This year Coastal Wildflower Day and Earth Day celebrations will come together on April 16th at Half Moon Bay State Beach for a unique combination of celebration and service.

The 3rd annual Coastal Wildflower Day marks both the start of California Native Plant Week and Earth Day, celebrating the native wildflowers of the San Mateo coast with a festival featuring activities for the whole family, including games and crafts for young people, guided nature walks, live music, artists showing and selling their work, and a food truck for your picnic lunch. This year participants can also honor Earth Day by joining in a habitat restoration project.

For home gardeners who want to create their own drought-tolerant native plant garden, the State Park Native Plant Nursery at Francis Beach will hold an open house with native plants for sale and gardening experts from the nursery, California Native Plant Society, and Master Gardeners available to offer advice.

Adding new excitement to the day, the Coastside Trail, which runs the length of Half Moon Bay State Beach, will feature installations by Bay Area artists designed to invite interaction with visitors and provide insights into the relationship between human creativity and the inspiration provided by natural environments.

The main festival will be at Francis Beach, at the end of Kelly Avenue, 10 am-4 pm. Earth Day restoration activities will be held at Dunes Beach, at the end of Young Ave., beginning at 9:00 am (registration at 8:30) and ending at 1:00 pm. Earth Day volunteers will receive free parking passes, a light breakfast, and lunch.

Coastal Wildflower Day is free, but there is a $10 charge for parking at the beach. Visitors are encouraged to walk or bike to the festivities along the Coastside Trail. If driving, consider parking at Venice Beach, at the end of Venice Avenue, and walking along the trail to Francis Beach for the main festival.

For more information and a schedule of the day go to http://CoastalWildflowerDay.org

Flyer - front

Flyer - back