Alaska Hummingbird Festival

When: April 4 to 26, 2025
Where: Ketchikan
The Alaska Hummingbird Festival celebrates the return of Rufous Hummingbirds to the Tongass National Forest. The festival offers a series of educational and creative events, including a juried art show (open to all Alaskan artists) to promote awareness of the region’s spring migratory birds. The show’s opening reception, presented by the Cape Fox Foundation, is at 5 p.m. on April 4 at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. Artwork will be on display through May 30, 2025. The festival’s series of events continues through April 26 and includes Saturday morning guided bird walks, the Friday Night Insights lecture series, and Earth Day activities at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. All programs and activities are free to the public. For more information, call 907-228-6220.

Gunsight Mountain HawkWatch Weekend

When: April 19 and 20, 2025
Where: Mile 118.8 on Glenn Highway (near Anchorage)
Celebrate spring’s migrating raptors with this annual event put on by Anchorage Audubon Society, which typically oversees HawkWatch for the season at Gunsight Mountain. Migrating raptors seen along the ridgeline during Gunsight Mountain HawkWatch Weekend include Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Goshawk, American Kestrels, Peregrine Falcons, Merlin, and occasionally Swainson's Hawk and Osprey. Bring warm clothing, binoculars, spotting scopes, lunch, snacks, water, and lawn chairs.

Whale and Bird Fest

When: TBD (usually early April)
Where: Craig
This volunteer-run festival celebrates the whale population and spring migratory bird species across Prince of Whales Island in Southeast Alaska. Activities include bird walks, whale tours, bird art workshops, and oftentimes a Chamber of Commerce Gala with music and door prizes. Visit the Discover Prince of Wales Island website for more details.

Stikine River Birding Festival

When: April 23 to 27, 2025
Where: Wrangell
The Stikine River Delta—located within the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness area of the Tongass National Forest—has the largest springtime concentration in North America of Bald Eagles, followed by Sandhill Cranes, and Snow Geese. Therefore, the Stikine River Birding Festival celebrates spring in Southeast Alaska and is the perfect opportunity for birders to spot millions of shorebirds, which also migrate to the delta each spring. Wrangell's birding festival spans three weeks and includes activities like bird feeder building, art and photo contests, guest speaker lectures, and exploring the surrounding islands and Stikine River flats.

Seward Seabird Festival

When: May 30 to June 1, 2025
Where: Seward
Alaskan bird enthusiasts flock to Seward in May for the annual Seward Seabird Festival. Join community partners to celebrate the rich seabird diversity of the Kenai fjords through family-friendly activities, local art, sightseeing opportunities, and chances to network with seabird researchers and professionals. From the budding birder to the seasoned seabird expert, this city-wide event has something for everyone!. For more information, see alaskasealife.org.

Spring Migration Celebration

When: April 26, 2025
Where: Fairbanks
Celebrate the arrival of spring migrants in late April at the 2,200-acre Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge from noon to 4 p.m. There will be great viewing opportunities for Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, White-fronted Geese, and various species of ducks. Spring Migration Celebration activities include birdwatching and wildlife viewing, guided nature walks, falconry demonstrations, and kids' crafts for school-aged children, and Friends of Creamer’s Field works collaboratively with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and other community partners to offer education programs. Attendees are also encouraged to visit the Farmhouse Visitor Center, the circa-1908 Creamer family farmhouse, which features interpretive exhibits on migratory birds and the historic dairy complex. For more information, call 907-978-8457 or email programs@friendsofcreamersfield.org.

Summer Hummingbird Days

When: May 31, 2025
Where: Girdwood
Each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) host the Summer Hummingbird Days in Girdwood. The celebration’s events include live hummingbird banding demonstrations, talks about hummingbirds, natural history, pollinators, and plants, kid-friendly educational activities, door prize drawings, and information about setting up hummingbird feeders and pollinator gardens in Alaska. The event is free with admission and open to the public. See the AWCC website for more information. 

Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival

When: May 1 to 4, 2025
Where: Cordova
In early May, the tidal flats of the Copper River Delta shimmer with the activity of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds. As many as 5 million shorebirds rest and feed in the Cordova area during spring migration. Organized by the Cordova Chamber of Commerce, the Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival provides the ideal opportunity for birders to be part of this epic migration. Many activities, workshops, and community events are offered throughout the festival. For more information, call 907-424-7260. 

Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival

When: May 7 to 11, 2025
Where: Homer
The annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival—organized by Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges and held at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center—offers expert speakers, naturalists, and guides who will share their extensive wealth of birding knowledge. Enjoy field events, workshops, presentations, tours by boat, bus, and kayak, and several birding hotspots in and around the Homer area. When your day of birding and exploring Homer winds down, spend your evening enjoying the great line-up of entertainment for all ages. To find more information, contact the festival by email. 

Yakutat Tern Festival

When: May 29 to June 1, 2025
Where: Yakutat
The Yakutat Tern Festival is a celebration of the natural and cultural resources of Yakutat in northern Southeast Alaska. Yakutat hosts one of the largest and southernmost known nesting colonies of Aleutian Terns, as well as Arctic Terns, and up to 200 other bird species that nest in or migrate through the area. The festival is family-friendly and offers activities for birders as well as non-birders, including field trips, seminars, kids’ activities, keynote speakers, evening banquets, bird-banding demonstrations, and other programs.

Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival

When: June 13 to 15, 2025
Where: Utqiaġvik
The Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival, part of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s Directorate Fellows Program initiative, is a collaboration between Audubon Alaska, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other organizations to bring attendees a fun and educational migratory and shorebird-centered experience. The festival offers activities like educational games and activities for kids of all ages, bird tours for birders of all levels, an artist workshop, and speakers from all over the world sharing their knowledge on shorebird and avian science and cultural importance. (And get yourself a shirt, sweater, or tank and bring awareness to programs sharing migratory bird education and conservation within Alaskan communities.)

Tanana Valley Sandhill Crane Festival

When: August 18 to 24, 2025
Where: Fairbanks
Celebrate the abundance of fall migration at the Tanana Valley Sandhill Crane Festival. The free events (unless otherwise noted) include nature walks, a kids' crane walk, crafts, a crane calling contest, a drawing cranes workshop, a driving tour of Fairbanks birding hotspots, a live birds of prey program, bird research talks, and of course, crane watching. The festival is sponsored by the Friends of Creamer’s Field in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Alaska Songbird Institute, and the Arctic Audubon Society. For more information, call 907-978-8457, or email Friends of Creamer's Field.

Alaska Bald Eagle Festival

When: TBD (usually November)
Where: Haines
Celebrate one of the largest gatherings of Bald Eagles in the world at the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. Daily busses and/or vans transport attendees to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve to witness the annual Gathering of the Eagles. In the fall, more than 3,000 eagles can be found in the Preserve feeding on a late run of salmon. Other events include photography workshops, wildlife presentations, other tours, classes, and live raptor presentations. The festival also includes evening entertainment to round out. For more information, call 907-766-3094.