2nd Annual Bayou Greenway Day

HOUSTON – February 25, 2016 – Houston Parks Board is pleased to announce the second annual Bayou Greenway Day, an outdoor festival and celebration of the Bayou Greenways, which connect Houstonians to parks and greenspaces – and each other. All are invited to participate in this free, day-long community event presented by Noble Energy on Saturday, March 26 along White Oak Bayou Greenway at T.C. Jester Park (4201 TC Jester Blvd).

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., families will be able to walk, bike, run, stroll, play and paddle along White Oak Bayou Greenway – the star of this year’s event – during the Bayou Greenway Day celebration. Attendees will enjoy free family activities while exploring the hike and bike trails along the bayou. Event programming, provided by a number of nonprofits and neighborhood organizations, will include bike rides; a marching band; coloring stations; interactive children’s activities; kayaking demonstrations and much more.

“Most of us in Houston live within a mile or two of a bayou, but we don’t think about it until it starts to flood.” said Cullen Geiselman, event co-chair and a board member of the Houston Parks Board. “On Bayou Greenway Day, we invite you to see Houston’s bayous in a new way: as destinations for recreation and play and as greenspaces connecting our parks and neighborhoods.”

“Bayou Greenway Day is a great way to highlight the work that we are accomplishing along Houston’s Bayou’s,” said Joe Turner, Director Houston Parks and Recreation Department. “We’re excited to see the improvements that BG2020 is bringing to the bayous and the access to greenspace that these improvements bring for park users.”

“We are proud to continue our commitment to connecting Houston communities through green bayou pathways because it is central to Noble Energy’s purpose – Energizing the World, Bettering People’s Lives,” said Ben Dillon, vice president, Noble Energy.

Bayou Greenway Day is a chance for Houstonians to experience the transformation happening along Houston’s bayous as part of the Bayou Greenways 2020 project, which will create a continuous parks system along Houston’s major waterways within the city limits, transform more than 3,000 acres along the bayous into publicly accessible greenspace and connect 150 miles of hike and bike trails.

A public-private partnership between the Houston Parks Board, the City of Houston through the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and the Harris County Flood Control District, Bayou Greenways 2020 includes projects on nine major bayous within the city limits. This year, Houston Parks Board has chosen to highlightWhite Oak Bayou Greenway on Bayou Greenway Day because two new segments opened in 2015: 0.8 miles of greenway from Antoine Dr to Alabonson Rd and a new hike and bike bridge over the bayou between T. C. Jester Blvd and N Shepherd Dr.

Bayou Greenway Day is a project of the Houston Parks Board in collaboration with the Parks Department. The event is further supported by its sponsors: Noble Energy, Inc.; The Ambrose Group; Cherry Demolition; Clark Condon Associates, Inc.; Huitt-Zollars, Inc.; IDS Engineering Group, Inc.; Landtech Consultants; Luby’s; Fuddruckers Restaurants; Memorial Hermann Health System and RPS Klotz Associates.

To learn more about Bayou Greenway Day 2016, visit www.bayougreenwayday.org. Attendees are encouraged to bicycle or walk to the event in keeping with the spirit of the Bayou Greenways. Parking will be limited. Please be respectful of the surrounding neighborhoods.