Dear friends and supporters of the Narara Ecoburbia festival,
With regret we announce that the Narara Ecoburbia Festival will be on holder a while!
A variety of factors have led the organisers to conclude that the time is not right for “Ecoburbia no. 4”. This includes the consideration that the team from the Narara Ecovillage are now all busy designing their homes and gardens, talking to builders, discovering the latest “ Green Home” technological breakthroughs, and learning such ancient traditions as making mud-bricks and rammed earth walls!
But:
- stay tuned for a possible future event
- keep an eye on the wonderful series of monthly talks and workshops that are happening at the Narara Ecovillage this year – see “Upcoming Events” at: http://neln.org.au/upcoming-events/
- For free admission to all these events and to all monthly Open Days, join the Network at: http://neln.org.au/join-us/.
and plan on visiting the Narara Ecovillage at an Open Day later this year as the Stage One infrastructure (roads, services, swales, community gardens etc.) is completed and new, ‘cutting-edge’ green homes start to rise from the ground. - sign up for the regular Narara Eco Living Network e-mail news, if you are not already on the mailing list. Go to “Sign Up for our Newsletter” at: http://nararaecovillage.com/open-days/
- enjoy the memories of the last 3 festivals by scrolling through the photos at: http://neln.org.au/ecoburbia/ecoburbia-2016-photos/
We thank all those terrific, creative and inspirational people who have made the 3 Narara Ecoburbia Festivals such a success, including the volunteer teams from NELN (the Narara Eco Living Network) and NEV (the Narara Ecovillage), the Narara Valley High School (especially the fantastically supportive Deputy Principal), Brad and Bianca and the team at Fixx Events, the (former) Gosford City Council staff and its exuberant Mayor, the Darkinjung Land Council and the leaders of the very moving smoking ceremonies, the many generous sponsors, the exhibitors, speakers, workshop managers, musicians, food providers, transport and safety people, performers and entertainers, the supportive media like Radio 2GO, Central Coast Newspapers (formerly Ducks Crossing) and the Express Advocate, the professionals who gave their services for free or at hugely reduced prices (like our fabulous graphic designer), and, of course, our 5,000 enthusiastic visitors who came from anywhere between Canberra and Taree, but particularly from Narara (the happening spot on the NSW Central Coast)!
Go all you good Sustainability pioneers- living as though the future matters!
and, to paraphrase the wonderful people at Ecopella, keep on “Causing Harmony to the Environment and Community”.
with all best wishes,
Joan and Richard Cassels
Narara Ecoburbia Festival Coordinators.
Below is some information about the very successful 2016 festival.
Over 5,000 people attended the 2016 Narara Ecoburbia Festival on Saturday 16 April. You can see some great photos from the day on the “2016 photos” page of this web site. And you can watch the Channel 9 Television’s report at
http://www.nbnnews.com.au/2016/04/16/the-coast-experiences-ecoburbia/.
Click on the drop down menu at “our Festival” to find more information about exhibitors, stall holders, sponsors etc.
Award-winning “BEST COMMUNITY EVENT!
At the Australia Day celebrations on January 25, the Gosford City Council announced that the Narara Ecoburbia Festival had been awarded the “Best Community Event” for 2015! What an honour! Congratulations to the Festival team and the approximately 300 people who played a part in making it all happen. The photos show Joan Cassels accepting the award on behalf of the team, Joan with ecovillage founder Lyndall Parris, and some of the Festival team afterwards.
The 2016 Festival.
The wonderful , creative, 2016 Narara Ecoburbia Festival was held on Saturday 16 April, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Narara Valley High School, Fountains Road, Narara. It was new and different and the same-all at once!
Click on the drop down menu at “our Festival” to find more information about exhibitors, stall holders, sponsors etc.
TWELVE GREAT REASONS TO VISIT.
Here are 12 great reasons why you and your friends and family did not want to miss the Narara Ecoburbia Festival on Saturday 16 April.
- Family Fun and entertainment!
Plastic pollution maze, Kiddie Kartz (electric cars), Art Tank “Creative Potatoes” childrens’ DIY activities, magician, drumming finale, stilt walking, animal rescue, Super Hubert, award-wining Narara Valley High School Band, buskers, the Ukedelics, Ecopella choir, Rhythm Hut, face-painting (at Narara Community Centre) and more.
- Food.
Vietnamese, Neplaese dumplings, Turkish Gozleme, Coffee and Dutch Poffertjes, salads, Mexican, Lemonade Bar, Smoothies, hand-made chocolate, gluten free cakes, cup cakes, preserves, and more. Learn about raw and fermented foods.
- Health and wellness.
Yoga, massage, oils, Aboriginal healing, Aloes, Kombucha, raw and fermented foods, holistic dentistry.
- At the frontiers.
Materials: the latest ‘Big Thing’ in Sustainable Homes; Plastic pollution: the latest news and solutions; Sea Shepherd’s ‘New Strategies’; Solar Power for you: the latest on panels and batteries.
- For the Soul.
Aboriginal smoking ceremony; Spirituality and Sustainability discussion (Catholic, Buddhist and ecovillage perspectives); Soul Food; World Vision; Salvation Army pop-up stall.
- In the garden.
Purple Pear Farm; Native Orchid Society; Angus Stewart “Planetary Metabolism”; Central Coast Permaculture, Narara Ecovillage “Green Hands” gardening demo and info; local eco-gardens; beekeeping; backyard chickens; composting and worm farms; biodynamics.
- Crafts and skills.
Slow Clothing with a conscience; Hemp, miracle plant; crochet, macramé, Narara Community Centre “Handmade Markets”.
- Brain stretchers.
Biomimicry: Nature’s lessons for designing thriving communities and homes.
- Your home.
Modular homes; strawbale homes; hi-tech homes and materials; the solar news; biotecture.
- Ecovillages.
Lyndall Parris “The Narara Ecovillage story”; Narara Ecovillage future plans; Narara Eco Living Network (NELN); Global Environment Network (GEN).
- Politics.
Sea Shepherd; Central Coast Greens; Lucy Wicks MP; Darkinjung Land Council; the last ever Mayor of Gosford in person; Community Environment Network; Peninsula Environment Group, Australian Conservation Foundation; Office of Environment and Heritage; Gosford City Council.
- Shopping.
Hemp clothing, electric bikes, pure oils, teas, herbs, feather wraps, recycled and new clothing, crochet, macramé, hand-made crafts from Thailand, jams, pickles, preserves, Ecoburbia T shirts at festival price, chalk paints, bokashi buckets, native plants, honey, handmade craft and ‘Mega Craft Destash’-craft bargains- at Narara Community Centre, and more.
Not forgetting useful people like a lawyer and Bendigo Bank!
Date: Saturday 16 April,
Location: Narara Valley High School, Cnr. Fountains and Pandala Roads, Narara. Also handmade markets at Narara Communty Centre, Pandala Road.
Time: from 8.30 (Smoking ceremony) to 3 pm (drumming finale).
FREE SHUTTLE BUS from Narara Rail station, connected with all trains to or from Sydney and Newcastle that stop at Narara Station between 8 a.m. and 4 pm.
Or you could hail and ride along Deane Street and Hanlan Street.
The Festival was all free except for the workshops on Slow Clothing and Biomimicry ($20 each in advance, see web site, $25 on the day), Kiddie Kartz ($5 a ride) and, of course, any food, shopping or services you required.
N.B. This was a family-friendly event: no smoking, no alcohol.
Our Festival
For the latest news:
What is it?
Is it free?
Who is running it?
What are the main activities?
What is it?
Narara Ecoburbia Festival took place at the Narara Valley High School on Saturday 16 April 2016, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
With “eco” and “suburbia”, the Ecoburbia festival celebrated everything that makes our suburbs different, interesting, more sustainable and, of course, more fun.
We celebrated the ways our local communities are becoming more resilient and sustainable – with strong community networks, local employment and caring for the integrity of our ‘biosphere’- the living world around us. It was all about belonging and connecting to each other, the Earth and, of course, future generations.
Our festival is the “Narara Ecoburbia Festival”. The original “Ecoburbia” is in Fremantle West Australia and can be found here or on facebook.
Is it free?
Admissions was free. The two specialist workshops, “Biomimicry: designing from Nature” and “Slow, Ethical Clothing”, both held from 9-11 a.m. had admission charge.
Who runs the festival?
The Narara Ecoburbia Festival is run by the Narara Eco Living Network Inc., (“the Network”), the outreach arm of the developing Narara Ecovillage in Research Road. The Ecovillage has a stall at the festival with people there to tell you all about it. You can pick up a voucher from there for free entry to an Open Day at the village.
The Network organizes regular talks, workshops and bird tours. Find out more at the “Network Stall”.
What are the main activities?
Music, performances, market area, indoor exhibitors, outdoor exhibitors, workshops, talks and seminars, food and (non-alcoholic) drinks.
See Ecoburbia 2014 on YouTube here. This video was produced by the Bank of Goodwill for the 2014 festival, an initiative of the local Bendigo Bank branches of Lisarow, Kincumber and East Gosford. Please follow https://www.facebook.com/goodwillbank to keep up to date with the launch of this platform that will celebrate local community.