The sun was beaming down into Memorial Peace Park on Saturday for the annual Celebrate Earth Day celebration.
There were lots of activities and things to do for the hundreds of people who turned out for the free festival.
Opening ceremonies took place at 10:30 a.m. when the winners of the Earth Day contests were announced.
Winners of the poetry contest were Helen Laity in the adult category, and Joshua Povazan in the youth category.
In the children's category there were three winners: Taliah Pasqualotto came first, Annabel Povazan came second and Jeffrey Godwin Sajo came third.
There were four winners in the Earth Day photo contest.
First place overall's Evelyn Vos, 17, who won with a photograph of a rose, second place was a photograph of the northern lights by Karen Horne, third place was a sunset photograph by Meghan Pollard, and fourth place was Hailey Nagel with a photograph of a squirrel.
Climate Champion Awards were also announced. These awards go to a person, business, or organization who sets an example by taking bold action on climate change.
Climate Champion Award winners were: Agneta Eikelenboom; Aida Tajbakhsh, the founder and executive director for the Fraser Valley Addictions and Recovery Hub; and City of Maple Ridge council and staff for the creation of the Climate Action Task Force and developing the city's first ever Climate Action Plan.
Katzie First Nation Chief Grace George was on hand and noted the importance of the theme of the Earth Day event this year, 'Stories'.
"It's an incredible day to honour our greatest mother, our Mother Earth," said George.
The theme 'Sharing Stories' is important, she noted, because it's the understanding and the learning that brings the community closer together.
"Indigenous people share stories with everything that is important to us – our songs have stories, our creation legends hold a story, our artwork has a story and our history on the land holds a story within itself. So, it's important that we come together to honour all of those stories and to share our understanding of how we can be better to our Mother Earth," she said, adding future generations are relying on us.
City of Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy noted how Earth Day is more than just an annual festival.
"Earth Day helps us to understand what we have in our community, what we have in our province, and in our country and how important that is to not let it go," he said.
Members of the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association were on hand to answer questions about the different types of electric vehicles.
The Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival had vendors selling tacos, street dogs, and mini doughnuts.
Volunteers with the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society's Repair Cafe were at the bandstand fixing broken household items.
The Family Freecycle had gently used clothing and toys free for the community.
Representatives from Maple Ridge Museum and Archives were at the event promoting a new exhibit called 'Here of All Places: Stories of Maple Ridge'.
And a special Haney Farmers Market had plenty of vendors selling local goods.
