Down to Earth
Think the daunting task of saving the world is best left to superheroes and sorcerers? Don’t underestimate your own powers — find out what you can do at Green Festival, an eco-extravaganza and educational forum featuring 300 vendors, 150 speakers, live music, environmental films and documentaries, yoga classes and more. Speakers include authors Frances Moore Lappe, Greg Palast and David Korten. 10 a.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. Sunday. $5-$10. McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive. More info.: greenfestivals.org.
Get fresh
McCormick Place too stuffy for your fresh air-loving lungs? Head to the North Side for Green Scene, a first-ever, indoor-outdoor Earth Day fest. Get simple ideas and tips for everyday environmentalism and check out eco-friendly products, demos, giveaways and more. Noon Saturday. Free. Northside College Preparatory High School, 5501 N. Kedzie Ave. 312-952-6736.
Spring cleaning
Last weekend, you tackled the closets. The weekend before, the kitchen cupboards got their due. This weekend, take it to the streets for the Earth Day Clean-up and Celebration. Friends of the Parks leads a three-hour (9 a.m.-noon) clean-up of neighborhood parks and preserves. Afterward, head to Humboldt Park (1440 N. Sacramento Ave.) for an Earth Day bash (noon- 2 p.m.). Saturday. Free. 312-742-7529. Participating sites: fotp.org.
Trash talkin’
All this talk of environmentalism is nice, but let’s be realistic: After you’ve cleaned the park, planted a couple of trees and replaced all of the light bulbs in the house, there’s not much left to do but Get Trashed on Earth Day. Let the Leg Room hook you up with a special lineup of $8 Earth Day cocktails, including the Mudd-tini (left) and the Ocean Blue (a citrus-vodka martini). DJ Johnny Price spins hip-hop and dance. 7 p.m. Saturday. $10-$20; no cover before 10 p.m. Partial proceeds benefit Keep Chicago Beautiful. Leg Room, 7 W. Division St. 312-337-2583.
More Gore
Al Gore keeps yakking about how inconvenient the truth is, but as far as we can tell, it couldn’t be easier to catch the eco-crusader’s Oscar-nominated “An Inconvenient Truth.” Just drop in for a screening this weekend at Movie Night at the Biograph. The Biograph’s ongoing movie series highlights films that share themes with Victory Gardens Theater productions; the eco-flick relates to current stage show “Cynical Weathers,” which explores global warming. 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $5. Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-871-3000.
Green glass
Green wine? Sorry, we draw the line at green beer — and even then, we try to limit our consumption to the third week in March. What’s that? Oh … green wine. Now there’s something we should be able to get behind. See if the green stuff suits your tastes at an Organic Wine Tasting and Seminar with sommelier James Kenna. In addition to sipping red and white wines from across the globe, you’ll nibble on organic breads and cheeses. 1 p.m. Sunday. $10. Proceeds benefit the Green City Market. RSVP required: jen@brguestrestaurants.com. Blue Water Grill, 520 N. Dearborn St. 312-777-1400.
On the fringe
You’ve always said you wanted front-row seats for the revolution, and here’s your chance. Drop in at one of more than 10 venues around town hosting events for Version 07, an 18-day counterculture summit celebrating fringe art, culture and politics. Expect experimental film screenings, artwork, pirate radio, vigilante gardening, radical cartography and more. Friday-Sunday. Through May 6. Free-$10. Fest passes: $50-$300. Schedule and venue info.: versionfest.org. 773-837-0145.
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kpratt@tribune.com
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EARTH DAY FORECAST
Catch the Oscar-nominated “An Inconvenient Truth” at the Biograph on Sunday.
CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND!
Looking for more things to do this weekend? Check us out at metromix.com or watch CLTV’s “Metromix” tonight at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. and midnight.
