Downtown Goshen’s May First Fridays Green Day Celebration event aims to increase environmental and sustainability awareness, support local businesses and charities, and bring people and communities together. Promotions for sustainable and eco-friendly goods, outdoor activities and adventures, tree sapling giveaways, live entertainment, an artificial campfire with the nonprofit organization ADEC, and an animal touching area for kids will be some of the many highlights of May’s Green Day Celebration.

News Release

GOSHEN— Downtown Goshen, Inc. announces its upcoming May First Fridays event, scheduled from 5-9 p.m. May 5, as its May’s Green Day Celebration. The Green Day will offer an outdoors-themed extravaganza of activities, entertainment and promotions designed to celebrate nature and increase environmental appreciation and sustainability awareness.

Presented in collaboration with the Goshen Shade Tree Board and the Environmental Resilience Department, May’s Green Day Celebration will feature live music and bands, outdoor adventures and activities for kids and kids-at-heart, an animal touching area, a sapling giveaway to the first 100 in attendance, food trucks, and a beer and cider garden.

Not only will green be the overriding theme, attendees can also save some green at this May First Fridays event. Participating businesses, several with a focus on sustainability, will offer special promotions throughout the event. Found, a market for quality art, artifacts, and antiques from all over the globe, will offer 20% off all of its midcentury modern and international paintings, prints, and wall sculptures throughout the weekend. ReFind, a curated consignment shop that promotes sustainability by encouraging reuse, will offer 15% off all purchases between 5-8 p.m.

“May is one of the best times of year to get outside and share some fun times with friends and family — it’s finally a lot warmer outside and everything is in bloom and bursting with color,” says Director of First Fridays, Amanda McMahon. “It’s a great time to get people outside and get them thinking about the environment. I think this May event really sums up our goal with First Fridays. We want everyone to have a great time but we also want there to be a purpose.

For this Green Day Celebration we’re not only throwing a great party and supporting local merchants and businesses, we’re also going to shine a light on the environment and sustainability.”

As part of the Green Day festivities, downtown’s historic Goshen Theater will give one hundred students, 18 and under, the opportunity to pot a plant of their choosing to take home. The Green Bee — a shop for high-quality, sustainable and eco-friendly goods — will offer a B.Y.O.C — bring your own container — special from 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Anyone who brings in their own container for refilling at the Green Bee will receive $1 off Swedish Dishcloths.

Among the other Green Day highlights: the Goshen Brewing Company will re-release a highly-sustainable, hyper-local microbrew called Lupulo — a crowd favorite brewed with Mexican Lager yeast and with 97% Indiana malt. The Imagination Spot will offer a Sunshine and Rainbows kids crafting session from 4:30-7:30 p.m. and Fables Books — which has an in-store inventory that is around 90% pre-used — will present a Meet the Authors activity from 6-8 p.m. ADEC Inc. will also host a campout and photo booth from 5-8 p.m. featuring an artificial fire, outdoor crafts, and family games.

Find full event details for May First Fridays at DowntownGoshen.Org.