Park District Turning Black Friday Green with FREE Park Day

November 19, 2021

Friday, November 19, 2021 (Oakland, CA) – For the past seven years, the East Bay Regional Park District has celebrated Green Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, as a healthy outdoor alternative to Black Friday holiday shopping. To encourage time in nature, the Park District is again making Green Friday a FREE Park Day, meaning all District fees are waived for park entrance and activities, including parking, dogs, horses, boat launching, fishing, as well as entry to Ardenwood Historic Farm.

“Time in nature improves physical and mental health and is a great way to relieve holiday stress,” said Park District Board President Dee Rosario. “The day after Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to get outside and spend time with family and friends.”

The fee waiver does not include State fees for fishing licenses and watercraft inspections for invasive mussels or privately operated concessions such as the Tilden Merry-Go-Round and Redwood Valley Railway steam train.

The Park District’s Green Friday is part of the “#OptOutside” movement that started in 2015 when REI closed its doors on Black Friday and encouraged its employees and the public to explore the outdoors instead of shopping. Millions of people and hundreds of organizations now participate in #OptOutside each year.

Visitor Center activities planned for Green Friday (11/26/2021) include:

Feast Your Eyes On Nature Hike at Black Diamon Mines Regional Preserve, 9-11:30 a.m. (Registration Required)
Post Thanksgiving Hike It Off at Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, 9-Noon
Ojo De Dios at Ardenwood Historic Farm, 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Animal Feeding at Ardenwood Historic Farm, 3-3:30 p.m.

To find a park or activity, visit www.ebparks.org/parks.