On October 13, 14, and 15 The Monterey Bay Festival of Birds is back for another year full of field trips, presentations, workshops, and community events!

This year our theme is “A joyful celebration of the life and the death of birds”

We are taking a deep dive on bird population declines, efforts for bird conservation, and a celebration of the life of birds we have now.  Life and death go hand-in-hand like a beautiful dance between the two. We have the life of birds through the death of other birds and animals. Death is part of the life cycle, but what happens when humans get in the way and accelerate it? With this theme, we want to give space for people to learn about the human-made issues that birds face, grieve the death of all the birds we've lost, and celebrate the life of the birds that are all around us right now. 

This theme came from the Advisory Board for the festival. We want to honor and give space for different cultures and the different ways we commemorate death. In Mexican and other Latin American cultures, death is commemorated for all on the holiday of Dia de los Muertos. In Vietnam death is commemorated with a yearly sweeping of your loved one's graves. We want to invite you to share a part of yourself and how you celebrate life and commemorate death. Join us and help us lead the important discussions on how we can celebrate the life of birds while also discussing the death and decline of bird populations.

A Note About COVID-19

Please join us in having a healthy festival community and keeping others safe.

We are required to follow California state and Santa Cruz County regulations and recommendations regarding protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We will monitor the state of the pandemic up until and throughout the event. We will be following all health and safety guidelines put forth by the CDC and the Santa Cruz and Monterey Department's of Public Health. Furthermore, we will respect the guidelines in place 

Nearly all of the events taking place during the festival will be outdoors. For all indoor workshops and events, we will require proof of vaccination, or a proof of a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of arrival. You should plan to bring along a mask and be prepared to where it in venues that require masks be worn.