The Festival of the Cranes is an event people love to attend each year. Activities include refuge tours; bird, biology, geology and art workshops; keynote speakers; and much more. The Festival highlights the world renowned Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, which is in its 69th year of managing the refuge for the benefit of wildlife and their habitat.

Tours are offered to introduce areas and topics not commonly available during the year. Birders will be out from dawn to dusk on and off of the Bosque. There is even a birding tour on Elephant Butte Lake. The management of local National Wildlife Refuges will conduct groups and explain in detail the operation of each refuge. During the Historic Socorro Open House photo galleries and historic buildings will be open for your inspection. New Mexico Tech and the scientific community will also have displays and tours.

Lectures are offered for a variety of wildlife related subjects. Most lectures are given at the Macey Center in Socorro. Lecture topics include photography, bird identification and wildlife painting. Workshops are conducted in the field or special facilities.

On Saturday and most of Sunday the main Promenade at the Refuge will be filled with exhibits and demonstrations. This is where you will see animals up close, very close. Animal rescue groups will display mammals and birds along the perimeter of the Promenade. In the Visitor Center and the art and exhibitors tents, you will find educational activities as well as items for sale.

“The Bosque del Apache, located along El Camino Real and New Mexico’s most important waterway, acknowledge the beauty of our landscape,” said Michael Cerletti, Secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department. “The weekend’s festivities offer something for nearly everyone. It is an opportunity not to be missed.” Since 1994, the Friends of the Bosque del Apache have supported the biological, educational, and research activities of the Bosque del Apache. They promote Refuge events, conduct workshops and programs, provide labor for special projects and support the Refuge in thousands of ways each year.

For more information on the annual Festival of the Cranes, call 505-835-2077 or visit www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane