Guest Article: Why A Festival of the Cranes?
Jane Goodall, who has lived most of her life in Africa and witnessed the great migrations of wildebeests, once told me that the crane migration in North America is one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet, and everyone should go to see it. The return of the cranes in the Eastern United States is also a testament that we as humans can learn from our past and make better choices for the planet's health. Think about it: the Sandhill Crane populations had nearly disappeared from the Eastern Flyway, and Whooping Cranes were on the verge of extinction. Now, you can see tens of thousands of cranes at Joe Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge every winter. This is quite simply a miracle in the making.
Having attended the Festival of the Cranes several times, I can unabashedly say it is one of the best events of its kind in the nation. (I also regularly work at a dozen similar events yearly.) The best part of the festival? Cranes. This is one of the few festivals where they guarantee lots and lots of cranes. And thanks to the newly remodeled visitor center and the glass-walled viewing blind, folks can get up close and personal with thousands of cranes and hundreds of thousands of ducks, geese, and swans. As an avid bird watcher, I can say that this is a truly amazing place. Though I am hired to perform, I volunteer to lead bird hikes here because the bird life is spectacular.
But you do not have to be an avid bird watcher to appreciate that there are ten thousand big,, beautiful birds out there, four or five feet tall, with a six-foot wing span, and they are dancing, preening, chortling,, and displaying courtship behavior.
Part of what makes this festival so unique is also the wide range of programs it offers to help folks of all ages learn more about the wild world in general and cranes in particular. Kids have several opportunities to make hands-on crafts and to learn more about birds while having fun. There is live music and art, entertaining lectures, and a chance to see wildlife up close and personal with live birds of prey and reptile programs. I learn something every year, and I feel like I have made friends with the folks who volunteer to make it happen. This is a community-building event, a chance to get out of the house, see old friends, and maybe make a few new ones.
I will also say my specialty is portraying historical characters: this year, I will perform as John James Audubon; in the past, I have portrayed Meriwether Lewis and Charles Darwin. A hike through the wildlife refuge is one of the few places where I can see what these historic scientists saw when they visited this region 200 years ago.
- Brian “Fox” Ellis
You can see Brian “Fox” Ellis as John James Audubon at the Festival of the Cranes 2025 on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 10:30 AM & Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM at the Princess Theatre Center for the Performing Arts.