Mocs Bend Fest is a weekend of nature, art, music

"Tree Dimensions" by Merril Val Love and Craig Steel will use the forest as a backdrop for projections of moving, fractal images during the Mocs Bend Fest.

Contributed Photo "Robin! Coming to a Forest Near You," an audience-participation romantic comedy by Jeannie Hacker-Cerulean of the UTC Theatre department, will premiere at the Mocs Bend Fest.

It's easy to imagine that when the minds behind the new Mocs Bend Fest: Nature, Art & Music started brainstorming ideas, everything stuck.

Which would explain the full slate of activities: Bike. Hike. Paddle. Play. Arts. Nature. History. Crafts. Food. Music. Theater.

What's closer to the truth is that three events that might have had separate billing have been rolled into one big weekend.

So the Mocs Bend Fest piggybacks on activities celebrating the National Park Service centennial as well as an environmental festival called Cool Down ChatTown.

"It's a large festival, with lots of participants," laughs Jeannie Hacker-Cerulean of the UTC Theatre department.

So let's divvy it up into its three parts.

HIKE, BIKE, PADDLE & PLAY

On Saturday, July 30, rangers from Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will converge on Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District, the newest national park, for a series of activities and around the North Shore.

8 a.m.-noon. Take a ranger-led paddle around Moccasin Bend, beginning at the Outdoor Chattanooga office at Coolidge Park, 200 River St. Participants will follow the route of the Union Army as they floated around Moccasin Bend to capture Brown's Ferry in the fall of 1863. The tour also will focus on the American Indian history associated with the area. Reservations are required. Call 423-643-6888.

2-4 p.m. Take a ranger-led bike/hike tour to the Brown's Ferry Federal Road. Meet and park at the Moccasin Bend gateway site, 10 Hamm Road. Bring your own bike, or reserve one by calling the park at 706-866-9241.

5-7 p.m. Take a ranger-led bike/hike tour to the Civil War earthworks on Stringer's Ridge. Meet and park at the Moccasin Bend gateway site, 10 Hamm Ride. Bring your own bike, or reserve one by calling the park at 706-866-9241.

Throughout the day, park staff and representatives from the Friends of Moccasin Bend will be available at the gateway site to assist with parking and to provide maps, water and information about self-guided tours.

For more information, call 706-866-9241 or 423-821-7786, or visit www.nps.gov/chch.

MOCS BEND FEST: NATURE, ART & MUSIC

This new event is a partnership between UTC Theatre and the Friends of Moccasin Bend. Here, the "Play" part of the day takes on a different meaning, as Hacker-Cerulean will debut an original play, "Robin! Coming to a Forest Near You," a romantic comedy set in an urban forest/river ecosystem.

"UTC Theatre is venturing outdoors with this festival production," she says in a news release. "We hope with enough community support, this will be an annual event bridging the arts and the environment."

The play invites audience participation, and those attending will have a chance to make a woodsy costume at an art creation station so that they can be part of the play's Forest Chorus. Their contributions will be supplemented by Skwalking Heads puppets.

Cerulean says she's especially grateful for the support of Chattanooga's community of artists. Many have studied the archaeology of Moccasin Bend to create place-based art that will be for sale. A sculptural art fence by Chad Burnet, Mirel Crumb and Craig Steel will establish the Stringer's Garden Gateway to Moccasin Bend, with natural sculpture from Patrick Ironwood. Megan Hollenbeck is creating a short film about the project. "Tree Dimensions" by Merril Val Love and Craig Steel will project moving, fractal images on the urban forest.

Several bands will provide the soundtrack for the evening's events.

4-11 p.m. Arts, music and vendors.

7 p.m. "Robin! Coming Soon to a Forest Near You" presentation.

COOL DOWN CHATTOWN

Now in its third year, the Cool Down ChatTown festival is organized by Climate Chattanooga Healthy Energy for Everyone.

The CCHEE event is designed to encourage a future powered by 100 percent renewable energy. The group also will have a green pod set up Saturday to inform festivalgoers about the urban forest and sustainability.

Cerulean says several vendors will have interactive booths set up with environmental messages, including a ribbon tree, which festivalgoers can string with written promises about caring for the Earth.

"They're not trying to sell you anything," she says. "They're just trying to show a better way to live in an urban environment and what you can do to help the planet."

2-10 p.m. Music, vendors, demonstrations.