Celebrate the Bloom returns for 13th year
Summer is in full bloom for the 13th annual Celebrate the Bloom festival at Jennings Environmental Education Center.
“Celebrate the Bloom is our biggest event of the year at Jennings Environmental Education Center, and the reason we do it is that the prairie is in peak bloom during this time,” said Jennings Environmental Education Center program coordinator Miranda Crotsley. “We have the only managed and protected prairie in Pennsylvania, which is also one of the main focuses of the event.”
The event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at the center, 2951 Prospect Road in Brady Township. Visitors can enjoy hourly prairie walks on a variety of topics, see blazing star flowers in bloom, and browse vendors selling native plants, nature-inspired art and food.
Food trucks at the event will include Mobile Chef, Frost Fairy Italian Ice and Sorbet, and Trucking Triangles. Mobile Chef will serve Jamaican jerk chicken rice bowls, Polynesian lobster sliders and island nachos and fries; while Truckin’ Triangles will offer mac and cheese bites, poutine fries and salted caramel apples.
“This is a low-key festival, and it is a really nice way to spend the day because it will not get super crowded, you won’t have to spend a lot of money and you can really relax while you are there,” Crotsley added. “The bands will be playing at our pavilion, which will provide plenty of shade, and those who attend will also get to see the beautiful prairie, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at things like the goats that help maintain the prairie.”
Along with the prairie walk, the Foltz School will be open the whole day and the education center will feature live reptiles and amphibians. Adults and older children can also enjoy the Wildflower ID Discovery Center.
The musicians performing this year are Dave Shepherd and Jeff Scheller at 11 a.m., Max Schang Blues Band at noon, Hayday at 1:30 p.m. and Midnight Rooster at 3 p.m.
