Nature Festivals
Festivals, guided walks, and wildlife spectacles tied to the same seasonal rhythms this calendar tracks — across British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
Upcoming Festivals
Pacific Herring Spawn
Millions of Pacific herring coat the eelgrass beds in milky white off eastern Vancouver Island, drawing massive concentrations of eagles, sea lions, and whales to one of BC's most spectacular wildlife events.
Knox Cellars Mason Bee Classes
Expert talks on orchard mason bee biology, nesting setup, parasite management, and seasonal care held at wild bird stores and nurseries throughout Washington and Oregon, with spring classes timed before bee emergence.
Washington Native Plant Society Spring Hikes
Botanical field walks, native plant sales, and restoration work parties organized by WNPS chapters across Washington from March through May, led by expert botanists through diverse spring habitats.
HerringFest
A community festival on Hornby Island celebrating Pacific herring conservation through art, film, music, and Indigenous teachings, timed to the spring spawning in Lambert Channel.
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Three weeks of hanami across Vancouver's 40,000+ flowering cherry trees, with the Big Picnic, Sakura Days Japan Fair, guided tree walks, and the festival's 20th anniversary edition in 2026.
Brant Wildlife Festival
Annual festival celebrating the spring migration of Black Brant sea geese through the Strait of Georgia, with guided walks, a wildlife carving show, and family events in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
Mt. Baker Spring Events
Golden Egg Hunt, Baker Break spring break week with on-mountain camping and evening skiing, and closing weekend at Mt. Baker Ski Area — spring ski culture on North America's snowiest mountain.
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
The largest tulip festival in North America — millions of blooms across four working bulb farms in the Skagit delta throughout April, with pre-purchased tickets required at all four gardens.
Washington Butterfly Association Spring Field Trips
Expert-led butterfly field trips across Washington from April through June, targeting the state's 149+ species including Mourning Cloaks, Sara Orangetips, and Juniper Hairstreaks at specialized habitat sites.
Trillium Festival at Tryon Creek
Portland's beloved spring celebration in one of the city's only remaining old-growth forest corridors, featuring western trillium in bloom, a native plant sale by Bosky Dell Natives, and family activities.
Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival
The 51st annual free festival of Japanese and Japanese American culture at Seattle Center, with taiko, martial arts, tea ceremony, ikebana, Japanese food vendors, and over 25,000 visitors across three days.
Welcome the Whales Festival
Orca Network's annual celebration of the gray whales that return each spring to feed in Puget Sound — parade, waterside ceremony, and a naturalist-led whale-watching cruise.
Crystal Mountain Bikini Downhill
Crystal Mountain's annual spring tradition — skiers and snowboarders race Quicksilver Run in swimwear, scored on style, speed, and stein volume, with first place winning an IKON season pass.
Olympic BirdFest
Premier Pacific Northwest birding festival on the North Olympic Peninsula with expert field trips along the Dungeness and Elwha, a Saturday banquet with keynote speaker, and rare spring migration overlap in mid-April.
Earth Day at Washington Park Arboretum
Annual Earth Day celebration at Washington Park Arboretum combining hands-on conservation volunteering with public education, set among 230 acres of spring bloom including Pacific dogwood and the famous Azalea Way.
Camassia Natural Area
A 25-acre rocky basalt plateau in West Linn preserving an ancient plant community with 300+ species, including vivid camas lily fields and Oregon white oak woodland on geology shaped by the Missoula Floods.
Grays Harbor Shorebird & Nature Festival
The Pacific Flyway's most spectacular shorebird staging event — hundreds of thousands of Arctic-bound Western sandpipers and dunlins rest at Grays Harbor each late April.
Camas Festival at Linfield University
Annual celebration of the camas flower at Linfield University in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, featuring guided tours of the campus camas patch, an Indigenous Creators Marketplace, cultural talks, and art exhibits.
Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival
Washington's longest-running spring festival (since 1935) celebrating rhododendron bloom — grand parade, trike races, art shows, and live music throughout Port Townsend.
Orca Action Month
Region-wide awareness month for Southern Resident orcas in the Salish Sea — events in Friday Harbor, talks, a parade of life-size dorsal fins, and orca sightings at their peak.
Sequim Lavender Festival
Three-day celebration of Sequim's lavender industry in the Olympic Peninsula's rain shadow — 200+ vendors, farm tours, cut-your-own fields, and the largest lavender festival in North America.
Salmon Homecoming
Coast Salish cultural celebration of returning salmon at the Seattle waterfront — canoe welcoming ceremonies, traditional dance, and Indigenous cultural presentations. Free, all-day event.
Bamfield Fungus Festival
Two-day mycology festival in a remote rainforest village on Barkley Sound — guided forest walks, expert lectures, and mushroom dyeing demonstrations at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
Leavenworth Autumn Leaf Festival
Washington's original autumn festival celebrating Cascade fall foliage in the Bavarian-themed town on the Wenatchee River — parade, folk dancing, music, and peak cottonwood and larch color.
Stevenson Mushroom Festival
Three-day gorge-town festival celebrating chanterelle season — a Friday gala at the Columbia Gorge Museum, Saturday passport adventure through downtown, and Sunday USFS guided forays.
Issaquah Salmon Days
Washington's largest free two-day festival celebrating the return of Chinook and coho salmon to Issaquah Creek — hatchery tours, salmon viewing, 200+ artisan booths, and live music.
Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival
Three-day festival celebrating the opening of Dungeness crab season at the gateway to Olympic National Park — live crab dinners, 75+ vendors, Coast Guard tours, and ferries arriving from Victoria.
Salute to the Sockeye
The dominant sockeye run at Adams River — one of the world's great wildlife spectacles, with hundreds of thousands of bright-red salmon spawning in Tsútswecw Provincial Park, occurring every four years.
Whistler Fungus Among Us
Guided mountain forays, mushroom identification workshops, and expert presentations during peak fall fungal fruiting season in the Coast Mountains.
PSMS Annual Wild Mushroom Show
The Puget Sound Mycological Society's annual show — 200+ Pacific Northwest mushroom species on display, expert identification, vendors, and cooking demonstrations. One of the largest mushroom exhibits in the US.
Mount Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Festival
Annual celebration of Oregon's state mushroom — the Pacific golden chanterelle — hosted by the Cascade Mycological Society at Eugene's Mount Pisgah Arboretum with walks, displays, and live music.
Oregon Mycological Society Fall Mushroom Show
Annual expert-staffed mushroom exhibit at the World Forestry Center — Pacific Northwest species identified and displayed, with vendors, cooking samples, and foraging guidance.
British Columbia
All British Columbia festivals →Brackendale Winter Eagle Count
Community science count surveying wintering bald eagles along 40 miles of the Squamish River corridor — one of the highest eagle concentrations in North America.
Pacific Herring Spawn
Millions of Pacific herring coat the eelgrass beds in milky white off eastern Vancouver Island, drawing massive concentrations of eagles, sea lions, and whales to one of BC's most spectacular wildlife events.
HerringFest
A community festival on Hornby Island celebrating Pacific herring conservation through art, film, music, and Indigenous teachings, timed to the spring spawning in Lambert Channel.
Pacific Rim Whale Festival
A week-long festival in Tofino and Ucluelet celebrating the northward grey whale migration through Clayoquot Sound, with shore spotting, Indigenous cultural programming, science talks, and the closing Baleen Bash concert.
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Three weeks of hanami across Vancouver's 40,000+ flowering cherry trees, with the Big Picnic, Sakura Days Japan Fair, guided tree walks, and the festival's 20th anniversary edition in 2026.
Brant Wildlife Festival
Annual festival celebrating the spring migration of Black Brant sea geese through the Strait of Georgia, with guided walks, a wildlife carving show, and family events in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
Bamfield Fungus Festival
Two-day mycology festival in a remote rainforest village on Barkley Sound — guided forest walks, expert lectures, and mushroom dyeing demonstrations at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
Salute to the Sockeye
The dominant sockeye run at Adams River — one of the world's great wildlife spectacles, with hundreds of thousands of bright-red salmon spawning in Tsútswecw Provincial Park, occurring every four years.
Whistler Fungus Among Us
Guided mountain forays, mushroom identification workshops, and expert presentations during peak fall fungal fruiting season in the Coast Mountains.
Tofino Winter Nights
Community winter festival on the outer coast during peak storm-watching season — lights, music, the Hot Cocoa Trail, and North Pacific swells on Long Beach.
Washington
All Washington festivals →Arlington Stillaguamish Eagle Festival
Free two-day festival celebrating bald eagles wintering on the Stillaguamish River — guided wildlife viewing, chainsaw carving demonstrations, and live music at Legion Park.
Knox Cellars Mason Bee Classes
Expert talks on orchard mason bee biology, nesting setup, parasite management, and seasonal care held at wild bird stores and nurseries throughout Washington and Oregon, with spring classes timed before bee emergence.
Washington Native Plant Society Spring Hikes
Botanical field walks, native plant sales, and restoration work parties organized by WNPS chapters across Washington from March through May, led by expert botanists through diverse spring habitats.
Wings Over Water Northwest Birding Festival
Three days celebrating migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway in Blaine and Birch Bay — a free Saturday expo with live raptors and speakers, plus expert-led field trips and the Salish Express open-water birding cruise.
Rent Mason Bees at West Seattle Nursery
Washington's only mason bee rental program pop-up at West Seattle Nursery, where you pick up rented bee kits, get expert deployment advice, and browse early spring pollinator plants.
Spring Equinox Exploration at Lewis Creek Park
A guided 1-mile naturalist walk through Lewis Creek Park on the equinox, led by Bellevue Parks naturalists with interpretations of seasonal change — birdsong returning, plants emerging, and the light noticeably longer.
Mt. Baker Spring Events
Golden Egg Hunt, Baker Break spring break week with on-mountain camping and evening skiing, and closing weekend at Mt. Baker Ski Area — spring ski culture on North America's snowiest mountain.
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
The largest tulip festival in North America — millions of blooms across four working bulb farms in the Skagit delta throughout April, with pre-purchased tickets required at all four gardens.
Washington Butterfly Association Spring Field Trips
Expert-led butterfly field trips across Washington from April through June, targeting the state's 149+ species including Mourning Cloaks, Sara Orangetips, and Juniper Hairstreaks at specialized habitat sites.
Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival
The 51st annual free festival of Japanese and Japanese American culture at Seattle Center, with taiko, martial arts, tea ceremony, ikebana, Japanese food vendors, and over 25,000 visitors across three days.
Welcome the Whales Festival
Orca Network's annual celebration of the gray whales that return each spring to feed in Puget Sound — parade, waterside ceremony, and a naturalist-led whale-watching cruise.
Crystal Mountain Bikini Downhill
Crystal Mountain's annual spring tradition — skiers and snowboarders race Quicksilver Run in swimwear, scored on style, speed, and stein volume, with first place winning an IKON season pass.
Olympic BirdFest
Premier Pacific Northwest birding festival on the North Olympic Peninsula with expert field trips along the Dungeness and Elwha, a Saturday banquet with keynote speaker, and rare spring migration overlap in mid-April.
Earth Day at Washington Park Arboretum
Annual Earth Day celebration at Washington Park Arboretum combining hands-on conservation volunteering with public education, set among 230 acres of spring bloom including Pacific dogwood and the famous Azalea Way.
Grays Harbor Shorebird & Nature Festival
The Pacific Flyway's most spectacular shorebird staging event — hundreds of thousands of Arctic-bound Western sandpipers and dunlins rest at Grays Harbor each late April.
Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival
Washington's longest-running spring festival (since 1935) celebrating rhododendron bloom — grand parade, trike races, art shows, and live music throughout Port Townsend.
Orca Action Month
Region-wide awareness month for Southern Resident orcas in the Salish Sea — events in Friday Harbor, talks, a parade of life-size dorsal fins, and orca sightings at their peak.
Sequim Lavender Festival
Three-day celebration of Sequim's lavender industry in the Olympic Peninsula's rain shadow — 200+ vendors, farm tours, cut-your-own fields, and the largest lavender festival in North America.
Salmon Homecoming
Coast Salish cultural celebration of returning salmon at the Seattle waterfront — canoe welcoming ceremonies, traditional dance, and Indigenous cultural presentations. Free, all-day event.
Leavenworth Autumn Leaf Festival
Washington's original autumn festival celebrating Cascade fall foliage in the Bavarian-themed town on the Wenatchee River — parade, folk dancing, music, and peak cottonwood and larch color.
Stevenson Mushroom Festival
Three-day gorge-town festival celebrating chanterelle season — a Friday gala at the Columbia Gorge Museum, Saturday passport adventure through downtown, and Sunday USFS guided forays.
Issaquah Salmon Days
Washington's largest free two-day festival celebrating the return of Chinook and coho salmon to Issaquah Creek — hatchery tours, salmon viewing, 200+ artisan booths, and live music.
Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival
Three-day festival celebrating the opening of Dungeness crab season at the gateway to Olympic National Park — live crab dinners, 75+ vendors, Coast Guard tours, and ferries arriving from Victoria.
PSMS Annual Wild Mushroom Show
The Puget Sound Mycological Society's annual show — 200+ Pacific Northwest mushroom species on display, expert identification, vendors, and cooking demonstrations. One of the largest mushroom exhibits in the US.
Skagit River Bald Eagle Interpretive Season
Volunteer-led guided walks along the Skagit River during peak bald eagle season — one of the largest winter eagle concentrations in the contiguous United States.
Oregon
All Oregon festivals →Hoyt Arboretum Spring Equinox Walk
A guided walk through Portland's free botanical garden and tree museum at the moment of astronomical spring, exploring themes of balance, symbolism, and renewal among 12,000 trees beginning their spring flush.
Oregon Spring Whale Watch Week
Oregon State Parks deploys trained volunteer naturalists at 15 coastal viewpoints during spring break — gray whales migrating north, often with calves, at their closest to shore.
Trillium Festival at Tryon Creek
Portland's beloved spring celebration in one of the city's only remaining old-growth forest corridors, featuring western trillium in bloom, a native plant sale by Bosky Dell Natives, and family activities.
Camassia Natural Area
A 25-acre rocky basalt plateau in West Linn preserving an ancient plant community with 300+ species, including vivid camas lily fields and Oregon white oak woodland on geology shaped by the Missoula Floods.
Camas Festival at Linfield University
Annual celebration of the camas flower at Linfield University in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, featuring guided tours of the campus camas patch, an Indigenous Creators Marketplace, cultural talks, and art exhibits.
Mount Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Festival
Annual celebration of Oregon's state mushroom — the Pacific golden chanterelle — hosted by the Cascade Mycological Society at Eugene's Mount Pisgah Arboretum with walks, displays, and live music.
Oregon Mycological Society Fall Mushroom Show
Annual expert-staffed mushroom exhibit at the World Forestry Center — Pacific Northwest species identified and displayed, with vendors, cooking samples, and foraging guidance.