BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – After 25 years, the board for the Brevard Nature Alliance voted Wednesday to discontinue the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival.
The event, based in Titusville, draws hundreds of birders and venders from around the globe and is an important yearly economic boost for local businesses. This year, however, marked the first year the event was canceled due to a warm winter without many migratory birds and a surge in COVID-19 cases due to omicron.
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In a Facebook post made Thursday evening, event organizers wrote the Brevard Nature Alliance’s board voted Wednesday to discontinue the festival and the impacts from the last two years is what prompted the decision on the future of the festival.
Organizers cited the financial impacts of not being able to hold the festival this year and holding last year’s festival virtually, which “normally constitutes almost 95% of the BNA’s annual income.” The Facebook post also noted the changes in migration patterns for birds, causing a decline in wildlife visitors can see during the festival.
They wrote the uncertainty of the future and a “declining registration numbers from our loyal festival attendees who became a part of the demographic hesitant to travel” during COVID-19 also contributed to the decision.
“On behalf of the BNA Board of Directors, we want to say thank you with our sincerest gratitude to everyone who has been a part of the success that the organization and festival have enjoyed for 25 years,” the post reads.
END OF AN ERA – BREVARD NATURE ALLIANCE (BNA) AND HOST OF THE SPACE COAST BIRDING AND WILDLIFE FESTIVAL SAYS THANKS FOR...
Posted by Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival on Thursday, March 3, 2022