Friends of Bosque del Apache hosted the 35th annual Festival of the Cranes on December 11-15, 2024 at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, the Socorro Convention Center and throughout Socorro County. With 85 classes and events at ten locations, this year was quite the celebration! Festival kicked off with a bang at our first ever Opening Night Celebration.
Festival attendees peruse vendor tables in the Expo Room during the Opening Night Celebration.
Attendees enjoyed hors d’oeuvres catered by local restaurant Tumbleweeds Diner, met vendors, explored the Expo Room, won some great prizes and enjoyed a beautiful presentation on “Cranes after Dark” by Kylee Warren, Virtual Programs Producer for Crane Trust.
Winners of the Bird Trivia game got to select from two tables full of fantastic prizes!
Festivities continued Thursday evening with the Friends Annual Dinner, where Friends recognized Jonathan and Tessa Dowell for their long-standing and impactful contributions by awarding them the 2024 Martha Hatch Volunteer of the Year Award.
Jonathan and Tessa Dowell, long-time Friends of BdA volunteers, receive the 2024 Martha Hatch Volunteer of the Year Award during the Annual Friends Dinner.
During dinner, attendees were treated to a slide show of the over 400 incredible photographs submitted to our annual Festival of the Cranes photo contest. Friends of Bosque del Apache is incredibly grateful to each of the photographers who submit to the contest and allow us to use their images throughout the year to promote this incredible refuge. Congratulations to our winning photographers! (To view winning photographs from this year and previous years, visit our website at https://friendsofbosquedelapache.org/photo-contest/.)
After dinner, keynote speaker, Paul Tashjian, Director of Freshwater Conservation for Audubon Southwest and former US Fish and Wildlife Service Hydrologist, gave an inspiring presentation, “Memories of the Future”: Why mimicking historic river processes can lead to a better Rio Grande even under climate change.
Fascinating Keynote Presentation given by Paul Tashjian of Audubon Southwest.
This was our most attended Festival since COVID, with over 500 Festival registrants and around 1,700 visitors to Bosque del Apache over the course of five days. In addition to the events detailed above, Festival goers also enjoyed local historical tours, guided hikes at both Sevilleta and Bosque del Apache Nation Wildlife Refuges, birding tours in nearby Water Canyon, nighttime photography at the Very Large Array, and tours of the Salinas Pueblo Missions and Bernardo Wildlife Management Area. Saturday’s water panel discussion about the history and current water issues throughout the Middle Rio Grande was well attended and very educational. Friends staff and volunteers also gave presentations on our two major ongoing refuge projects: the Regenerative Agricultural (BEAM) Pilot Project and the Pollinator Habitat Enhancement Project.
Additionally in 2024, Friends hosted the first ever Socorro High School Festival of the Cranes Art Contest. All submissions, including the winning art, were showcased on display at the Socorro Convention Center for the duration of the five day Festival.
All of this (more than 85 events in total) was auxiliary to the real stars of the show – the sandhill cranes, geese, waterfowl, raptors and other creatures who call Bosque del Apache home. Perhaps unaware that all the commotion was because of them, they nevertheless took center stage, showing off for excited festival goers who got up close and personal!
Festival attendees put their newfound knowledge to the test as they observe cranes up close and personal near the refuge wetlands.
We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude for this year’s financial sponsors who provided $3,750 in sponsorships. We are also grateful to the City of Socorro for their support through the City of Socorro Lodgers Tax Grant and their assistance with transportation throughout the Festival. An event this large truly takes a village to plan and we couldn’t pull it off without the support of local partners, the dedicated Friends and refuge staffs, our board of directors, an AMAZING cadre of volunteers, and of course YOU, who make it all worthwhile!
We’re so glad you were able to celebrate with us this past year, and we hope you will plan to join us for the 2025 Festival of the Cranes, scheduled to be held December 3-7, 2025!