Earth Day Bay Day

The Coastal Bend Bays Foundation (CBBF) is on cloud 9 after hosting our 25th Annual Earth Day – Bay Day FREE festival on Saturday, April 13, 2024, brimming with educational and interactive fun! Nearly 10,000 attendees and 70-plus exhibitors with interactive activities, made it one of South Texas’ largest educational outreach events, marking a significant positive impact on our community.

We are grateful for the continued support of our event emcee KIII’s Alan Holt, our sponsors, unique attractions, academic groups, nonprofits, government organizations, local businesses, and The Deadbeats for providing live music. Additionally, thank you to ALL our wonderful volunteers and donations. This event would not be possible without all of you!

Earth Day-Bay Day is a FREE, family-friendly community festival filled with interactive educational exhibits and activities, wild animal shows, plant give away, food, freebies and more. Our goal is to raise awareness about education, conservation, participation, habitat protection, and career choices here in our Coastal Bend in a fun environment!



Earth Day-Bay Day originated in April of 1999 when Jennifer Lorenz, the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation Executive Director, worked with the City of Corpus Christi to hold a ceremony at the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge to honor Pat Suter and her late husband, Hans, for their lifetime of service to protection of the area’s natural habitats. The ceremony lasted about an hour, was invitation only, with 100 attendees. This was CBBF’s first Earth Day event. There were no posters or vendors or exhibitors, nor was it open to the public. That May, Teresa Carrillo was hired as the Executive Director of CBBF, and she had a different, broader vision of how to celebrate Earth Day. Her concept was of a community celebration bringing together local groups, such as Audubon Outdoor Club, Sierra Club, the Corpus Christi Geology Association, teachers and student groups, university groups, and vendors, and to open it up to the public for free. Thanks to Dave Sullivan, then President of the CBBF Board, they named it Earth Day-Bay Day. They began searching for funding and thanks to the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program the event began to take form. With that established she began the planning of the biggest environmental related event in the city. One of the key components to this event is our distinct poster that is given out for free every year and thanks to the generosity of Vicki Allen, who gifted the use of her beautiful art for the first 2 years, the poster was established. Then it was time to widen the field and an art contest was a natural idea so, we sought art from a variety of artists and sources. This year as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Earth Day-Bay Day, CBBF decided to collaborate with Grace Eaton, a graphic design student at TAMU-CC to design this years poster which takes us on a trip down memory lane to remember all the past posters along with the artists that helped in the evolution of this unique event. The event has definitely and grown from its inception, if you have had the opportunity to attend this event in the past you might know that it has taken place at different locations throughout the years such as Hazel Bazemore, Blucher Park, the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, to Cole Park to now this perfect spot, Heritage Park! We invite you to come out and celebrate with us 25 years of EARTH DAY-BAY DAY!


Interested in being a key part of our 25th annual Earth Day-Bay Day festival?

Sponsor Earth Day-Bay Day

Earth Day-Bay Day is funded in part by donations from local businesses and industry that are recognized as Earth Day-Bay Day sponsors. Sponsor benefits may include logo on all Earth Day-Bay Day marketing materials, banners, social media recognition and more. Contact Cristal Guerrero at [email protected] for more information on sponsoring Bay Day.

Vendors / Exhibitors at Earth Day-Bay Day

Does your organization or business have an exciting, engaging environmental message to share? If you would like to be considered to exhibit at Earth Day-Bay, please contact Tosha Patterson at [email protected]. Exhibit space is FREE for non-profits. Exhibit space fees apply to private/for-profit businesses.

Volunteer

Volunteers at Earth Day-Bay Day: Help with event set up and pack up, run educational booths, grounds maintenance, survey attendees, and more!

Make an impact on our community by becoming a sponsor, exhibitor or volunteer!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:                                

Satosha Patterson, Earth Day-Bay Day Project Coordinator

[email protected]

Cristal Guerrero, Project Manager

[email protected]


Thank You to our Sponsors!