It's your chance to go green at free, local Earth Day Festival

The St. Charles Park District will celebrate Earth Day with a free festival April 26 at Campton Hills Park.

Earth Day Festival 2008 gets rolling with a bird walk hosted by park district natural areas manager and expert birder Denis Kania from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the park along Peck and Campton Hills Roads. An ecological project, including mustard-pulling and buckthorn-cutting, follows from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

Activities such as birdhouse-building and seed-planting will be part of the main festival, from noon to 3 p.m. There also will be a Clydesdale-drawn hayride and an "eco-tour" of the park, as well as exhibits of the Illinois Natural History Survey's Traveling Science Center.

"We've taken a blueprint for last year's event, which was a great success, and added a number of new attractions," said Pam Otto, manager of nature programs, in announcing the festival.

"We've worked hard to create an event that not only will appeal to the entire family, but also will highlight our theme of 'Keeping It Local,' which celebrates the fact that you don't have to go far to have fun," she said.

Vicky Weiland of Kane Area Rehabilitation and Education will exhibit a variety of wildlife and birds of prey. Live music will be performed by Steven Keefe and the Fox Valley Drum Circle.

Park officials are encouraging festival-goers to share rides to reduce noise, air pollution and chemical runoff related to vehicles. The festival will take place rain or shine, they said.

For more information, call (630) 513-4346 or go to www.st-charlesparks.org.