25th Annual Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival is Returning for 2022 on October 18-23
After a two-year shutdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival, (which is celebrating its 25th year in 2022), is returning to the Outer Banks, and registration is currently open for any visitor or resident who wants to join in this Outer Banks-wide and multiple-day event.
The festival will be held from October 18-23, (with a special Encore weekend on December 9-11), and folks can register online in the weeks leading up to the event at https://2022wingsoverwater.my-trs.com/.
This national wildlife refuge fundraising event was initially launched in 1997 with just a few offered activities, and in the past 25 years, the event has grown to include more than 90 birding, paddling, photography, art, and natural history programs.
The festival takes place in six national wildlife refuges over six northeast North Carolina counties, and locally, many activities take place on National Park Service property, and specifically within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which is also one of the festival partners.
A full list of events during the nearly weeklong event can be found online on the festival website. Sample activities and events include birding trips through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, expeditions to Ocracoke Island and local maritime forests, kayak tours, watercolor classes, and much more.
Wings Over Water (WOW) is sponsored by Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society (CWRS). CWRS is a non-profit group which exists to support regional national wildlife refuges. WOW, besides providing funds for educational grants to schools, is a part of many CWRS refuge support projects such as maintaining trails and signs and other refuge structures. Also, WOW helps CWRS provide volunteers and staff who are essential to the maintenance and operation of the regional national wildlife refuges visitor centers and refuges.
For more information on the 2022 Wings Over Water Festival, visit https://www.wingsoverwater.org/.
