With all the music festivals in Denton, there’s one that honors the city’s allegiance to nuclear polka while celebrating the county’s untamed, pretty corners.
The third annual GreenFest on the Greenbelt opens at noon Saturday and runs through 6 p.m. at the Greenbelt park, off FM455 below Ray Roberts Lake Dam.
The festival is about family fun in the outdoors, and the day is full of activities.
There will be equestrian exhibitions by renowned equine expert Chad Brinlee of Bombproof Horsemanship. Families can enjoy fish on ice, archery, the Backyard Bass competition, a kid-friendly inflatable obstacle course and slide, and the Blackland Prairie birds of prey exhibit. Buffalo Soldiers will attend, and visitors can observe campfire cooking and take a crack at rock-climbing walls.
Educational perks abound, too: “Critterman” will show off creatures, and attendees can take part in a dinosaur dig, geocaching, kayaking, mountain biking and pony rides.
Brave Combo presents a closing concert, after sets from Denton skunkgrass outfit the Boxcar Bandits performs and the GreenFest Quartet. Denton City Council members Dalton Gregory, Joey Hawkins and Kevin Roden will share emcee duties.
The festival is organized by the Greenbelt Alliance of Denton County, Texas Parks and Wildlife and the city of Denton. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Greenbelt Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Lake Ray Roberts Greenbelt in its present scenic and natural state.
This year’s GreenFest will raise money to match the alliance’s recently awarded grant to build a bridge that will reopen a trail that was damaged and closed by a flood in 2010. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Recreational Grants Branch awarded a $132,000 to the alliance in partnership with the Lake Ray Roberts Equestrian Trail Association. The grant requires a local match of 20 percent.
For more information, visit http://friendsofthegreenbelt.org .
— Lucinda Breeding
