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The Wings Over Willapa Festival will return Sept. 20-22 to celebrate birds, nature and art.
The multi-day event held at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and other natural sites on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula will feature bird walks, wildlife tracking and a barge trip to Long Island where attendees can hike through its ancient grove of cedars.
The first day of the event, Friday, Sept. 20, will include a first-ever behind the scenes look at the new Willapa Coastal Forest. The forest has 2,366 acres of streams, wetlands and forest that became part of the refuge earlier this year. These areas are important for spawning Chinook, coho and chum salmon as well as steelhead, smelt and lamprey, according to festival organizers.
Later in the day on Friday, attendees are invited to bring their family and friends to a meet and greet with the locals: owls, hawks and falcons from Discovery Bay Wild Bird Rescue will be present with conservationists who will teach attendees about the birds.
A welcome social will be held on Friday evening at the Salt Hotel & Pub in Ilwaco.
Saturday brings “Nature Play Day,” a free event with nature themed games and crafts for kids and “Kids at Heart” in downtown Long Beach. More guided hikes for bird and plant lovers will also be available.
On Saturday evening, keynote speaker Marina Richie will present “Kinship with Kingfishers.” She’ll take listeners on a deep dive into belted kingfishers over seven seasons on a home creek. Her presentation will include photos, natural history, memoir and myth. She’ll introduce the practice of deep birding and how it can lead to kinship with a wild neighborhood and personal transformation.
Richie’s book titled “Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher” inspired her presentation and earned her the 2024 John Burroughs Award, given annually to the year’s most distinguished book of nature writing. It earned a National Outdoor Book Award and a Foreword Indies Award. Richie will sign and sell books at the event. Snacks and a complimentary beer or wine are included with registration.
The Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge will host a raffle with themed baskets at the start of the keynote event. In addition, the 2024 Wings Over Willapa Signature Quilt will be raffled. This year, the quilt depicts a beach scene with pelicans, a boat and sea creatures. It was created and donated by local quilter Toni Tweedle Healy.
“We have been lucky for the past five years to receive a quilt from Toni. The quality of her work is amazing,” said Sylvia Pelizza, Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge’s treasurer.
The quilt is displayed at the Ocean Beach Hospital in July and August and Peninsula Senior Center in August and September.
Wings Over Willapa is hosted by the Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is supported by a variety of sponsors. A $10 registration fee is required. Some of the classes and tours are free, while nominal fees are charged for others. Space is very limited for some events; see the full schedule and register at WingsOverWillapa.org starting Aug. 1 at 12 p.m.
