El Cerrito’s eighth annual Hillside Festival was Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7, 2023. The festival included more than a dozen hikes and other events throughout El Cerrito’s 100-acre natural wonderland, the Hillside Natural Area. Organized and led by El Cerrito Trail Trekkers and co-sponsored by the city’s Environmental Quality Committee, the festival as always was free to the public.
>>> Click here for the full schedule with its accompanying map to all events. <<<
>>> Click here for Haiku Contest entries. <<<
Among the many events of the festival:
Insect Hike. Eddie Dunbar, founder and president of the Insect Sciences Museum of California, led a family-friendly yet erudite hike revealing secrets of the Hillside’s tiniest animals.
Family-friendly Rockhound Gathering. Learn about the geology of the East Bay Hills by seeing and handling local rocks and visiting a few nearby rock outcrops. Members of the Northern California Geological Society shared their knowledge and enthusiasm as we walked to and gathered at the Hillside’s labyrinth.
Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk. Learn about ethnobotany — how native plants have been used over the centuries for food, medicine, and crafts with Alan Siegel, a docent at East Bay Regional Park District’s Tilden Botanic Garden. Family-friendly uphill walk. Download the free iNaturalist app to help identify and document what you learn.
Family Friendly Art in the Trees. Let's look closely at the trees around us. Using paint sticks and watercolors, Lucy Ames, El Cerrito artist and Art Camp educator, guided young artists to create art focusing on shapes of tree trunks and branches in a glade. The project is most suitable for artists 5 and up, but even very young artists can enjoy using non-toxic paint sticks with the help of an adult. Adults are welcome to create too!
Note that an exhibit by Lucy Ames, Beauty in the Branches, could be enjoyed at the El Cerrito Natural Grocery Annex through April 17.
Haiku hike. Celebrate the winners of our festival haiku contest with a walk in the Hillside area. Winners were awarded prizes at the trailhead and then read their haiku at designated points along the first half mile of walking. After that there were options for a 1 mile round trip hike or a 2 1/2 mile round trip hike. El Cerrito poet laureate, Eevelyn Mitchell, also read an original poem written for the festival. Click the link above for more information on the haiku contest.
Magical Apps Hike. Magical apps make it easy to ID flora and fauna. Join Susan Schwartz, head of Friends of Five Creeks, and Bob Zucker as we try out free apps that help identify plants and animals. Ideal for families and seasoned naturalists. Set up accounts on INaturalist, Merlin, or BirdNet.
>>> Click here for the full schedule with its accompanying map to all events. <<<
>>> Click here for Haiku Contest entries. <<<
Among the many events of the festival:
Insect Hike. Eddie Dunbar, founder and president of the Insect Sciences Museum of California, led a family-friendly yet erudite hike revealing secrets of the Hillside’s tiniest animals.
Family-friendly Rockhound Gathering. Learn about the geology of the East Bay Hills by seeing and handling local rocks and visiting a few nearby rock outcrops. Members of the Northern California Geological Society shared their knowledge and enthusiasm as we walked to and gathered at the Hillside’s labyrinth.
Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk. Learn about ethnobotany — how native plants have been used over the centuries for food, medicine, and crafts with Alan Siegel, a docent at East Bay Regional Park District’s Tilden Botanic Garden. Family-friendly uphill walk. Download the free iNaturalist app to help identify and document what you learn.
Family Friendly Art in the Trees. Let's look closely at the trees around us. Using paint sticks and watercolors, Lucy Ames, El Cerrito artist and Art Camp educator, guided young artists to create art focusing on shapes of tree trunks and branches in a glade. The project is most suitable for artists 5 and up, but even very young artists can enjoy using non-toxic paint sticks with the help of an adult. Adults are welcome to create too!
Note that an exhibit by Lucy Ames, Beauty in the Branches, could be enjoyed at the El Cerrito Natural Grocery Annex through April 17.
Haiku hike. Celebrate the winners of our festival haiku contest with a walk in the Hillside area. Winners were awarded prizes at the trailhead and then read their haiku at designated points along the first half mile of walking. After that there were options for a 1 mile round trip hike or a 2 1/2 mile round trip hike. El Cerrito poet laureate, Eevelyn Mitchell, also read an original poem written for the festival. Click the link above for more information on the haiku contest.
Magical Apps Hike. Magical apps make it easy to ID flora and fauna. Join Susan Schwartz, head of Friends of Five Creeks, and Bob Zucker as we try out free apps that help identify plants and animals. Ideal for families and seasoned naturalists. Set up accounts on INaturalist, Merlin, or BirdNet.