The John Wesley Powell Museum opened its facilities to the Green River Rock and Mineral Festival on Friday. This is the third year for the festival and not the last.
Rebecca Hunt-Foster, the new monument paleontologist and museum curator at Dinosaur National Monument, highlighted the festival as the first speaker to kick off the weekend. She spoke on the significant fossils that have been discovered in Eastern Utah and how Utah has become a “hot spot” for North American paleontology.
The festival also included many vendors selling rocks, minerals and handmade items such as jewelry. Festival goers could also sign up for field trips led by paleontologists and experts. These guides took interested parties to locations that have fossils, dinosaur bones and beautiful views. Field trips were free and took place each day throughout the three-day festival. Attendees were able to learn more on trips to the Hanksville-Burpee Dinosaur Quarry, Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracks, Fossil Point Dinosaur Graveyard and much more.
On Saturday, a bake sale was also hosted by the PTA at the festival. Those in attendance were also able to enjoy a poetry reading with Dasha Bulatova at Fossil Point.
The third annual festival was made possible by the City of Green River, Epicenter, Emery County Travel Bureau, Alison Jean Cole, Lisa Ward, Bureau of Land Management, Sorenson Legacy Foundation, George S. and Dolores Eccles Foundation and the J.W. Powell River History Museum.
