The obvious interest in witnessing thousands of wintering Sandhill Cranes and other birds in the Rio Grande River Valley of central New Mexico provided the initial interest in developing one of the first birding festivals (photo by Paul Konrad).

This week hundreds of people will join in celebrating the 35th Festival of Cranes, rated among the top birding and wildlife photography events in North America, all at an impressive wildlife refuge south of Albuquerque, New Mexico – Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. We wanted to bring this particular birding festival to your attention, one of hundreds that take place annually, to highlight how organizers of this nationally recognized birding festival present more than 85 events and classes over the 4 day festival that emphasize birding or photography skills.

The Festival of Cranes offers an excellent opportunity for birders to participate in premiere birding and photography classes, a self-guided auto tour, and take guided tours and hikes with expert birders and photographers. There will be an initial Opening Reception and Celebration, and the Expo Room is open daily and it’s filled with booths where birding equipment companies and local vendors present their products. You can even rent cameras and binoculars at the Expo. There is also the Annual Dinner featuring the Keynote Speaker to look forward to, plus the aforementioned 85+ workshops, events, and classes to choose from.

Whatever your interests, the Festival of the Cranes has something for you. Created and managed each year by the Friends of Bosque del Apache, an active refuge support group of volunteers, this popular and successful birding festival attracts people from all states and a variety of countries to the refuge and promotes tourism in and near the cities of Socorro and San Antonio, which have many wonderful restaurants, businesses, and places to stay.

Bosque del Apache Refuge is famous for its expansive vistas, exquisite light and sunsets, enchanting bird songs and the calls of mega-flocks of cranes and geese along with an abundance of other birds. Birders and photographers from around the world attend to the festival to view the spectacular sights of wintering Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and Ross’s Geese, along with a variety of ducks, wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds, flycatchers, raptors including Bald Eagles, iconic Greater Roadrunners, and more!

Each year the Friends of Bosque del Apache host an art contest and a photo contest. The Art Contest calls for Sandhill Crane artwork in any medium – paintings, drawings, printmaking, digital images, mixed media, 2- or 3-dimensional art, photographs, or any other media. Photographs can be unaltered originals or edited images.

The Annual Photo Contest features 4 categories: Sandhill Cranes, Wildlife, People, and Landscapes. Winning photographs are displayed at the Bosque del Apache Refuge Visitor Center atrium prior to and during the festival, and throughout the year until next year’s winners of the Photo Contest are selected.

The above description of the Festival of Cranes shows how building on good planning and past successes serves birding festivals well, and others can prosper by following in the footsteps of this popular birding fest.

You can learn more about the Festival of Cranes, and how you can plan to attend next year’s event – or hustle over to central New Mexico to enjoy the activities this week; see festival of the cranes • Friends of Bosque del Apache and Agenda - Festival of the Cranes 2024 (cvent.com) You can learn more about the Refuge and its wildlife at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (fws.gov) In the meantime, learn more about birding festivals taking place near your home, or when you are on the road, at Birding Festivals and Events | All About Birds All About Birds