Yardy dances along a sidewalk April 23, 2022, at EcoFest in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — EcoFest, the popular Earth Day celebration in Cedar Rapids, made a comeback on April 23, 2022, after a two-year hiatus.

After cancelling in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and going virtual in 2021, EcoFest returned to NewBo City Market, 1100 Third St. SE.

High winds offered a challenge, but storms ended before the festival began and returned in the late afternoon, sparing the entire event.

The family-friendly festival included interactive educational activities, local foods, arts, free live music, information on how to reduce our consumption of resources and ways to reduce and reuse household items.

Organizations, such as Indivisible; ISU Extension Linn County Master Gardeners; Trees Forever; Monarch Research Project; Sunrise Movement Cedar Rapids and dozens more offered information and hands-on activities.

Save CR Heritage gathered hundreds of signatures to place the closure of Garfield Elementary School on the Cedar Rapids School Board agenda, to raise awareness and give residents a voice.

Related: Petition calls for School Board to address Garfield closure

Vendors inside the NewBo City Market also benefited from the event, as visitors flocked to buy special items and food inside the market.

See photos of the last in-person EcoFest in 2019 and more from this year’s festival, below: