GreenFest is Saturday! Join us for Howard County’s largest celebration of Earth Month, happening from 10am to 3pm at Howard Community College on April 12.  

This year’s event brings the return of fan-favorites such as a native plant sale, document shredding, the wildlife room, workshops, and Repair Café, plus 70 local businesses, non-profits, and government representatives ready to connect with you and celebrate sustainability.

Find the full list of vendors and the complete event schedule in the 2025 GreenFest brochure. Read on to learn more about this year’s highlights and plan to join us on Saturday! 

GreenFest attendees traveling by car should park in the East Parking Garage, entering HCC from Scholarship Drive. This year, Parking Lot “C” is closed and fenced off, so coming in through the traffic circle will likely be crowded and should be avoided. From the East Garage, it’s an easy walk across the pedestrian bridge on the third level directly to the indoor attractions in the GreenFest Galleria.  

Go green and travel to GreenFest by bike for the best parking! BikeHoCo will offer a free bike corral located in the grassy quad in front of the Academic Commons building. If the journey is too far to cycle, consider bringing your bike to an outlying parking lot and biking to the corral. 

Public transit is another great option! There are three RTA buses that serve the Howard Community College campus: 401, 404 and 414. Download the Transit app for real-time route information. 

*Pre-reserved giveaways

A limited number of kits are available at a special GreenFest price of $99 (regularly $125) from Howard EcoWorks & Lauren’s Garden Service. Kits include a planting template to guide design and installation. The goal of this pilot project is to expand pollinator habitat and native plant gardening, and your help is needed—by purchasing a kit, you can document your garden journey and share your experience to help shape future offerings. Visit Howard County Bee City’s website for a preview of the kit template and more details about how to get involved!

12pm - Howard County Green Awards

presented by Howard County Bureau of Environmental Services

Room CL162

The annual awards ceremony at GreenFest highlights recipients of the Business Recycling & Waste Reduction Award and Green Community Leadership Award, which recognizes a Howard County-based community group or organization that demonstrates efforts, projects or programs that help protect Howard County's natural environment and preserve its resources. 

1pm – Going Solar with Solar United Neighbors (SUN): How to Save with Solar Energy

w/ Sukrit Mishra, Switch Together Capital Region Partner Director, Solar United Neighbors

Room AC116

Join Solar United Neighbors to learn how you can save money and take control of your energy by going solar. We’ll walk through how solar works, available incentives, and how our community-driven Switch Together program makes the process easier and more affordable. Whether you’re just curious or ready to make the switch, this session will give you the tools to go solar with confidence.

1pm – An Introduction to Rain Barrels and their Maintenance

w/ Radhika Wijetunge, Howard County Bureau of Environmental Services

Room CL162

A rain barrel can help reduce stormwater runoff and conserve treated tap water. Learn how to install (and maintain) a rain barrel on your downspout.

2pm – Geothermal Heat Pumps 101

w/ Brita Hahn, Energy Analyst, Howard County Office of Community Sustainability

Room AC116

Geothermal (ground source) heat pumps are currently the most energy-efficient way to heat and cool a building. They exchange heat with the underground, where temperatures remain in the 50s year-round, instead of with the outside air. This session will provide an introduction to the technology, what it takes to install it, as well as available incentives. 

2pm – Greening Our Community Buildings

w/ Maddie Smith, Interfaith Power & Light 

Room CL162

Organizations, congregations, and schools across Howard County are beacons in our communities, and the buildings where we gather, pray, and learn present powerful opportunities to shift away from fossil fuels, undertake energy upgrades, generate solar power, and model healthy and climate-friendly practices for all of the people we serve. Join Maddie Smith, Clean Energy Shepherd from Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA), to talk about the tangible resources available to our community facilities to electrify and shift to cleaner power.

This year’s GreenFest features 70 exhibitors. Find sustainable products and gifts, representation from Howard County government departments such as Recreation and Parks and the Office of Community Sustainability, and access resources and upcoming volunteer opportunities from a range of local non-profits. 

Don’t miss the family-favorite Wildlife Room featuring live animals with Echoes of Nature and the Mid-Atlantic Turtle & Tortoise Society (MATTS).

Learn about student projects from the Youth Climate Institute in room AC112.  

The Howard County Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions about gardening and composting in room AC118.

There’s no need to leave campus when hunger strikes, Athea's Almost Famous food truck will be standing by in Lot A to serve. Scouts also will be selling coffee on the lower level of the Galleria.

GreenFest also welcomes donations of food and personal care items through Howard Community College's Fueling Dragons program. Items will be collected on the first floor of the Galleria. 

Looking to give home composting a try? GreenFest has first-come, first-served giveaways of backyard compost bins and indoor bokashi composting buckets. Visit the Howard County Master Gardeners in room AC118 for a backyard bin or the Clarksville Youth Care Group at table 117 for a bokashi bin, both available only while supplies last. 

Make sure to grab a raffle ticket at one of the GreenFest welcome tables for a chance to win the GreenFest grand prize: an induction cooktop! Induction cooking technology is fast, efficient, and allows for easy cleanup! Learn more about induction stoves from Rewiring America and visit the Office of Community Sustainability’s table on the second floor of the Galleria to see an induction cooktop in action. 

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Omega Eta Omega Chapter

Columbia Association

Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park

Go Howard

Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc.

Howard Community College Green Team

Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy

Howard Soil Conservation District

Patapsco Heritage Greenway

Solar United Neighbors     

University of Maryland, Howard County Master Gardeners

Visit GreenFest's website for the most up-to-date event information, including maps and vendor listings. See you on Saturday!