OXNARD — The Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation (OPAC) welcomes its first annual NATIVE PLANT FEST on Saturday, February 12th from 11AM-4PM. The event brings together our community to celebrate and showcase local plant-inspired culture, food, traditions, and creativity! This festival is community-led by plant enthusiasts of diverse backgrounds who will share their plants, services, artwork, culinary creations, products, educational resources, and much more!
“Ventura County is a beautiful tapestry of people who were born, moved or migrated here. In addition to celebrating California’s native plants and cultural traditions, we wanted to use this opportunity to acknowledge that each of us has a unique story and relationship with plants and to foster a beautiful exchange of ideas, traditions and knowledge,” remarks OPAC’s Executive Director, Carolyn Merino Mullin.
November through the Spring is prime planting season in California and OPAC wants to bring together seasoned and newbie plant aficionados for this special event. Guests will enjoy storytelling and workshops led by passionate environmental leaders like Diego Magana, founder of Mini Nature Reserve, and MICOP’s Tequio Youth who will talk about their Mixteco native language and plants. Special music performances include Natalia Alyse, Sade Champagne, Thursday Island’s Psychic Charity, and poetry by Sarahi Noyola. The event’s headlining performance is by Sage Against the Machine- native plant-themed music and stories about living and working with California native plants. From the punk rock-inspired ‘Kill Your Lawn!’ to the tragic love ballad ‘Your Love is Like a Manzanita’ and the toe-tapping ‘Rare Plant Blues’, native plant horticulturists and musicians Evan Meyer, Antonio Sanchez, and Nicole Calhoun promise to keep the event lively and fun. Their unique collection of original songs and stories explore native plant conservation and horticultural themes in a sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always entertaining fashion.
There’s plenty for kids to do too, including a mini farmer’s market experience organized by Social Justice Fund of Ventura County Fellow Sierra Doehr, seed bomb-making, multicultural storytime, and more! The first 500 attendees will receive a free native plant thanks to the Santa Monica Mountains Fund.
Workshops cover topics such as Growing Microgreens, Terracotta Pot Painting, Propagating Plants, and Repotting Plants.
The event is free and open to the public. Masks are required. More information can be found at: oxnardperformingarts.com/native-plant-fest
Funding has been provided by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.