Image: Rotary Club of Chilliwack

By Alyssa Conti

CLIMATE AWARENESS FAIR

Annual Rotary Climate Fair and Trade Show to return for final year in Chilliwack

Mar 16, 2025 | 12:38 PM

CHILLIWACK — The Rotary Club is hosting its final Climate Fair in Chilliwack next month, and it may be the largest yet.

From April 12 to 13, industry experts and nearly 60 organizations will be at the trade show and job fair to talk sustainability and environmental action with members, students and families. The group says the event has grown on an unprecedented scale within the region.

“We thought we were doing a climate fair where we’re just educating people on how they can shift to alternative energy and also learn from the experts,” said Robyn Curtis, chair of the Chilliwack Rotary Climate Change Action Group.

“What we didn’t see coming was actually that the vendors were learning from each other, so it has become a really big networking area.”

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Elected officials from across the Fraser Valley are also invited to the event, with Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove set to take the stage again that weekend. The city has also donated the venue, Chilliwack Landing Sports Centre.

“We actually don’t have a budget for this,” Curtis added. “We do it all at zero cost. It’s put on by volunteers and it’s only able to be put on because of donations from the community.”

Speakers also attend the event for free. Booths do have to be paid for, but the money goes right back into local and international Rotary climate initiatives. More than 20 regional projects are currently on the roster, ranging from elementary education kits and university scholarships to installing solar panels in Indigenous communities.

Sowing seeds into the future

“In the past, we did amazing work with polio and a lot of initiatives around food and women and education, but [the issue of] environment and climate change is really new, and it’s bringing our younger people into the rotary world.”

The event is family-friendly, and kids can choose from a variety of hands-on activities such as interactive booths, a Kids Play Zone, face painting and more. Students can also visit university and job booths related to the sustainability and renewable energy world.

“We’re seeing a lot more 30 and 40-year-olds joining Rotary because it’s a place you can actually do this work,” said Curtis.

This year’s keynote topics include the role of media in climate change, the transition to renewable energy, and the health impacts of climate change on humans and animals. Other sessions will also explore wildfires, urban ecological footprints, the need for inclusive sustainability efforts, and more.

Image: Chilliwack Rotary / Climate Fair speakers

“Dr. Karen Bondar is going to come and talk about myths and disinformation and how to identify it […], and then we have an expert in solar and Fraser Health coming as well to talk about what they’re doing to try to shift their work in the field.”

The Climate Fair ends in Chilliwack this year, as per the group’s agreement, but the Rotaries in Semiahmoo and White Rock could be hosting the next few events.

“It may be our last one, but it’s not the last climate fair,” she added. “It’s just moving to a new community.”

The free two-day event starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Apr. 12 and ends at 4 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 13, at the Chilliwack Landing Sports Centre, 45530 Spadina Avenue.