The Orinda Wildlife & Olive Festival - POSTPONED
***POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS***
Wagner Ranch NATURE AREA
350 Camino Pablo, Orinda CA 94563
Wagner Ranch NATURE AREA
350 Camino Pablo, Orinda CA 94563
In compliance with recommendations made by the Contra Costa County Department of Health, we have postponed the Annual Wildlife and Olive Festival, which was scheduled for April 19. The well-being of everyone in our community is of paramount importance, and we will reschedule the festival as soon as we are able to.
We hope you will take a moment to make a donation to the Nature Area by clicking below, to help sustain us during this difficult time. The Festival is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, and we will struggle to find funding for our programs without your support. Thank you!
We hope you will take a moment to make a donation to the Nature Area by clicking below, to help sustain us during this difficult time. The Festival is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, and we will struggle to find funding for our programs without your support. Thank you!
Program of Events
***POSTPONED***
Family-Friendly. Free Admission. All Welcome.
Per school district policy, dogs are not allowed in the Nature Area.
Come enjoy the beautiful historic ranch, 18-acre nature preserve, and Contra Costa County's oldest-producing olive grove, rarely open to the public. Join a variety of Earth Day activities for all ages, especially kids. Try out DIY gardening projects, hands-on nature arts and crafts, and earth day games. There will be a number of olive vendors joining us to provide olive oil tastings and sales. Join a rare docent-led tour of the meadows, woodland, ponds and streams, and the historic home site of Theodore Wagner, California’s first Surveyor General. Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnic to enjoy at our many picnic tables or check out the food trucks on site for the day. Several community organizations will also present various Earth-friendly endeavors. Please visit our silent auction table, the proceeds of which go directly to paying our teachers at the Nature Area. For more info: www.fwrna.org
Kids: Pick up your Wildlife Passports to get stamped at 10 stations for a free honey stick at the Friends of the Nature Area Station! Grownups: As you enter, check out the Native Plants for donations.
Tours of the Historic Ranch - Every half hour from 12pm on.
Toy Bug Hunt in the Garden – 1:00 & 3:00 – Kindergarten and younger – take home toy critters!
Pond Explorations – Every 30 minutes starting at 11:30. (Get your free ticket for a timed turn.)
Activities in the Central Area
We love pets, but sadly, pets are NOT allowed at the Nature Area per school district policy.
Contacts: Brad McCullough Festival Chair, [email protected]; Naturalist Toris Jaeger, [email protected]
***POSTPONED***
Family-Friendly. Free Admission. All Welcome.
Per school district policy, dogs are not allowed in the Nature Area.
Come enjoy the beautiful historic ranch, 18-acre nature preserve, and Contra Costa County's oldest-producing olive grove, rarely open to the public. Join a variety of Earth Day activities for all ages, especially kids. Try out DIY gardening projects, hands-on nature arts and crafts, and earth day games. There will be a number of olive vendors joining us to provide olive oil tastings and sales. Join a rare docent-led tour of the meadows, woodland, ponds and streams, and the historic home site of Theodore Wagner, California’s first Surveyor General. Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnic to enjoy at our many picnic tables or check out the food trucks on site for the day. Several community organizations will also present various Earth-friendly endeavors. Please visit our silent auction table, the proceeds of which go directly to paying our teachers at the Nature Area. For more info: www.fwrna.org
Kids: Pick up your Wildlife Passports to get stamped at 10 stations for a free honey stick at the Friends of the Nature Area Station! Grownups: As you enter, check out the Native Plants for donations.
Tours of the Historic Ranch - Every half hour from 12pm on.
Toy Bug Hunt in the Garden – 1:00 & 3:00 – Kindergarten and younger – take home toy critters!
Pond Explorations – Every 30 minutes starting at 11:30. (Get your free ticket for a timed turn.)
Activities in the Central Area
- Native American Singers & Drummers
- Cynthia Brian, author and actor – Garden Wisdom
- Contra Costa Avian Society - Parrots
- Jim (Doc) Hale - Environmentalist
- Aeroponic Gardens with Gwen O'Neill
- Girl Scout & Boy Scout Project Demonstrations
- Wildlife Columnist, Joan Morris
- Wildlife Tattoos – Coyote Brush Studios
- Face Painting – Orinda Juniorettes
- Sustainable Contra Costa
- OIS Green Team hands-on activities
- Orinda Historical Society
- Friends of the Moraga Adobe
- Old Yellow House – net-zero historic home on Moraga Way
- Live music performed by ALMA students
- Solar Oven Cooking – Wendy Helms
- Nature Fun – EBMUD
- Tile Painting
- Nature Art
- Pond Explorations
- Chemistry Magic – Daniel Phillips
- Buzzing with Honey Bees – Steve Gentry
- Friends of Orinda Creeks
- Friends of the Wagner Ranch Nature Area
- Plein Air Artists
- Tours start from Tour Table every half hour, beginning at 12:00 pm with Professors Emeritus Reg Barrett, John Helms, and others.
We love pets, but sadly, pets are NOT allowed at the Nature Area per school district policy.
Contacts: Brad McCullough Festival Chair, [email protected]; Naturalist Toris Jaeger, [email protected]