BRIDGE Earth Day event

Multicultural BRIDGE will hold an Earth Day celebration in Great Barrington on Wednesday, April 22, with a full day of planting, tours, seed sharing, and an environmental justice panel at Solidarity House. (iberkshires.com) The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Solidarity House, BRIDGE’s headquarters at 965 Main Street, and the group says it will mark both the start of the growing season and the next phase of its Solidarity Farm & Garden at April Hill. (multiculturalbridge.org 1) (multiculturalbridge.org 2) BRIDGE said the day’s hands-on work will include willow and elderberry planting for flood mitigation and ecological restoration, a garden cleanup, guided farm tours, and seed sharing for people to plant on site or take home. (multiculturalbridge.org) (findglocal.com) The farm piece is central to the event. BRIDGE said its Solidarity Farm spent five years growing at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds and is now moving some growers toward more independent, production-focused farming at April Hill. (multiculturalbridge.org) The organization frames that shift around food sovereignty, a term it uses for communities having more control over how food is grown, shared, and accessed. On its website, BRIDGE says its farm, garden, and kitchen pantry projects are tied to food preservation, mutual aid, and community building. (multiculturalbridge.org 1) (multiculturalbridge.org 2) Earth Day itself has long been built around local action, and EarthDay.org says 2026 programming worldwide includes cleanups, tree planting, teach-ins, and community organizing ahead of and on April 22. BRIDGE’s plan in Great Barrington follows that model but ties it directly to a local growing season and a neighborhood-based farm network. (earthday.org) (multiculturalbridge.org) The setting matters too. BRIDGE opened Solidarity House in Great Barrington in 2025 after years in Lee, and founder and chief executive Gwendolyn VanSant said at the ribbon-cutting that the building would support healing, sanctuary, and community projects. (theberkshireedge.com) BRIDGE said Wednesday’s program will also include a public panel on environmental justice and community-based climate solutions, with state leaders, regional partners, and local residents taking part. The group said youth-led willow garden work at the fairgrounds and at Solidarity Commons is part of the same effort. (multiculturalbridge.org) Great Barrington is also promoting separate Earth Day cleanup events this week, putting BRIDGE’s gathering into a broader burst of local April 22 activity. At Solidarity House, though, the day is designed to end where it starts: on the land, with planting and the start of another growing season. (townofgbma.gov) (iberkshires.com)