As people around the world recognize the International Day of Peace, the Duvall community will mark the occasion close to home with a Picnic for Peace, a free, family-friendly gathering at Depot Park hosted by the Rotary Club of Duvall on September 20 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Picnic for Peace will bring together families, neighbors, local organizations and businesses for an afternoon of live music, art, games, children’s activities, community booths and opportunities to explore one simple question: What can each of us do to cultivate peace where we live?
“Peace can feel like an enormous global idea, but it is also built through very small things — how we treat our neighbors, how we listen to one another and how we show up for our community,” said Danielle Rank, cochair of the Rotary Club of Duvall Peace Committee. “Picnic for Peace is an opportunity to bring that idea home and celebrate it together.”
A centerpiece of the event will be Cultivate Peace, a collaborative community art installation incorporating metal peace signs, painted Peace Rocks, plants and messages about peace created by members of the community.
Youth from elementary schools in Carnation and Duvall will be participating in crafting messages of Peace that will be on display at the event, and local community members are invited to contribute messages reflecting what peace means to them.
During the afternoon, music and activities will briefly stop for a community-wide Pause for Peace. Attendees will be invited to share a silent moment of reflection — considering peace globally, within their community and within their own lives.
Then the celebration will continue with Picnic for Peace activities including live music, a bubble station, balloon artist, face painting, yard games, peace-themed crafts, a pie-eating contest, community partner booths, a bake sale, drinks and snacks.
The event is free and open to the entire community. The first forty-five children who stop by the bubble station will receive a free bubble toy to take home.
