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Lightning Talks (5-6 pm) and Innovation Showcase – Hear from innovators in aquaculture systems, marine robotics, bioplastics, processing, and more, in talks and live demos, maybe even drive an ROV in the kelp bed.
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Make your own customized duds, bring something to print. Get a custom made shirt, in fact it could be done right on a shirt you already own!
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Algae Bar - Savor cocktails, mocktails and a specially commissioned seaweed beer created by Smog City Brewing Co.
Blue Table Bites – Sample culinary delights featuring seaweeds and sustainable seafoods and meet the chefs who created them, plus raw bar by local grower Grassy Bar Oyster Co.
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Blue Echo Exhibition - Experience a collection of projects created by emerging artists from California Institute of the Arts in collaboration with World Resources Institute; with the ocean at its heart the projects span disciplines from sound and sculpture to performance and graphic design.
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1 - 5:30 pm Tours and Workshops!
1-4pm: Ocean to Ocean: a kelp's journey in seaweed farming
Hands-on workshop for 20 participants ($100) (SOLD OUT)
At AltaSea at the Port of Los AngelesA full hands-on experience of all of the steps of processing kelps for seaweed farming, led by Michael Marty-Rivera, Seedbank Collection Curator at Kelp Ark.
4-5pm: Tours of the AltaSea Campus
No charge, but pre-registration is required
AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles is dedicated to accelerating scientific collaboration, advancing an emerging blue economy through business innovation and job creation, and inspiring the next generation, all for a more sustainable, just and equitable world. Their portside campus has converted a 120-year old warehouse into a venue for a wide variety of Blue Technology businesses and projects. Come tour what is happening with one of AltaSea's staff before joining us for the Seaweed Speakeasy.5pm and 5:30pm: Tours of Grassy Bar Oyster Hatchery, San Pedro Two tours limited to 15 participants each ($20)
Grass Bar Oyster Company will provide industry tours of their San Pedro hatchery facility. Come learn where baby oysters get their start and why eating more oysters is a great way to support sustainable food systems. Grassy Bar's oysters will be featured later in the evening at the Seaweed Speakeasy!
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10:15am -11:15am: Seaweed in a Solidarity Economy, with Julia Dunn, Earth Equity
Short Workshop for up to 25 participants ($10)
Sponsored by CSU Northridge & NOAA
As the seaweed industry grows, there's a repeating conversation around "scaling up" which often winds up replicating the same extractive values that caused the climate crisis our industry hopes to mitigate and heal. This interactive workshop explores cooperative economies as an answer to this "problem of scale" and considers how seaweed farmers can be leaders in a just transition.
11:30am -12:30pm: Identifying Common Seaweeds: Southern California Seaweed Taxonomy and Morphology, with Adi Khen and Jen Smith, Smith Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Short workshop for up to 40 participants, includes a Southern California Seaweed ID card ($40)
Sponsored by The Azulito Fund
Learn more about Southern California seaweeds-- how to identify them, where they grow, and why they're important. Participants will receive a field guide featuring pictures and information on 24 common species.
12:45 -1:45pm: Glow with Kelp: DIY Sunscreen from Ocean Science, with Jason Williams, UCLA
Short workshop for up to 30 participants, includes samples to take home ($50)
Explore the science of natural extracts and how they interact with zinc to form nanoparticles with unique sun-blocking properties. Following a live demo of nanoparticle formation from kelp extract, participants will work together in small groups to blend their own natural sunscreen cream using ocean-derived ingredients. Along the way, discuss kelp's ecological importance and how green chemistry can replace harmful industrial processes.
2:00 - 3:00pm: Artistic Seaweed Pressings, with Karina Arzuyan, Nuzhdin Laboratory, USC, and Hayden Schneider, Kelp Ark.
Short workshop for up to 40 (change to 30) participants, take your own seaweed pressing home! ($40)
Learn to make seaweed pressings that highlight unusual natural aspects of algae, both large and small. After reviewing a variety of examples and a short demonstration, each participant will have an opportunity to select seaweeds and complete their own artistic, alternatively angled pressing.3:15 - 4:15pm: Seaweed Ink, with Jenny Gil, Algy Lab
Short workshop for up to 40 participants, take your own box of seaweed inks home! ($50)
Learn about the pigments produced by algae (chlorophyll, phycocyanin and carotenoids) and a step-by-step process for making ink from microalgae. We will end by using the inks to paint on paper or wood and participants receive a tin box of algae inks to take home. Algy Lab is dedicated to creating workshops and products inspired by algae.
4:30 - 5:30pm: Algae Jello as Abalone Feed, with Johanna Hultberg, Aquarium of the Pacific
Short workshop for up to 40 participants ($30)
Use carrageenan to make algae "jello" that can be used to feed invertebrates. The workshop leader uses it to increase diet variation for endangered white abalone leading up to breeding season, but there are many additional possible applications, especially for times or areas where it is difficult to provide live algae to invertebrate populations. -
Science Lighting Talks - Learn from 5 min presentations on cutting edge research
Seaweed Figures: Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities
CMA Puppet Show
Aquaculture and Farming - Hear from seaweed farmers across the country!
Seaweed Storiesby Lonely Whale - Enjoy a video screening & panel in collaboration with Lonely Whale
California's Kelp Trends through the Ages: from Deep Time to the Present and Future
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Indigenous People’s Forum - Hear Gabrielino/Tongva women share the challenges and ongoing work as traditional caretakers of the ocean.
Seaweed Applications in Farming and Health - Learn about the vast array of seaweed uses from biostimulants to cellular health
Urban Ocean Ecosystems - Get insight into the cultural and ecological impact of where ocean and urban environments intersect
Restoration & Seaweed Solutions - Engage in a panel on current kelp restoration and blue carbon initiatives
Cooking Demos - Taste and learn about using seaweed in everyday food preparations
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Free Activities!
Seaweed Pressing
Seaweed Printing
Seaweed Collage Table
Epoxy Resin Pendant making - limited
Ocean Jenga
Meet the Mermaid’s of the Kelp Forest
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Come one come all to see real live mermaids at the California Seaweed Festival! Mermaid Sura and Mermaid Kairi have swam from the kelp forests to join us in celebration of their favorite oceanic fauna. Come say shello, listen to stories of their underwater tales, and take a photo to commemorate your day!
Schedule
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2025
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Schedule 🌿 2025 🌊
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10:00 – 10:15 AM Welcome with Tribal Elder – Lawn on Stage
10:00 – 11:00 AM Indigenous People’s Forum – Courtyard
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Mermaids in their grotto, Mermaids Sura and Kairi - Activity Area
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (all day activities) Seaweed Pressing – Activity Space Seaweed Printing – Activity Space Seaweed Jenga – Lawn Collage Table - Activity Area ResilienSea - Festival grounds Seaweed Stories - Poster art tent Food tastings - Courtyard Touch tanks - Courtyard
10:15 – 10:45 AM Eb and Flow Meditation by CalArts – Entertainment Stage on Lawn
10:15 – 11:15 AM Seaweed in a Solidarity Economy – Classroom
10:30 – 11:30 AM Aquaculture/Farming (5 min. presentations & panel) – Auditorium
10:45 – 10:50 AM Makena Rush Choreographed Dance
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Christian Clemesha – MUSIC -Entertainment Stage on Lawn
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Identifying Common Seaweeds – Classroom Epoxy Resin Pendants – Activity Space
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM Science Lightning Talks – Auditorium Seaweed Applications in Farming and Health Panel – Courtyard
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM Underwater VR Experience - Under The Blue Line, Activity Area
12:45 – 1:45 PM Glow with kelp: DIY Sunscreen from Ocean Science
1:00 – 2:00 PM Seaweed Figures: Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities – Auditorium Urban Ocean Ecosystems Panel – Courtyard Children's Book Reading; Wee Kelpy's Forest - Library
1:15 – 3:15 PM Jetpack – MUSIC - Entertainment Stage
2:00 – 3:00 PM Artistic Seaweed Pressings – Classroom
2:00 – 3:30 PM Poster Presentations – Aquatic Nursery
2:00 – 5:00 PM Mermaid in her grotto
2:15 – 3:15 PM Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Puppet Show – Auditorium Restorations and Seaweed Solutions Panel – Courtyard
3:15 – 3:45 PM Bilingual Loteria – Entertainment Stage on Lawn
3:15 – 4:15 PM Seaweed Ink – Classroom
3:30 – 4:30 PM California’s kelp trends through the ages: deep time to the present and future – Auditorium
3:45 – 5:45 PM Noral Twins – Entertainments Stage on Lawn
4:30 – 5:30 PM Algae Jello as abalone feed – Classroom
4:45 – 5:45 PM Seaweed Stories by Lonely Whale: Screening and panel - Auditorium
