On April 20, Uptown Park was decorated with a giant inflatable globe, eco-themed activities and food trucks galore. Back-to-back festivities EarthFest and Creativity City featured booths, acrobats, jugglers, dancers and ribbon twirlers dancing and performing for attendees.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., booths varied from giveaways of free seedlings and succulents to educational poster board presentations and eco-trivia. One booth, EcoReps, served samples of cherry, strawberry and banana smoothies, blended on an eco-friendly stationary bike.
“When you attach a blender on the front part [of the bike] and start pedaling, the cycling power blends it up,” said senior Lily Burbridge of EcoReps, a club that promotes sustainable practices in their residence hall. “It’s very entertaining!”
Presented by Miami Environmental Professionals, EarthFest included many booths run by local organizations focusing on social justice, sustainability and ecology. Local businesses like the Oxford Lane Library and Moon Co-Op also promoted themselves with eco-friendly activities and informational posters.
Immediately following the Earth Day celebration, Miami University Community for Creativity & Innovation hosted Creativity City from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and introduced a new set of hourly events, including a fashion show, live music and a fraternity volleyball tournament.
At 3 p.m., Miami University Fashion and Design (MUF&D) launched a 30-minute outdoor fashion show with a professional photographer. The surrounding crowd cheered each model as they strutted across the runway.
Shortly after at 4 p.m., fraternities played a lighthearted volleyball tournament with a giant inflatable volleyball against each other at the center of the park. Each team donned matching Creativity City jerseys with their fraternity name and the number 24 printed on the back. The frat brothers stumbled as they learned to work together to get the giant ball over the net within the faux court’s boundaries.
In the end, Sigma Alpha Mu won the battle and a large trophy, much to the excitement of junior Peter Caley.
“We did not expect that to be that big of a workout, we’re all sweating,” Caley said, “We’re lucky, we had two big boys up front that blocked everything and kind of carried the team.”
Immediately after the tournament, the MU Hip Hop Crew danced and performed a short and original routine behind the sounds of hip-hop music and a cheering crowd.
This performance was soon followed by another, the last of the day, featuring five cast members of Miami University’s New Wave Theatre Company, who sang original music from their latest musical, “Trials and Tribulations.”
“I’m so excited that I got the opportunity to sing music from the show one last time after our premiere [on Thursday],” said junior Tori Medina.
