Bayfront Festival Park was home to a different sort of festival Saturday.
No it wasn't Gay Pride, or Blues Fest... It was a harvest festival.
The 15th annual Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Harvest Festival transformed Bayfront into a field of produce, kite flying, and they even had a petting zoo.

One of the event organizers Joel Rosen says the festival helps to educate people on sustainable farming.

"The soil, and the water and the air and without those things being kept in good shape we don't have a sustainable system, with out a food system that can allow a farmer to make a living, rather than a food system that provides a government payment to farmers who would otherwise loose money we also don't have a sustainable system."

Now that may seem a little grim, but Rosen says he envisions a different future.

"The future that we see is a vibrant community even the small ones where we've revitalized those small communities where we have more farmers than less and where there's probably smaller farms instead of bigger ones."

It wasn't all vegetables and animals at the festival, the Lake Superior Energy Association was also on hand to introduce people to energy and cost saving options for their home.

Alex Hard says "We have solar energy options, which can be anywhere from solar heat assistance, solar hot water, all the way to producing electricity through solar panels, we have wind generation "

One of the festival goers' Jeff Winkels says that as a new father sustainable food and renewable energy are important issues for his family.

"At home we have what we call a pellet stove, it burns wood pellets they have them on display over in the tent , we love it, it actually saves us, our heating costs have come down dramatically since we've put it into use."

Festival Organizer Joel Rosen says the best way to get into sustainable farming is to visit your local farmers market.