Celebrate the Bloom

Celebrate the Bloom! is a free annual event held at Jennings Environmental Education Center on the last Saturday in July. Celebrating the state’s only prairie (and the eastern-most prairie in the US), the festival includes nature explorations (i.e. bird, butterfly and wildflower walks), engaging demonstrations, local artisans and food, and musical guests. The event is produced in cooperation with 3MJC (the friends group and funding partner of Jennings). Music is presented by Lonesome No More Productions/Dennis McCurdy.

Jennings Environmental Education Center is one of several Pennsylvania state parks specifically dedicated to provide environmental education and interpretation to the community. A variety of programs are available for all ages.

One of the park’s main features, the 20-acre prairie ecosystem, is home to distinctive native prairie plants and the endangered massasauga rattlesnake. The most noteworthy and spectacular prairie flower is the blazing star. Jennings was the first reserve established in Pennsylvania to protect an individual plant species and remains the only public and protected prairie in the Commonwealth.

Jennings is located near Slippery Rock, PA, just over 1 hour from Pittsburgh, Erie, and Youngstown.