FESTIVALS

America’s oldest art form will be celebrated in grand style when the top U.S. and Canadian professional and amateur birding enthusiasts, carvers, and artists gather in Sacramento for the popular 42nd Annual Pacific Flyway Decoy Association’s Classic Wildlife Art Festival. Designed for adults and kids of all ages, novices and “birders” alike, the event celebrates traditional wildlife artworks with contests, displays of carvings, fine art, priceless antique decoys, sculpture and interactive kids activities.

The second longest running decoy carving festival in the nation, the event benefits the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association’s public education programs that emphasize the beauty of our native bird population and the original American art form of decoy carving, right here in the heart of the Pacific Flyway.

Some of the most entertaining and educational event activities include the Kid’s Painting Station. Kids of all ages will enjoy painting a carved bird art piece, in step-by-step fashion, to the finished work of art. This year, kids will have the chance to paint a drake Goldeneye! And in a subtle nod to educators, kids can take part in a Migration Activity—a journey, much like migrating waterfowl, in search of six specific birds on the festival’s exhibition floor. When the task is successfully completed, everyone receives a migration certificate, the same as those used by The Federal Migratory Research Program (that shows where a bird was banded, migrated, and collected).

Judged art, paint, and float competitions will take place on the floor of the exhibition throughout the weekend for all to enjoy, along with endless displays of wildfowl carvings, decoys, songbirds, and priceless antique decoys. Many of the West Coast’s top experts in carving, painting, airbrushing, texturing, and tool operating will provide “how to” demonstrations in these techniques—eager to share their craft with the growing population of wildlife enthusiasts.

Exhibitors will also be on hand to sell carving supplies, sculptures, books, wildlife artwork, prints, photography, and original watercolors—showcasing the many art forms that capture wildlife beauty.