Climate change has in store for Petaluma warmer temperatures, wetter winter storms, and a rising Petaluma River.

Yet a forward-looking festival happening this weekend at Lucchesi Park sees more than doom and gloom. It envisions a strengthened community that eats, shops, and commutes more sustainably; that designs resilient buildings and landscapes; and that prepares for floods, fires, and other natural disasters.

“The climate crisis is scary and overwhelming, so we wanted to make thinking about the future fun again by focusing on win-win solutions,” said organizer Natasha Juliana of local nonprofit Cool Petaluma. “We can take actions now that will benefit us today, while protecting the future for the next generation.“

The free, fifth-annual “community climate-action festival” Future Fest – presented by Cool Petaluma in partnership with the City of Petaluma, Petaluma City Schools, and Petaluma multicultural nonprofit Cafe Puente – is expected to draw well over 700 people to the Petaluma Community Center on the afternoon of Sunday, May 3. 

That’s a slight jump from last year’s event, despite a reduction in support from the City of Petaluma and Petaluma City Schools, as well as from corporate sponsors, Juliana said.

And it’s a big leap from the event’s first iteration. The inaugural “Cool Petaluma Expo” was held at the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s east side brewpub in May 2022 and drew about 100 attendees. 

“It was so successful and so simple that we were like, ‘Okay, this is gonna be an annual event,’” Juliana said.

This year’s expo will feature about 45 local businesses, nonprofits, public agencies, and other organizations hoping to assist Petalumans as they plan for their next vehicle, bicycle, or home project. 

Elsewhere in the Community Center will be back-to-back talks from local leaders on a range of topics. Sessions will cover microcars (Councilmember John Shribbs), reuse (Phoebe Schenker of the Reuse Alliance), composting (vermiculture expert Stefan Stehling), and climate impacts on coffee and chocolate (Juan Carlos Vinueza of Grand Central Petaluma).

Brand-new this year, the Nature Connection Room, organized by Friends of the Petaluma River, will feature drop-in games, animal-tracking tips, and Indigenous storytelling from Marin artisan Alicia Mary Retes.

Cafe Puente will provide parallel and complementary Spanish-language programming and translation services, as it did last year.

Finally, a student showcase, also returning from last year, will share eleven projects prepared by third- through twelfth-graders at Petaluma public schools. Continuing the festival’s theme, these projects study and seek solutions to overconsumption, pesticide use, habitat degradation, and other ongoing environmental issues.

Multiple classrooms at Grant Elementary School and the Mary Collins School at Cherry Valley studied newt crossings on Chileno Valley Road, while Casa Grande High School juniors and seniors continued their support of imperiled local steelhead trout.

Petaluma City Schools College and Career Pathways Coordinator Dan Ostermann spearheaded the effort. Classroom participation in Future Fest was optional – and competitive, with a small stipend provided to teachers to support the extra work.

“We put out the word, and we got a tremendous response,” Ostermann said.

In light of lost funding this year, Cool Petaluma fronted the cost for both the bilingual programming and the student showcase, according to Juliana. “We had so much progress last year, we didn’t want to roll back our progress on inclusion. We’re just making it happen.”

A fundraiser to cover expenses for these two elements has so far earned about $1,500. Its goal of $7,000 would be enough to break even, Juliana said.