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, practice fire-building techniques, learn about local wildlife, and more. Visitors can also enjoy guided bird walks, mushroom forays, and fishing activities.

Local food vendor, Luna's Tacos of Iowa City,  will be on site throughout the day! 

Activities will include:

• Live raptor meet & greets
• Atlatl Throwing, Animals & More of the late Ice Ages
• Plein air painting
• Guided bird walks
• Native Plant Sale
• Reptile meet & greets
• Fire building education
• Mushroom forays and specimen study
• Fishing
• Pollinator education
• Hands-on milkweed seed ball making
• Animal Biofacts education stations
• Bird nest education
• Lawn Games
• Sandcastle Building
• & more (more activities announced soon!)

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;  EarthMind; Friends of Johnson County Conservation; Iowa City Bird Club; Iowa Prairie Network; Iowa City Parks & Recreation; Iowa Master Naturalists; Johnson County Master Gardeners of Iowa; Milkweed Matters;  Prairie States Mushroom Club;  Raptology; Troutleaf Native Plants; UI WILD; US Army Corps of Engineers; Wild Ones; and others. 

Food:

Be sure to bring an appetite! Local vendors will be on site with delicious food and refreshments throughout this event.

Live Music:

10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.- Burlington Street Bluegrass Band 

The Burlington Street Bluegrass Band performs high energy, family-friendly acoustic bluegrass music, featuring exquisite instrumental solos and vocal harmonies.

In 2004 some of Iowa’s most treasured bluegrass musicians were brought together by Mike Finders to jam for the sheer joy of playing together. That jam gave birth to The Burlington Street Bluegrass Band which quickly became one of Iowa City’s favorites. Now in their 20th year of performance, BSBB continues to feature the best of the eastern Iowa bluegrass scene. The current lineup includes local greats Joe Peterson (mandolin), Mark Wilson (guitar), Paul Roberts (banjo), Marc Janssen (fiddle), and Brandi Janssen (bass). The group performs an mix of traditional bluegrass, country, original music, and fiddle tunes, bringing nearly two hundred yearsof collective experience to the stage.

Category

Special Events