Festival Beach Food Forest Emergency Volunteer Day

Festival Beach Food Forest is facing imminent disruption from an unexpected and insufficiently communicated wastewater pipeline relocation associated with TxDOT’s I-35 project. We are calling on the community to help us secure an immediate pause so the City, TxDOT, and community stewards can work together on a permaculture-based approach that minimizes ecological damage and honors years of City-approved planning and public investment.

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Our regularly scheduled February plant walk is shifting to an emergency plant rescue workday.

Festival Beach Food Forest is responding to an unexpected wastewater pipeline relocation tied to the I-35 expansion. Construction is slated to begin in mid-February and will impact a section of the food forest that was planted over the last year with the help of more than 100 volunteers and City of Austin Urban Forest Grant funding.

As a result, we are mobilizing quickly to save as many plants and trees as possible before excavation begins.

Volunteer activities will include:

• Digging up trees, shrubs, and perennial plants
• Potting and labeling plants for temporary storage
• Helping move and organize salvaged plants and materials
• Supporting the preservation of soil and plant systems wherever possible

No prior experience is needed. We’ll provide gloves and tools. This is a physically active workday, so please wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty and bring water.

Festival Beach Food Forest is a volunteer-led, community stewarded public food forest that has grown through 10+ years of collaboration with neighbors and partners. This emergency workday is part of our effort to care for the forest and honor the time, labor, and love that has gone into growing it. Thank you for showing up when it matters most.

Please register here for this workday