Attendance at the three-day event is expected exceed 10,000 community members. The wide variety of activities and events are designed to appeal to eco-enthusiasts of all ages and will include an environmental film series, leadership activism training, an eco book fair with authors’ presentations, a green exhibitors’ hall, a Colorado River summit, an international eco drawing arts Expo, and an entire day devoted to family-friendly programming. This year’s #DiscoverMiTerra BioBlitz, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, commemorates the National Parks Centennial and will engage more than 400 fourth graders in an interactive biological survey of local surroundings.
A number of prominent eco-leaders and activists will participate in this year’s festival, including:
- Dave Archambault, Standing Rock Chairman
Homero Aridjis, Poet and Former Mexico Ambassador to UNESCO- Baracutanga, Pan American Band
- Tara Rodriguez Besosa, Puerto Rican Food Justice Leader
- Wade Davis, Ethnographer, National Geographic Society Explorer for the Millennium and Bestselling Author
- Josh Fox and Yashira Jordan, Award Winning Filmmakers
- Tom Goldtooth, Environmental Indigenous Network Leader
- Erica Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International Director for the Americas
- Bianca Jagger, President of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation
- Daniela Liebman, Mexican Piano Prodigy
- Mister G., Latin Grammy Winner and Children’s Musician
- Elena Ospina, Colombian Visual Artist
- Adrianna Quintero, NRDC Voces Verdes Founder
We are also pleased to announce that the recipients of the 2017 ALEF Nuestra Familia Awards, which honor extraordinary Latino work and achievements in environmental stewardship and preservation, will also attend the festival and are:
- Nuestro Cultura: Alfonso Piloto Nieves, Artist and Art Educator
- Nuestro Hermano: Dave Archambault, Standing Rock Chief, and Carlos Fernandez,
- Nuestra Hermana: Adriana Quintero, NRDC Voces Verdes Founder
- Nuestro Padrino: Author Wade Davis and Congressman Jared Polis
- Nuestra Madrina: Council Member Stacie Gilmore
- Nuestro Padre: Don Agustin Pineda
- Nuestra Madre: Irma Munoz, Founder/President of Mujeres de la Tierra
“This year’s festival, our fifth, is more ambitious and urgent than ever,” said Irene Vilar, Co-founder of Mandel Vilar Press. “We are cementing the largest annual multicultural event of its kind into the powerful platform for advocacy on environmental justice and climate action we had envisioned. What’s most exciting is that we are now able to demonstrate how the arts is an incredibly impactful vehicle for raising awareness and inspiring action.”
ALEF 2017 will also host the winners of its 1st International Eco Drawings Arts Competition: Elena Ospina, Colombia; and its Latin American Animated Eco Shorts Contest: Teclopolis, CanCanClub Argentina.
Other festival highlights and activities include:
#DescubreElBosque BioBlitz in collaboration with US Forest Service - The #GreenLatinos Learning Lab Summit: Accelerating Environmental Movement Gains & Intersectional Collaboration Through Strategic Communication and Art Activism
- Earth Women Rising: Latina Environmental Giving Circle Convening
- Colorado River Leadership Summit: A Source to Sea Vision
- Corals, Oceans & Colorado River Film Forum at IMAX Theater
- Fiesta & Nuestra Familia Awards
- Milk and Honey Shorts Screening
- #WaterIsLife Homage: Indigenous communities from Standing Rock, Guatemala, Chile, and Bolivia Lead the Struggle to Protect our Waters
- #LatinoEcoFest Family Day & Artivism Showcase
- Colorado Rewild Book Fair & Homero Aridjis’ “Maria, The Monarch” Book Launch
- International Activist Drawings Arts Expo
- Indigenous Voices & Ancestral Knowledge Special Event
- Graficomovil Community Exhibit Installation
See the full festival program at http://www.americaslatinoecofestival.org/schedule-2017.
ALEF is an initiative of the Colorado-based non-profit Americas for Conservation + the Arts (AFC+A) and is co-presented with GreenLatinos in partnership with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Forest Service, National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association, Hispanic Access Foundation, and Benitez Strategies.
Supporters for this year’s festival include Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Voces Verdes, The Wilderness Society, National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense Fund, The League of Conservation Voters, CREA Results, Great Outdoors Colorado, Cocomels, El Comercio Colorado, Telemundo Denver, Boulder Weekly, KGNU Community Radio, Denver Arts & Venues, and Mandel Vilar Press.
For more information, visit http://americaslatinoecofestival.org.
