Greenfest on the Green Belt will be held Sept. 27 at the Greenbelt on FM  455 below Ray Roberts Lake Dam. Photos courtesy of the Greenbelt Alliance of Denton County.

Sept. 24, 2014 

By Rita Cook 

The fall green festival season continues with GreenFest on the Greenbelt, hosted by the Greenbelt Alliance of Denton County, on Sept. 27 at the Greenbelt on FM  455 below Ray Roberts Lake Dam. 

Heading into its third annual year, the festival stands out among other green fests due to its extensive lineup of outdoor activity. 

“Our festival is all about family-friendly outdoor fun,” said Lauren Poleski, secretary of the Greenbelt Alliance of Denton County. “We do have vendor spaces available, but just as an added benefit. Our activities include biking, kayaking, pony rides, experiential exhibits and activities put on by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, inflatable slides and bounce houses and geocaching.”

Other standouts for the day include Chad Brinlee with Bombproof Horsemanship offering two exhibits, the Critterman bringing animals native to North Texas, Blackland Prairie bringing rescued birds of prey and a reptile exhibit. Along with these activities there will also be an array of food and green vendors as well as live music throughout the day.  

“Our headlining band is Denton's Grammy-award winning Brave Combo,” Poleski adds. “There's definitely something for everyone and on a pretty day we expect anywhere from 500 to 750 folks with our main goal for GreenFest to get people out to the Greenbelt who may never come otherwise.”

Just one hour north of the Metroplex, the Ray Roberts Lake/Lake Lewisville Greenbelt Corridor is a 20-mile multi-use trail system (10 miles for horseback riding and 10 miles for hiking and biking) that begins at the Ray Roberts Dam and ends at the headwaters of Lake Lewisville. This unique trail corridor meanders along the heavily wooded banks of the Elm Fork Branch of the Trinity River. Equestrians, hikers, bikers, canoeists, birdwatchers, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts can access the trail at one of three trailheads, located at FM 455, FM 428 and Highway 380. 

“The Greenbelt is a great place to get back into nature and out of the concrete city,” says Poleski.  

The Greenbelt Alliance of Denton County is a community-based, volunteer organization that fosters awareness of the Greenbelt, generates public support, promotes recreational and educational opportunities and encourages preservation of the Greenbelt in its present, scenic, natural state for the benefit of all.  

“We want the attendees, whether they are avid park users or first time Greenbelt visitors, to come away with an appreciation of what is the center of our community up here,” Poleski says. “It's a perfect event to get the kids out of the house, away from the video games and the iPhones and spend quality time doing fun outdoor activities.”

With ticket prices only $7 at the gate and $5 on sale online, the GreenFest on the Greenbelt is an inexpensive way to spend the day as a family.   

“Where else can you go from kayaking to a climbing wall, see live birds of prey while listening to a Grammy-award winning band for under $10,” said Poleski.


Rita Cook is an Arlington-based award-winning journalist who writes or has written for the Dallas Morning News, Focus Daily News, Waxahachie Daily Light, Dreamscapes Travel Magazine, Porthole, Core Media, Fort Worth Star Telegram and many other publications in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago. With five books published, her latest release is “A Brief History of Fort Worth” published by History Press. Contact her at rcook13@earthlink.net.

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