4 - 5 June, Independence Gardens in Sliema

The Echo Environmentfest at the Independence Gardens in Sliema, spread over Saturday and Sunday, starts at 5 p.m. on Saturday with the opening of stands and various activities, followed by entertainment for children by Xummiemu and Eko-Skola, Eco Forum, chaired by Marie Briguglio, and quiz and games.

From 8.30 p.m. onwards, there will be music, starting with Junkfunk, a band using instruments made out of recycled material, Sayary, a Peruvian band, and Screamdaisy.

Sunday will feature more or less the same activities, with Peppi Azzopardi chairing Eco Forum, and Nafra playing authentic Maltese instruments, and alternative band Beangrowers.

Participating NGOs include Nature Trust (Malta), MEPA and the Fisheries Division, Gozo Cottage, the International Tree Foundation (Malta), Poeżijaplus, Eco Group Ltd, St Augustine's College, Cartidge World, Gaia Foundation, Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust, Bird Life Malta, Bajada Group, Gala Centre, ATLAM Sub Aqua club, WasteServ Malta Ltd, Environmental Landscapes Consortium, Inbid Malti and Naturalment Malti campaigns, Merlin Car Hire, the Organic Unit at the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment, the Plant Health Department, Bio-Diesel, the SPCA and Moviment Graffitti.

An eco-swim at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday at Neptunes, St Julian's, will terminate the week. The event involves the participation of 100 personalities that have been asked to collect Lm100 each and swim ten lengths of the Neptunes pool. The money collected, Lm10,000, will be used to finance the planting of trees as part of the 34U (tree for you) afforestation project. There will also be diving clean-up events.