Second Annual Halifax Dandelion Festival

Remove the weeding gloves and back away slowly---it's time to appreciate the yellow blooms of dandelions at the Halifax Dandelion Festival. "Frustration accumulated over years at the negative attitude people have developed towards dandelions," writes Pat Brennan-Alpert, of the Grainery Food Co-op, on why the Co-op started the festival last year. Out of that frustration grew a week of learning how to use dandelions---apart from outlets of hate in your weeding schedule. Brennan-Alpert says that dandelions are "as pretty as many garden flowers," and that they're healthy to eat: the roasted roots are a traditional coffee substitute and diuretic, while generations ago people used to use dandelions in herbal liver cleansers. Saturday closes off the week (which started May 1) with the Dandelion Festival, where there'll be a potluck of dandelion-infused food, information tables, music by the Moonshine Ramblers (7pm), kids' games and an open mic for poetry, music and stories. There's also a weed walk (May 6) and a fermentation workshop (May 7), with details at dandelionfestival.org. –Holly Gordon