2017 Arbor Festival "Trees are the Best!

Please join us in celebrating our favorite thing "TREES" and our City's Arbor Day during the Yakima Area Arboretum's 18th annual Arbor Festival on Saturday, April 15.

This year's Arbor Fest will be especially sweet.  Why you ask?  Last year, the City of Yakima proclaimed the annual Arbor Festival as the City's official Arbor Day celebration and the third Saturday in April as its official Arbor Day.  So this year, we are excited to announce, that after months of hard work, the City of Yakima has finally completed all of the steps needed to be called a Tree City USA community. Yahoo!

A special ceremony designating the City of Yakima as a Tree City USA community will be held at noon on the Jewett Center courtyard.  Gerry A Day, State Forester & Deputy Supervisor for Wildfire, will be presenting the Tree City USA* (see below) award to Councilmember Avina Gutiérrezas as part of the festivities (Updated 4/11/2017).  We encourage all of our stations hosts and guests to attend this historical occasion.

Please be kind to the earth by bringing your own reusable bag to carry home all of your crafts, handouts, and other items you will collect at the Festival.

Arbor Fest is FREE to attend and celebrates not only our city, state and national Arbor Days, but spring, conservation, and natural science.  

Each year features a special theme. This year's theme is "Trees are the Best!" celebrating all the wonderful things that trees provide! Whether it's habitat for animals, clean air, erosion control, food, materials for the habitat they provide, their ability to clean the air we breathe, or the trees that are best for woodcarving, stations will focus on what makes trees great!

Families can expect lots of hands-on learning opportunities, crafts, and displays.  Plus, over 600 families will have an opportunity to take home their own tree to plant in their yard in honor of Arbor Day. 

Roughly 40 stations, sponsored by a variety of community organizations, will be on hand to share in the experience of this year's theme.  The Arbor Festival strives to make environmental science fun for everyone to learn!

Some of the organizations hosting a booth at the event are:

*About Tree City USA

The Tree City USA designation is given by the National Arbor Day Foundation to cities that demonstrate a commitment to taking care of the trees in their communities.  The Arboretum, with the backing of the volunteer Tree Advocacy Committee, has been working with the City to facilitate the process.   In order to be a Tree City USA community four standards must be met.  The four standards include: 1) creating a tree board to oversee the care of the City's tree, 2) create a tree care ordinance that will guide the planting and maintenance of City trees, 3) provide a budget for tree care management, and 4) proclaim a city Arbor Day and observance.