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| Sustainable Obtainable Symposium |
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| The Festival |
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General Info
Admiss. Fee
Directions
Places to Stay
Festival Hilites |
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Hourly Schedule
Canceled for 2012 |
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Exhibitors
Canceled for 2012 |
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Lectures & Workshops
Canceled for 2012 |
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Art & Entertainment
(Films/Food/Music
Farmers' Market)
Eco-Fashion Show |
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| Call for Volunteers |
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Download
News Release
Promo Material
Photos |
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A Comprehensive
Regional Festival and Conference on
Sustainability and Energy
Independence |
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| Our goal is to inform and educate ourselves and the public on renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through meetings, workshops, educational materials, and energy fairs. |
Pennsylvania Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Festival
Canceled for 2012 |
Citing Changing Times and New Opportunities, MAREA Cancels 2012 PA Energyfest
A drop in vendor participation and concerns over a possible financial shortfall were the main factors in cancelling this year's Pennsylvania Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Festival. At its meeting this week, board members of the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association, the sponsoring organization for the festival, voted 12-0 to cancel this year's event.
“With open hearts and minds, we reviewed the books and decided that the responsible decision was to cancel this year’s Festival. Losing money on the Festival would put other projects in jeopardy, not a risk we wanted to take,” said MAREA president Vera Cole. “We’re jazzed about our solar hot water project at Reading’s Opportunity House, continuing our workshops and speaker series, and the opportunity to roll out new programs and services. Our mission to educate and inform on renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and sustainable living remains unchanged.”
Registration for vendor booths was off significantly from 2011, according to vice-president Bill Hennessy. “Board members said that the financial risk to the organization was too great to go forward. Money for the festival is obtained through vendors, small grants and paid admission. Refunds are being offered immediately to all vendors who had signed up and paid for space at the event. We’ve done well to bring this educational festival to the public with the backing of vendors, speakers, performers, and members who have volunteered thousands of hours to support renewables and sustainable living in the area.”
Attendance has dropped in recent years, according to Cole. “Times change. When the Festival began seven years ago, we had designated parking for drivers of the exotic Toyota Prius and solar panels were a novelty. Today, all-electric cars roll off production lines and Pennsylvania has enough installed PV to power 16,000 homes. Events like the Festival helped mainstream these big ideas. We look forward to continuing this good work.”
Other MAREA events and activities are not affected by cancellation of the Festival. MAREA will continue to hold monthly meetings with speakers, open and free to the public, at 7:00 on the last Tuesday of each month at TekPark in Breinigsville, PA.
For more information, see www.themarea.org.
Contact info: Vera Cole, President, Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association, veracole@comcast.net, 215-258-0526
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MAREA Community Project |
| To help reduce monthly expenses for Opportunity House, a multi-service organization improving the quality of life for children, families and adults who face various obstacles to independent living in the Reading area, MAREA has spearheaded a project to install a solar hot water system on their main building. |
| [READ MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT] |
Attend Our Monthly Public Meetings
TEK Park, 9999 Hamilton Boulevard, Breinigsville, PA 18031-9300
[DIRECTIONS]
Next Public Meeting: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 27, 2012
(Free of Charge) |
"What, Growing Algae with No Sun and Vegetables with No Dirt?"
Local University Students Share Sustainability Research"
[CLICK HERE TO READ MORE] |
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Another Way You Can Help MAREA!
WE ADD Up is an organic t-shirt campaign that counts you in for your positive impacts in the world. |
We then count you in for that commitment by custom printing YOUR unique number on the front. We Add Up!
MAREA gets a % of every purchase made from our site. |
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We need your help!Promote the Festival in Your Neighborhood
[Download] promotional material and spread the word in your home town. |
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2012 Festival Theme:
DIY-"R": Do-It-Yourself
Renewables & Sustainables |
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We invite you to this year's festival to share something and learn something.
Together we can move toward a more efficient and sustainable lifestyle. [READ MORE] |
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We really want to know . . . |
We welcome your input, it helps us improve. Our goal is to give you a better festival experience each year. |
FILL OUT A SURVEY about the 2011 renewable
energy festival. |
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We Need You!
 If you believe in renewable energy and sustainable living, and can spare some of your valuable time, we can use your help to make this a great and memorable event!
[VOLUNTEER FOR ENERGYFEST] |
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