Egg hunts, jelly bean contests and egg coloring add up to “eggcellent” fun as the preserves prepare for Easter. There are also plenty of Welcome Back parties scheduled as the season gets underway at most of our preserves. Locally, sprouting tulips, soaring birds and chuckwagon races add to the April fun!
Skagit County Tulip Festival
If you’re heading to Washington’s Grandy Creek, don’t miss this month-long festival which celebrates the blooming tulips and the Skagit Valley bulb growers. It attracts many visitors who come to see the colorful walk-in fields that bloom sometime in April. The festival also features many other attractions including visits to local farms and nurseries, wineries, art shows, street fair, parade, salmon BBQ, and a quilt show. In addition to tulips, the local valley farmers grow irises and daffodils. Event runs throughout the month of April and is about a 40 minute drive from the preserve. For information call (360) 428-5959.
Pacific City Annual Birding & Blues Festival
If blues music and birds are what you’re after during a stay at Oregon’s Pacific City Preserve, then the Pacific City Annual Birding & Blues Festival, scheduled for April 13-15 will fill the bill. The festival offers a great combination: exploration of bird wildlife during the day and Blues concerts in the evening. The event will feature speakers, riverboat tours, and other excursions in the area. For more information about the Pacific City Birding and Blues Festival, contact the Kiwanda Community Center at (503) 965-7900.
Chuckwagon Races
If you feel the need for speed while staying at Medina Lake Preserve in Texas, don’t miss the Chuckwagon Races, scheduled for April 14-15, where open pasture horse drawn wagons compete at breakneck speeds. Wagons from Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas will be competing. Gunslingers will start the show around 11:00 with a gunfight. The chuck wagons will enter at noon with competition to follow. Event is held at Twin Elms Guest Ranch in Bandera. For information call (830) 796-3628.