Santa Barbara has long been a leader in the environmental movement, and a burgeoning community of homegrown green technology companies and nonprofit groups is ensuring that reputation’s sustainability. They’ll be well-represented as the Community Environmental Council celebrates the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with a two-day festival this weekend.

Dubbed “Bringing it Home” by the CEC, this year’s festival — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Alameda Park, 1400 Santa Barbara St. — aims to focus on the power people have as individuals. The CEC hopes to harness that power behind its goal of making Santa Barbara “Fossil Free by ‘33” and move away from fossil fuels in just one generation.

More than 200 exhibitors will be on hand to promote their environmentally friendly products and causes, and the festival includes live music, a green car show, lectures, a presentation of green short films, a green home pavillion, and a vermiculture exhibit featuring composting, backyard poultry, canning and other displays. The event will be powered by solar energy and biodiesel generators from REC Solar and @power, respectively.

The musical lineup includes Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders, Boom Chaka, Cornerstone, Dancing Drum, The Goodland, KDB String Ensemble, Rob Melanca, Still Time and Timmy Curran.

For the third year, Noozhawk is a festival sponsor, and our reporters, contributors, photographers and sales representatives would love to have you stop by the Noozhawk booth to say hello or talk about local news and community issues. You can also meet our strategic partners, Ameravant, Presidio Sports and Santa Barbara Surfer, who will be joining us.

Thanks to the generosity of Noozhawk advertisers, we’ve got plenty of prizes to give away in a series of drawings. Among the donations are gift certificates from Aldo’s Italian Restaurant, Ameravant, Ayers Automotive Repair, Bistro 1111 at Hotel Marmonte, Blue Line Paddle Surf, Boxtales Theatre Company, Circle Bar B Dinner Theatre, Condor Express, Downtown Organization of Santa Barbara, Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara, Fresco Café, Hampton Inn Goleta, Jensen Guitar & Music, Massage Envy, McConnell’s Ice Cream, Powell Skateboards, Samy’s Camera, Sea Landing, Silent Pictures High-Quality Custom Frames, Skate One Corp., Stardust Sportfishing, Superior Tire & Brake, Truth Aquatics, UCSB Alumni Dinner, Wine Tour, Zodo’s Bowling & Beyond, and many more cool giveaways.

The Earth Day celebration actually began Wednesday with an opening night reception at the Rooftop of the Canary Hotel, 31 W. Carrillo St.

Other festival highlights include:

» Green Shorts Film Festival at the Lobero Theatre, 7:30 p.m. Friday. The special screening and award ceremony showcases the winners of the Second Annual Green Shorts Film Festival. Tickets are $8.50 at the Lobero box office, 33 E. Canon Perdido.

» MTD Ride Care-Free to Earth Day. Ride an MTD bus or shuttle free to the festival — and anywhere else you’d like to go — before noon Saturday and Sunday. MTD buses and shuttles stop near Alameda Park, and buses from all over the South Coast — including UCSB, Goleta and Carpinteria — stop at the MTD transit center, only five blocks away. Click here for routes and schedules.

» Bicycles. Thanks to the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition and its community run bike shop, Bici Centro, safe and comfortably paced group rides will have stops throughout Goleta, UCSB, Upper State, Carpinteria, Summerland, Montecito and the Mesa. Click here for bike route maps. And don’t worry about your lock or bike accessories. A Bici Centro and CycleMAYnia crew will provide free valet bike parking on the corner of Micheltorena and Santa Barbara streets.

» Harvest to Home is a special new area of products, services and information from organizations promoting local, sustainable foods and lifestyles. Learn how to make seeds balls, compost tea, hummus and more, or just stop by to see live baby chicks, turkeys, goats, bees, bugs and worms!

» Green Home Pavilion. A 1,200-square-foot model showroom of the latest in low-carbon lifestyle choices for the home features green interior design elements, including reclaimed and recycled finishes and furniture, appliances and systems that save energy and water, and a behind-the-scenes look at a high-performance home. An extensive sustainable landscape area includes a laundry-to-landscape graywater system, active foodscapes and composting, hardscape and lawn alternatives, a green roof, and smart irrigation technologies.

» Earth Day Kids Zone. More than a dozen hands-on stations and workshops specially designed for children and their families will be provided by local organizations and companies like Art from Scrap, 4-H, The Learningden Preschool, Putnee Theater, Sandcastle Music Together, Stretch ‘N’ Grow, The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara, Wilderness Youth Project and more. Activities include arts and crafts; musical performances; marine touch tank; theater and storytelling; instrument making and play; dancing and singing; and face painting. An infant feeding, changing and relaxation station is also available.

» Earth Day Main Stage Entertainment. This year’s main stage will feature a wide array of local and regional entertainment including local favorites like Soul Majestic, The Upbeat, Montecito Jazz Project and Owen Plant.

» Earth Day Theater at Alameda Park. More than a dozen short and full-length films will screen, with topics covering water use, energy independence and more. Films include The Cove, Climate Refugees, The Story of Stuff, and films for kids.

» The South County Energy Efficiency Partnership will give away free compact fluorescent light bulbs and hold an hourly light-emitting diode giveaway at booth S2. At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, congressional, county and city government leaders will be at the booth to give out CFLs and talk to the community about energy efficiency.

» Images of the Eco-Renaissance. A photo exhibit and contest celebrating the beauty and power of the eco-lifestyles and the natural world includes work from both amateurs and professionals.

» Environment Hero Award. Hollywood director James Cameron fame will receive the Community Environmental Council’s Environment Hero Award on the main stage at 2 p.m. Sunday. Cameron is being honored for his eco-inspired sci-fi film, Avatar.

» Green Car Show. The largest Green Car Show between Los Angeles and San Francisco will display the much-talked-about, high-performance Tesla Roadster and a fleet of all-electric cars, motorcycles and scooters. Check out the newest 2010 model hybrids and clean diesel cars, as well as vehicles that run on hydrogen, ethanol, compressed natural gas and biodiesel — including a city of Santa Barbara fire truck.

— Noozhawk staff writer Ben Preston can be reached at bpreston@noozhawk.com.