Bird & Nature Festival 2026 — Free Family Event

Madison Parks will host the 2026 Bird & Nature Festival on Sunday, April 26, with free activities from noon to 4 p.m. at Warner Park. (cityofmadison.com) The event is centered at Warner Park Community Recreation Center, 1625 Northport Drive, with additional outdoor programming near the park’s rainbow shelter. City listings say visitors can drop in anytime and should plan about 30 to 45 minutes for a visit. (cityofmadison.com) Madison Parks says the festival will include live birds from Open Door Bird Sanctuary, guided bird and nature walks, canoe paddling, kids fishing, face painting, telescope viewing of an eagle’s nest, and food carts. The city also says the first 200 children will get free kites. (cityofmadison.com) The festival is tied to three spring observances at once: Madison Bird City, Arbor Day, and Earth Day. Madison Parks promoted it this week alongside the city’s Earth Day Challenge, a separate April 25 volunteer cleanup scheduled at more than 50 parks. (cityofmadison.com 1) (cityofmadison.com 2) The program is built around local nature groups rather than a single stage show. City materials list exhibitors and presenters from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, International Crane Foundation, Nature Conservancy, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, Madison Parks Ecology Team, University of Wisconsin Geology, and Friends of Cherokee Marsh, among others. (cityofmadison.com) Talks are scheduled across two rooms at the recreation center, including a 1 p.m. keynote on bird counting and citizen science by Alicia King of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Other listed sessions cover cranes, beavers, bats, climate change and bird migration, prairie restoration, and Ice Age geology. (cityofmadison.com) The festival also fits into a broader Madison Parks nature program that runs year-round. The city’s Bird & Nature Adventures series offers free 90-minute walks by foot, paddle, or pedal in parks across Madison, with no registration required. (cityofmadison.com) Warner Park already hosts one of those recurring outings on the third Sunday of each month near the lagoon shelter, with support from Wild Warner. On April 26, that same park becomes the city’s main spring showcase for birds, habitat, and family nature activities. (cityofmadison.com 1) (cityofmadison.com 2)