The City of Green River, along with John Wesley Powell River History Museum are thrilled for the upcoming Rock and Mineral Festival set to take place on April 5 through April 7 at the museum. The festival will feature vendor booths, talks from local experts, field trips to geological and paleontological sites in the area.

On the evening of Friday, April 5, the opening speaker will be ReBecca Hunt-Foster, Monument Paleontologist and Museum Curator at Dinosaur National Monument. Her presentation is entitled “Eastern Utah: Where Monumental Dinosaur Discoveries are Made,” which is a discussion about significant fossil discoveries in eastern Utah and how Utah has become a “hot spot” for North American paleontology.

Saturday activities will start bright and early with vendors and workshops opening at 9:00 am till 4:00 pm. There are various field trips scheduled throughout the day with a visit to the Hanksville-Burpee Dinosaur Quarry at 10:00 am; Cretaceous Marine Fossils field trip at 11:00 am. Then at 12:00 pm, Monument Paleontologist, ReBecca Hunt-Foster will lead a trip to Mill Canyon to see different species dinosaur tracks. Then at 1:00 pm Steve Acerson of the Utah Rock Art Research Association will share images of native cultures in the foothills of the Bookcliffs. The evening will consist of enjoying the sunset with an hour of poetry reading with Dash Bulatova at Fossil Point.

The final day of the festival will be a road trip that leaves at 10:00 am for the Platyceramus Hills where guests will get a tour of a giant clam fossil. At 10:30 am Steve Acerson will give a guided trip to see the rock art panel of Buckhorn Wash in the San Rafael Swell. Paleontologist, Greg McDonald will lead a trip at 11:00 am to Fossil Point which is a site of many dinosaur bones. The final field trip will leave at 1:00 pm to explore the cultural landscape of Grassy Trail Creek which is one of the major drainages along the Books Cliffs.

For any local artisans and/or rock shops that would like to sale their items at the festival may obtain a vendor application at www.greenriverrocks.com. Further information on the event can also be found on the same website.