The free family-oriented event gets under way at 8:30 a.m. on the grass lawn next to the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center at Brookside Park and opens with the release of more than 600 goats into the Arroyo Seco as part of a nature-based wildfire prevention initiative.
There will also be a goat yoga session, a goat petting zoo and educational exhibits, art activities and contributions from community partner organizations.
In addition to celebrating Earth Day, the event will launch the wildfire prevention initiative, part of the response to the deadly Eaton and Palisades fires that ravaged the Altadena and Pacific Palisades areas.
It is put on by the city of Pasadena and the One Arroyo Foundation and will be attended by Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, Pasadena Fire Department Deputy Chief Tim Sell and One Arroyo Foundation Executive Director Daniel Rossman.
After the event, the goats will go to work.
They are scheduled to graze nearly 100 acres of the Arroyo Seco over about two months, clearing invasive plants and dry brush and returning nutrients to the soil. The City said the animals can navigate steep and sensitive terrain where machinery cannot reach, and described goat grazing as an environmentally responsible alternative to traditional vegetation-management methods.
“Pasadena is committed to leading with proactive, community-centered solutions that protect both people and place,” Mayor Victor Gordo said in the City’s announcement.
“As we come together on Earth Day to celebrate the Arroyo Seco, this initiative reflects how we can turn that shared appreciation into action, implementing innovative, nature-based strategies that strengthen our city’s resilience.”
Daniel Rossman, executive director of the One Arroyo Foundation, described the effort as a pilot in the same announcement.
“The One Arroyo Foundation is proud to support and fund this effort in partnership with the City of Pasadena,” Rossman said. “This pilot shows how nature-based solutions can help people and nature thrive together — and that goats might just be the greatest of all time at reducing wildfire risk in hard-to-reach areas.”
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