MARYSVILLE — The California Swan Festival takes flight Friday through Sunday with tours, presentations and activities for the whole family.
Just before winter sets in, more than 100,000 tundra swan migrate from their remote breeding grounds in the Arctic, along the Pacific Flyway, to spend winter in California. The tundra swan along with other migrating birds make use of the Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties’ wetland and farmland during this migration. The swan festival is a community celebration of this annual event, said Lisa Lindman, executive director of the Sutter Buttes Regional Land Trust, the entity that hosts the event.
The event starts Friday with guided tours that continue through Sunday. The festival event hub — where exhibitors, workshops, kids activities, presentations will be offered — is open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The hub will also be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. strictly for tour sign in on Friday. Entrance into the hub Saturday and Sunday is free and tours range in cost from $20 to $45 for adults and $10 for youth. Advance reservations for the tours are recommended and may be made on line at https://www.caswanfestival.org Tour sign-up may also be done in person at the hub during the festival. The festival hub is located at Yuba College, 2088 N. Beale Road in building 300.
“Our festival highlights the graceful and elegant tundra swans that stand out among the teeming masses of waterfowl and shorebirds that migrate through our region,” said Lindman. “It allows us to provide people the opportunity to learn about the swan, natural resources and the conservation work we’re doing with our partners — local, state and federal agencies as well as private landowners — to maintain this critical habitat which is so important because through the years California has lost 95 percent of its wetlands.”
The guided tours, led by a variety of wildlife experts, range from visit to Grey Lodge Wildlife Area to Birding at Codri Winery as well as sunset swan tours, visits to Bobelains Sanctuary, special access tours to the Sutter Buttes Mountain Range and a photography adventure at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.
“The tours provide a unique opportunity to see the swans as well as many other birds in the company of expert guides who can answer questions,” said Lindman.
Activities at the festival hub include a kid zone with free activities for children as well as live animal presentations from West Coast Falconry, NorCal Bats and Conservation Ambassadors’ Wild Things.
“People will have the opportunity to get up and personal with a variety of raptors, large animals and reptiles,” said Lindman. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Beginner and bird photography workshops will also be offered free of charge during the festival. And attendees may also enjoy “The Tricky Yuba,” a Yuba Water Agency documentary film as well as presentations on salmon, water cycle restoration and a performance by the Koomtes Dance Academy of traditional Hmong dances.
Retail and educational vendors will also be set up at the hub and food from We Cook for You, will be available. There will also be a raffle and silent auction.
For more information about the festival, tours, workshops and presentations visit https://www.caswanfestival.org
