered the Funky Fashion Show, which saw Waimea College Year 12 student Rebekah Andressend winning the recycled fashion award, as voted by the audience.
Solar powered motoring proved a big hit with the Solar Fern car attracting plenty of interest. Project leader Rob Glassey was on hand to talk about the vehicle’s cutting edge technology and futuristic design. Rob said that the interest in the car was great with several people having come especially to see it. “It’s been a real crowd puller despite the rain,” said Rob. The car’s solar panel exterior was actually made up of fake solar panels as the group is currently fund raising for a new state of the art panel to take them to the 2011 Panasonic World Solar Challenge. “We’re looking for $50,000-100,000 to buy the latest technology for the car, it’s not cheap so we are looking for all the support we can get,” said Rob.

Ecofest’s organic cuisine demos were back with a vengeance with Wellington chef Maria Pia delivering her trademark creative Italian approach to feeding the family. Local chefs Steve Richards from Jester House, NMIT chefs Serge Crottaz and James Perry and Roger and Anna Wilde gave cooking demonstrations of delicious ways with organic foods.
Popular with the crowd  were cultural performances by a Bhangra group performing dances from the Punjab and Te Whatukura, the regions premier kapa haka group. Te Reo Māori was also featured for the first time at Ecofest, with Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology teachers using the  Te Ataarangi method.
The kids trail gave smaller people something to keep them busy with crafts, games, alpacas, the Planet Earth Stage show, and harakeke weaving to keep them busy, and plenty to do at the Bunnings stand where they could pot a plant and take it home with them
And of course all this was delivered against the background of a comprehensive product and service expo – stall holders were showing off everything from straw bale building, handmade soap, insulation products, eco building design, alternative power, organic gardening, water conservation ideas, eco friendly cleaning products and much much more. The best stand commercial stand, judged by Cr Michael Higgins (Tasman District Council) and Cr Rachel Rees (Nelson City Council) was won by competition was won by Safe Water Ltd. The best Community stand was won by the Nelson Community Organic Gardens Trust.

Organiser Jo Reilly said that this year’s trade stands showed the huge range of eco friendly productsnow available. “These are mainstream products that anyone can incorporate into their lives to help them become a little more sustainable, it’s just good common sense. Most of them will save you money in the long run and keep you warmer, healthier and help the environment as well.”
Ecofest was a zero waste event and visitors were encouraged to bring their own drinks containers and take their rubbish home with them – leaving a clean, green, if a little muddy space behind when they left.  
Lucky winners from the weekend included Carol McAlpine from Richmond who won $3500 worth of home insulation from Absolute Energy, Mary Sowman from Richmond who won the HRV system, and Sue Lee from Stoke who won two nights’ accommodation at the Golden Bay Hideaway, New Zealand’s most energy efficient house.
Karen Lee, Nelson City Council Sustainability Coordinator, and Rob Francis, Environmental Education Officer for Tasman District Council, both commented on how pleasing it was to see both Nelson City and Tasman District taking the sustainability message seriously. “It is great to see people coming on board and really supporting the concept,” said Karen.

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