Wings & Wild Things Festival

Event Summary

Celebrate Iowa’s natural world during the second year of the Wings & Wild Things Festival. Wings & Wild things showcases the wild and wonderful flora and fauna of our region, as well as outdoor recreation activities in our area. Grab food from local food trucks and enjoy a day spent exploring Johnson County’s Kent Park.

The event will feature hands-on learning activities, guided exploration, and animal meet & greets. Meet a live owl, study Iowa’s threatened box turtles, get your hands dirty making milkweed seed balls, pick up native plants for your yard, explore eco arts practices, and more. Visitors can also enjoy guided bird walks, mushroom forays, and fishing activities.

Local food and drink vendors Luna's Tacos of Iowa City, Maggie's Farm Wood-Fired Pizza, and Kindred Coffee will be on site throughout the day! 

Activities will include:

• Live raptor meet & greets
• Kayaking
• Plein air painting
• Guided bird walks (10:30 & 11:30 am) 
• Native Plant Sale
• Sandcastle contest! (10 am - 12:30 pm - details below)
• Reptile meet & greets
• Eco-arts
• Mushroom forays and specimen study
• Fossil exploration
• Fishing
• Pollinator education
• Hands-on milkweed seed ball making
• Animal Biofacts education stations
• Bird nest education
• Tree discovery station
• Prairie study activities 
• Mysteries of migration activity stations
• & more

Event Partners:

The Wings & Wild Things Festival is made possible through partnership with numerous local conservation-minded organizations. Partner groups include Arts Iowa City’s ArtiFactory; Backyard Abundance; Bur Oak Land Trust; Extant Relatives; Iowa City Bird Club; Iowa City Parks & Recreation; Iowa Master Naturalists; Johnson County Planning, Development, & Sustainability; Johnson County Master Gardeners of Iowa; Kirkwood Community College's Women in Natural Resources Club; Land Alliance Folk School; Milkweed Matters; OUTdoors Iowa City; Pollinator Partnership; Prairie States Mushroom Club;  Raptology; Trees Forever; Troutleaf Native Plants; US Army Corps of Engineers; the University of Iowa Rec Services; and others. 

Food:

Be sure to bring an appetite! Local vendors Luna's Tacos of Iowa City, Kindred Coffee, and Maggie's Wood-Fired Pizza will be on site with delicious food and refreshments throughout this event.

Live Music:

10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.- Pigs & Clover

Pigs and Clover is an Americana band that blends genres of folk, indie rock and alt-country. Catchy and often humorous, their original songs feature strong lyrics, vocal harmony, guitars aplenty and new-time electric harmonica.

Sandcastle Contest Official Rules

• Have fun! You do not need to be a professional artist to enter. This contest is for everyone!
• Registration begins at 10 am at Kent Park's beach and groups will have until 12:30am to complete their castle or sculpture.
• Johnson County Conservation has buckets, sandcastle hand trowels, and a limited number of sand molds for public use. Participants may also bring their own hand tools (shovels, rakes, trowels, etc.).  
• Only hand tools may be used. No mechanical tools may be used in building or carving the castle or sculpture. Water sprayers may be used to keep sand moist. Forms (such as buckets, milk cartons, flower pots, etc) may be used for construction but must be removed before final judging.
• Sandcastles or sculptures need to be made of sand and water only! No additives of any kind (sugar, flour, glue, paint, etc.) may be used. Only natural objects found on the beach may be used. Human-made objects found on the beach may not be used.
• No added colors, props or objects.
• The castle or sculpture must be confined within your plot of beach. 
• Judging begins promptly at 12:30 pm. Judges will use the following criteria to give each castle or sculpture a score: Detail, Neatness, Creativity, Originality  

Sandcastle Contest Tips:

• Have a plan before starting!
• Pack your sand very hard and use lots of water!
• Use stacks or mounds of very wet sand and then carve out your desired shape.
• To get the best density, build up your structure gradually. Use deep cuts to add detail to your castle or sculpture.
• Be creative! Your sculpture does not need to be a castle.
• Have fun!

Category

Special Events