Earth Day received a hometown celebration in Ossining Saturday as residents gathered for the 16th annual Earth Day Festival at Louis Engel Park.

Green Ossining hosted the event that brought together community members, environmental groups and local vendors for a day centered on education, advocacy and hands-on activities to protect the environment.

The festival featured a wide range of attractions, including food vendors, crafts for kids and informational tables, from environmental and advocacy organizations.

Several organizations focused on different aspects of environmental protection were represented at the event. These gave attendees a chance to explore issues that matter most to them. Event organizer and Co-founder and Chair of Green Ossining Suzie Ross noted that meeting people where they are is key to engaging the public.

“There are so many organizations here that are all doing some other slice of the environmental pie,” Ross said. “If you love river issues, we have Riverkeeper, we’ve got Clear Water, we’ve got businesses here that do water quality testing.”

Organizers say the Earth Day Festival gives people a platform to learn, connect, and make their voices heard on environmental issues that are impacting not just their communities, but the global community.