Canada’s biggest little birthday party has a lot to celebrate. This year the festival turns 65 and is looking pretty good for a senior citizen. The 2010 theme is “Red goes green” and will include a number of initiatives to help reduce our carbon footprint.

Based on the success of the Richmond O Zone experience, the Salmon Festival has adopted an aggressive composting and recycling program. There will be a dozen stations around the festival grounds for people to sort and discard their garbage for proper composting or recycling. Smiling volunteers will be on-hand to assist the public with this initiative.

The Salmon Festival will also feature a special “green zone,” including displays from the City of Richmond and other organizations to help promote positive environmental practices such as waste reduction, curbside composting, energy efficiency, and more. There will be information about community gardening, or how you can grow your own food at home.

Thanks to visitor feedback, the Festival has added a secure, free, bike and stroller parkade. There will be two locations – east of the Steveston Community Police Station and on the north side of Steveston Park inside the baseball diamond. Parking is always a premium in Steveston, but not if you ride your bike.

The Steveston Salmon Festival is organized by volunteers to honour Canada Day. Last year, nearly 100,000 people attended. This year will feature all the main favourites including the pancake breakfast, parade and our famous salmon bake, which last year served over 2,300 plates of fresh wild sockeye salmon expertly cooked over open alder wood fire pits. It is a fun filled day of live entertainment, complete with dance and musical acts, trade and craft shows, activities for children, and a variety of inflatable slides, bouncers and a variety of adventurous attractions.

Other features include the Japanese cultural show, food fair and a youth rock fest featuring local bands as well as a skateboard competition. The Main Stage will be hosted by Rick Duff, General Manager of the River Rock Resort with three headline acts: Andrew Allen, The Jardines, and Georgia Rain.

The day begins at 6:30 a.m. with the pancake breakfast. The Children’s Bike Parade takes off at 9:30 a.m. and is followed by the Canada Day Parade at 10 a.m., which starts at Garry Point Park and ends along Moncton Street at Railway Avenue.

For complete details including a schedule of events, parade map, road closure notice and parking information, or to find out how you can volunteer, please visit the Steveston Salmon Festival website at www.stevestonsalmonfest.ca.