Festival closes early on Sunday.

Thank you so much for participating the 2014 St. Louis Earth Day Festival! We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and understanding upon making the tough decision to close the event grounds early on Sunday.

Throughout the day, St. Louis Earth Day staff had been monitoring the weather and had every intention of continuing the event until the approach of severe weather was confirmed. Before this happened, a backpack that had been sitting unattended for an extended period of time was brought to the attention of our production and security staff. After assessing the situation and receiving advice from experienced security personnel, we made the decision to clear the event grounds and call in the proper authorities as a precaution to ensure everyone’s safety.

Around 4:30pm, we announced on the stages that due to the approach of a potentially severe thunder storm, the event grounds were closed and we encouraged everyone to safely clear the area. Although the storm threat was real, we made the announcement in this manner to prevent panic. We did share the full details with as many vendors/exhibitors as we were able to reach personally, with staff and volunteers explaining the suspicious package situation.

Although we are extremely disappointed for having to close the Festival grounds early on Sunday, we are relieved that the situation was resolved calmly. The backpack’s owner surfaced once the event had cleared and admitted to carelessly leaving his bag in a random location within the grounds. In considering all other possible outcomes, we feel that with no damage to belongings nor persons, this one is most favorable.

We appreciate the response of attendees, the understanding of vendors, and the competence of the Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC) security team and St. Louis City police as we managed threats of both weather and security. We will be working to continually develop our emergency plans, communication systems, and methods for ensuring the safety of all our participants and visitors.

Please contact Cassandra Hage with any questions: director@stlouisearthday.org or 314-616-7354.