A Full Day of fun!
Whether you are young or old, with or without kids, this year’s Festival has something for everyone! Due to popular demand we have recombined the Ironwood Festival education fair with the live music and dancing event, which for the past two years has been called An Evening Under the Ironwoods. Another change is that we are tying the Ironwood Festival with another late-spring event, International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD). We thought it would be appropriate to emphasize the importance of migratory birds and their habitat at the Ironwood Festival. We are Tucson Audubon, after all. On this page you will see what we currently have planned for this year’s Festival.

Sponsored by:
* WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED * ACACIA NURSERY, INC. * HUGHES FEDERAL CREDIT UNION * MERRILL LYNCH * THUNDER CANYON BREWERY * THE TORTOLISTAS *

North American Migratory Bird Count (NAMBC) & Tucson Audubon Field Trips
Early morning: The North American Migratory Bird Count forms part of International Migratory Bird Day, and this year birders will be counting across the continent on the morning of May 10. Tucson Audubon is helping to organize the count within Pima County. You can help with NAMBC either by counting birds on your own, or by joining one of Tucson Audubon’s birding field trips on the morning of May 10. To work alone, please contact Scott Wilbor at 628-1730 or email.

Conservation Lecture Series at Tortolita Middle School
Hardy Road, West of Thornydale 12:00 - 2:00 pm

At the end of the talks you can walk or take a shuttle down to Tucson Audubon's Mason Center for the beginning of the Education Fair!

Education Fair! 2:00 – 5:30 pm - FREE

This is the portion of the Festival most people are familiar with. A variety of local organizations will be at the Mason Center to offer exciting, hands-on activities for kids (and kids-at-heart). Each activity will demonstrate some facet of bird migration or the importance of the Ironwood Forest as habitat. There will also be live raptor presentations, including an indoor free-flight, guided trail walks, as well as readings and book-signings by local authors. Hands-on fun with Arizona Game & Fish Dept., Pima County Natural Resources, Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute, Friends of Ironwood Forest, Tucson Herpetological Society, Arizona Native Plant Society, Ironwood Forest National Monument and more!

And don’t worry about getting hungry—there will be plenty of food and refreshments for sale. This portion of the Festival is open to everyone and FREE for kids and adults!

Celebration! 5:30– 9:00 pm

If you are like the Tucson Audubon staff and thinking, “My, this sounds like a pretty full day,” then we have just the way to end it with some relaxation. But that’s only if you can keep yourself from dancing! Starting at 5:30p.m. we will have live, local folk-rock bands on site playing some great music you can either sit and enjoy or dance your heart out to. This year’s bands will include A Ray of Hope, Eb’s Camp Kookin’ (Tim O’Connor, Tim Weidenkeller, and Eb), and the Ironwood Allstars (Tim O’Connor, Kevin Schramm, Donny Russell, Brian Davies and friends). This portion of the Festival costs $10 per adult—only $7 if you’re attending the Education Fair, and free for kids 18 and younger. All proceeds will benefit the Mason Center and its educational programs.

Ironwood Tree Raffle:
Three, 15-gallon ironwood trees have been donated to us for a raffle. These trees are worth $100 each and we will be selling chances for $5 apiece. We will only sell 150 tickets so that each ticket offers a 1-in-50 chance of winning. Tickets will be on sale at the Tucson Audubon Nature Shops (University and Agua Caliente) beginning April 1. They will be on sale at the Festival, if there are any left. All proceeds will benefit the Mason Center.

Avian Photography Display:
Local amateur photographers will present their work. Test your bird identification skills by trying to name them all! Contact Vivian MacKinnon if you want to submit your photograph — 629-0757 or email.

Interested in Volunteering?
It takes a lot of volunteer help to run a successful Ironwood Festival. If you would like to volunteer for activities like selling tickets or helping to set up, please contact Lia at 971-6238 or email.