Steve Bajor

Stan! Look at this!!! I met Steve Bajor this week and we had an instant Love affair. He can help us connect people today. Sarita

The Founder of Earth Day Festival is a Mill Valley Native.

The year was 1970 and Steve Bajor was attending UC Davis, after graduating from Tam

High.

Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalogue had become the bible of sensitive and aware living

on the Earth.

Bajor had started a small production company on campus called the May Day Festival

Committee and was producing musical events at the college main venue, Freeborn Hall.

The musical talent he booked included the Grateful Dead and the Cockettes with Sylvester.

They came up with this idea to develop a Festival based on the philosophy of the Whole

Earth Catalog. It would feature ecological displays, music, and lots of dancing.

The United Nations proclaimed Whole Earth Day that same year.

They decided the event needed to have some geodesic domes as a centerpiece.

Steve went to visit Buckminster Fuller who was living in Gate 5 in Sausalito, at the time.

“I remember sitting at Bucky’s feet like he was Archimedes while he explained the

architecture of the dome.”

Bajor and the May Day Festival Committee decided on an ambitious three-day Festival,

April 29, 30, and May 1, to be held on the Quad in the center of the Davis campus.

After receiving the support of the UC Davis Experimental College, they were ready to plan

and produce the event.

A three-day event was a pretty big goal. However, their youthful enthusiasm and

commitment to the cause provided the energy and direction to make it happen. Then as

they say, the rest is history.

Needless to say, the event was a huge success, becoming an annual event at Davis and

celebrated every year throughout the country and around the world.

Bajor went on to a career in event design and management for over 50 years, producing

over a thousand large and small events throughout the SF Bay Area and nationally.

These included special events for his hometown including, the Memorial Day in the Park,

Charlie Deal Day, Winterfest. He was Executive Director of the beloved Mill Valley Fall Arts

Festival for over fifteen years.