This annual festival is a free-of-charge, kid-friendly, day long music driven environmental event featuring Traditional Folk, Country, Bluegrass, Cajun, Blues and World Beat music, all performed by local, Michigan musicians. The festival draws diverse groups from West Michigan together to learn more about water quality issues from passionate speakers and local environmental groups. The festival features a number of booths where attendees can participate in activities, obtain more information on specific topics of interest, take part in activism and volunteer opportunities, purchase environmentally friendly goods, and support the performing musicians. 

This holistic music festival has featured many speakers in the past, teaching about issues such as sulfide mining near the shores of Lake Superior, invasive species in the Great Lakes, the financial impact and very real life circumstances of an aging, leaking water utility system on the low-income residents of Detroit, the importance of Grand Rapids being recognized by the United Nations as a “green city,” an environmental attorney’s work regarding water withdrawals, the impact of water pollution on Native American culture, the importance of holding our elected officials accountable, and the importance of native habitats and how they improve water quality. 

The festival is always accepting volunteers, to sign up click here. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt and 1 beer ticket (21+)
 

River Rally is a national conference, held annually by the River Network. The conference brings together river and watershed protection enthusiasts and experts, conservation professionals, and thought leaders from across the country and the world to learn from each other, share what works, get inspired, and celebrate success. River Rally 2017 took place May 8-11 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI. 

Throughout the week there were approximately 60 workshops scheduled and 10 different field trip options, in addition to breakfast and lunch keynote speakers and panels. LGROW offered a green infrastructure tour of Grand Rapids field trip where participants had an opportunity to see many of the green infrastructure practices taking place right here in Grand Rapids! Followed by a Sustainability in Brewing Tour. You can view the tour map here.

In addition to the workshops and field trip, LGROW and Grand Rapids WhiteWater also held a booth at River Rally for the week. The booth introduced guests to the Grand River Watershed and showcased some of the great things we have done, continue to do, and plan to do in the future. Learn more about the Grand River Restoration project, Restoring the Rapids. Wendy Ogilvie, the director of Environmental Programs at GVMC, was one of the panelists, in addition LGROW presented two workshops and assisted in another with GRWW.
 

2017 was the first year that River Rally opened its doors to high school students. On Wednesday, May 10th, more than 50 local High School students from the Grand Rapids Public Schools were invited to attend workshops and explore the booths. Students from C.A. Frost assisted Wendy Ogilvie and Mike Staal in their Rainscaping workshop. They used their own projects from their recent water night to teach people about native plantings, rain barrels, and other rainscaping techniques.
 

GVMC and LGROW arecurrently looking for a qualified Stormwater Program Coordinator for the Environmental Programs Department.
 

Under the supervision of the Director of Environmental Programs, the Stormwater Coordinator (Coordinator) facilitates planning, implementation, and compliance of NPDES Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Stormwater Permits for the 23 Kent and Ottawa County Permittees. The Coordinator works closely with MS4 communities, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and other partners to coordinate efforts and deliver a cost effective, collaborative stormwater program, covering the 6 Minimum Measures as outlined in the NDPES MS4 Program