The fifth annual Hawaii Island Festival of Birds is slated for Oct. 15-19, and will be headquartered at Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona.
The 2020 theme is “Wanderers and Migrants — Celebrating Hawaii’s Avian Voyagers” and will celebrate and raise awareness of the remarkable number of migratory and accidental avian visitors that arrive in Hawaii each year.
“We are incredibly encouraged by the wide-ranging support of HIFB,” said festival co-chair and founder and president of Destination Marketing Hawaii Debbie Anderson. “Now in its fifth year, we feel we have developed a well-balanced agenda ideal for anyone interested in learning more about Hawaii’s unique avian populations.”
HIFB’s special guest for the 2020 festival will be Jason Ward, community relations and outreach coordinator for the National Audubon Society. Ward is an American naturalist, birder, activist, and host of the 2019 TV documentary series “Birds of North America.”
This year’s lineup is already slated to include guided field trips and pelagic boat tours aboard Fair Wind’s Hula Kai; a Saturday Bird Fair with educational booths, local arts and crafts, birdwatching optics store and showcase; a keiki corner; educational talks; and panel discussions.
An evening presentation, “The Seabirds of Traditional Hawaiian Navigation,” will include storytelling, hula and Hawaiian song.
Schedules, event information and registration for this year’s festival are available online at birdfesthawaii.org.