The forecast is for sunshine for the Earth Day Family Festival.Bring the whole family to Simms Millennium Park in Courtenay this Saturday and spend the day getting closer – to each other, to your community, to your planet.The Earth Day Family Festival is all about getting a deeper understanding for and appreciation of the things we can all do to make the planet a healthier and happier place. All exhibitors at Earth Day are focused on creating interactive opportunities and activities. This year, with a focus on youth activism — among many other great themes — the festival welcomes Ta’Kaiya Blaney. Presented by Vancouver Island MusicFest, Ta’Kaiya is a 10-year-old singer/songwriter and activist who recently made headlines protesting oil tanker traffic on the B.C. coast with her song Shallow Waters.With an eye to empower and energize nine- to 16-year-olds to take stewardship over their own environments, organizers came up with a “summit” idea to bring together local youth who are interested — and perhaps already active — in environmental and social justice causes.Ta’Kaiya and Zac Whyte as well as Brandon Ogden and Wendy Kotilla of the Youth and Ecological Restoration Program (YER) will present and facilitate perspectives on youth activism, and invite youth of all ages to discover the power of raising their voices.A full day of the Valley’s most loved musicians will fill the stage. A mini Celtic Forest Festival has emerged with the support of VIMF, including the Letzsing Community Choir, Celtic Cargo Cult, Mary Murphy and Paul Keim, FiddleJam, and the Earth Day Song circle with Helen Austin, Luke Blu Guthrie, Corwin Fox, Pamela Tessmann and Sue Pyper.Plus, Methuselah Dancers will bring their Faeries and Forest Folk to the entire festival environment.Our Big Earth Media Co. has once again put together an inspiring day of family activities with the support of numerous local green businesses including dinosaur displays and fossil making, terrarium-making, a community art project, collaborative games, and there will be fun crafts that honour spring.10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — Wildspirit will have a traveling nature museum for kids to check out.10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Elemental Energy Advisers will help kids build homes for bees;10 a.m. to noon — Create some fun spring creations with Becky Wortman, the Cumberland Community School Society;11 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Colour wildflowers with the Lake Trail Neighbourhood Community Connections;Noon to 1 p.m. — Storytelling with Maureen Wagner and her crew;1 to 3 p.m. — Music, art and legend with the Sacred Storyteller and Horne Lake Caves.No Earth Day would be complete without a wide array of local and national organizations demonstrating their approaches for saving the planet.World Community welcomes an impressive pod of exhibitors to share new ideas and projects for bettering our world.Over 30 exhibitors were confirmed at press time, with lots of activities and interactive opportunities for the whole family, including a demonstration representing the whole continuum of our food system — from growers to eaters, processors and preservers to sellers, soil and pollination helpers to food waste recycling, and the Laundry Project from Cumberland Museum shows the importance of biodegradable soaps and energy conservation. Get some recycling tips from First Curbside Recycling, or bring your bicycle for a tuneup (by donation) by World Community Bikes. Plus, sign up to get involved in one of the 40 crews at Vancouver Island MusicFest, including their "bringing water to the people" crew and enviro crews.Come learn, play and be inspired about water, watershed and land conservation, local food and food systems, alternative transportation, social and community organizations, green buildings and energy, and reusing, recycling, returning and reinventing ways to live lightly on the planet.Pack a picnic, fill up the water bottle, hop on your bike and come spend the day with friends and neighbours in a celebration of the natural and social diversity of life in the valley.Earth Day Family Festival 2011 is presented by Vancouver Island MusicFest, World Community, Our Big Earth Media Co. and supported by Sound Advice Production Services, Comox Valley Exhibition and the Comox Valley Record.— Earth Day Family Festival