This Arbor Day, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) hosted their award-winning festival in Theodore Wirth Park, a festival to celebrate a day all about trees. Arbor day, which began in 1872, was meant to call attention to the importance of trees and encourage others to plant more of them.

With this in mind, MPRB’s festival consisted of tree filled events and activities, as well as an opportunity to help plant 200 trees with Minneapolis Arborists.

“I think [Arbor Day] is a holiday that is overlooked,” First-year Amanda Libby said. “It was nice to have a community get together and actually make a difference by planting trees… [Trees are] something that last longer, they sustain, it is more than just going out and spending time outside.”

Attendees could sign up during a time slot to plant trees in a group of five.

“It was really helpful to have [the arborists] show us how to plant a tree,” First-year Hannah Pickering said.

These groups of five went out and met with local arborists to plant, water and mulch three trees.

“It was really cool because they showed us how to [plant one tree] and then let us do the rest,” Libby said. “It was really independent so we actually learned.”

Besides tree planting, large tree swings and fallen trees were like a playground for the younger attendees. Music literally filled the air as musicians were strapped in and climbed up into the branches of a very old tree to perform a setlist. These musicians consisted of a trumpet player, saxophone player, flautist and a few drummers all performing from above.

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Molly Landaeta

Several local musicians got in to the spirit of Arbor Day and climbed this tree to perform their set list.

Local organizations such as The Loppet Foundation, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission were placed among the trees, firepits, food trucks and the Fun Run trail.

Another one of the organizations, Plant More Trees, was there speaking about their mission which is reflected most cohesively by their name.

One of the members spoke of their work, which is to plant more trees on private property in Minneapolis given the 50 percent canopy loss happening in the city since the 1950s. Through friendly competition and the work of many volunteers, they have planted a multitude of trees and plan to expand their work to West St. Paul.

Their work is one that they believe is very important, being stated that “everyone is for trees, it is not a political thing.”

This mentality fit really well with the rest of the festival, which had a very fun, welcoming atmosphere that was complimented well by the sunny and mild weather. The contrast between the nearby cityscape and the lively green park was astonishing.

“I wanted to be outside and explore the city parks,” Pickering said. “I really want to immerse myself in both the city and the parks.”

The MPRB mission of inclusivity, health and environmental promotion can be seen very clearly through events put on such as the Arbor Day celebration. Each piece of the event allowing for opportunities to educate and bring awareness about the environmental importance of trees while reaching a wide demographic of attendees in a fun and engaging way.