Hatteras Village Waterfowl Festival shares schedule of events for Saturday, Feb. 25

February 24, 2023 | Island Features

The last Waterfowl Festival was held in 2019. Photo by Don Bowers.

After a two-year hiatus, the Hatteras Village Waterfowl Festival (HVWF) will land on Hatteras Island once again on February 24-25, 2023, and organizers recently posted the schedule of events for Saturday in an online update.

All events on Saturday, February 25, are free and open to the public. These events feature a wide variety of displays, workshops, vendors, and activities, and include the following:

Photo courtesy of Hatteras Village Waterfowl Festival

Hatteras Civic Center Main Stage Events

Variety of vendors, exhibits along with main stage events | Cape Hatteras Secondary School student art show | Food and drinks | Info booth

11:00 a.m. – Hawk Manor Raptor Demo
12:00 p.m. – Duck Call Presentation
1:00 p.m. Duck/Goose – Identification
2:00 p.m. – Duck Call Competition
3:00 p.m. – Keeper James, Historic Talk
4:00 p.m. – Hawk Manor Raptor Demo

Hatteras Island Ocean Center

Variety of Make-and-Take crafts for kids | Tour the Ocean Center | Self-Guided Bird Walks | Exhibits and Displays

10:00 a.m. – Guided Bird Walk/Watch Make and Take:
10:00-1:00 – Make and Take: Nature Craft
10:00-4:00 – Make and Take: Bird Bands
10:00-4:00 – Make and Take: Binoculars
10:00-4:00 – Self-Guided Nature Walks
2:00 p.m. – Plastics Scavenger Hunt

Hatteras Community Building

11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. – Guided Painting with local artist Trish Dempsey. Sign up at Info Booth at Civic Center. Seats limited!

Two of the main events are returning for the third time in 2023. Hawk Manor Falconry makes an exciting return to the main stage, and attendees will have an interactive experience with birds of prey, learn the history of falconry, and also enjoy flight demonstrations and a simulated hunt. These amazing birds and handlers wowed the crowd in the past, and the encore performance is not to be missed.

The festival will again have guided painting of the 2023 featured waterfowl, the mallard. Local artist Trish Dempsey returns for the third festival, leading eager and reluctant painters alike in the popular guided painting workshop. Open to all festival goers on a first-come, first-served basis, participants will discover their artistic side and create a painting of this year’s featured bird.

Returning for the second year will be the Duck Calling Competition, and 2023’s festival will also feature some of previous years’ favorite exhibitors and events that have been a fixture since the beginning, such as the CHSS Art Show and Competition, local decoy exhibits, historical tours, and bird walks.

For more information on Saturday’s itinerary, visit http://hatterasonmymind.com/HVCA/WaterfowlFestival/.