Wild Amelia
Press Release
Submitted by Kathy Brooks
[email protected]
May 9, 2018 4:00 p.m.
From live animal exhibits to foot-stomping music, the 12th annual Wild Amelia Nature Festival, set for May 18-20, has a lot to offer to island residents and visitors alike and will be a blend of popular components from past festivals and some new offerings designed to make this 12th festival another fun celebration of the nature of Amelia Island. Wild Amelia, a nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers from Amelia Island, conducts educational nature programs year-round that culminate in the three-day Festival on the third weekend in May.
Many Festival events and activities—including the Expo of exhibits and activities for adults and children on Saturday, May 19, as well as some of the ecotours—are free and open to the public. The mission of the Wild Amelia is as it has always been: to encourage appreciation and careful stewardship of the island’s wild places and wildlife through education.
The 12th annual Wild Amelia Nature Festival will hopefully kickoff on Friday, May 19th with a popular event: a rehabilitated sea turtle release at Main Beach by the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. This heartwarming occasion—watching a healthy turtle returning to its ocean home—is a festival highlight, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center is currently evaluating their patients in the hope that one of the Florida turtles will be ready to go back to its ocean home! Stay tuned for details later this month. On Friday evening, a sunset cruise with Amelia River Excursions with beverages and munchies will be offered as a fundraiser for Wild Amelia.
As in the past, the Festival offers ecotours—hikes and bike, boat, golf cart, and segway trips—throughout the three-day period.
Ecotours, live animal exhibits, and hands-on learning for adults and children will be featured at the 12th annual Wild Amelia Nature Festival from May 18-20 at venues on and around Amelia Island.
The slate of Saturday’s Festival activities includes more ecotours and a huge Expo at the Atlantic Avenue Recreation Center, 2500 Atlantic Avenue, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. This Expo will feature exhibits from nonprofit nature and conservation groups, as well as “green, sustainable” businesses in the community. New exhibitors will join old friends:
The Center for Wildlife Education and the Lamar Q. Bell, Jr. Raptor Center of Statesboro, Georgia, will be on hand with their amazing raptor exhibit for the first time, and Wild Amelia asks that dogs be kept at a distance from these mighty raptors. Another first-time exhibitor will the mobile learning lab of WaterVentures of Crystal Springs, Florida. This lab has hands-on learning activities about sources of water. Among the familiar faces will be Shari Blissett-Clark, the “bat lady, ” who will return with her live critters. Again this year there will be a special “Passport Program” for children: they will be invited to find the answers to a number of questions about the Festival’s mascot this year –the pelican—and they will receive a prize when they have done so. Special hands-on activities for the children will be offered in the Kids’ Niche on the lawn of the Recreation Center, with exhibits from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Amelia River Excursions, the Omni Nature Center, and White Oak Conservation Center, among others. Music by Laid Back and refreshments will add to the day. For the shopper in all of us, a spectacular silent auction—ranging from items for children to art and photography to excursions like a daytrip to Cumberland Island—will be ongoing until 2 p.m. At 2:30 p.m., the winners of the 10th annual Wild Amelia Nature Photography Contest will be announced as the Expo begins to wind down.Sunday will dawn with Sunrise Yoga on the beach and continue with other ecotours.
There is something for everyone at the 12th annual Wild Amelia Nature Festival, a celebration of nature the whole family can enjoy. Registration for events is ongoing. For more information, or to register for any events requiring registration, please visit www.wildamelia.org .
COME JOIN THE WILD BUNCH THIS MAY! TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE AT WILD AMELIA!