2025 Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival. January 18-19

NASHVILLE --- The 34th Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival is set for Jan. 18-19, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday) at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, Cherokee Removal Memorial Park, and Birchwood Community Center. The festival celebrates the thousands of sandhill cranes that migrate through the Hiwassee Refuge during the winter. The event is also an opportunity to focus attention on the rich heritage of the state and the Native American history of the area.

This free event runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET) each day and includes shuttle

transportation from the Birchwood Community Center to the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park and the Hiwassee Refuge. Volunteers will be on-hand with spotting scopes that allow for an up close view of wildlife including sandhill cranes, bald eagles, and possibly a glimpse of the endangered whooping cranes which also migrate through the area.

The nearby Cherokee Removal Memorial will feature Native American folklore specialists. They will present artifacts and objects used in everyday life by Native American inhabitants in the Hiwassee River area. Visitors can also view cranes and other birds from the overlook where the Hiwassee and Tennessee rivers meet.

The Wings to Soar, Live Raptor Show will present two shows each on Saturday and Sunday at the Birchwood Community Center. A children’s craft room, and quilt-raffle tickets will be available. There will be several musical performances. Nashville recording artists, Second Nature will entertain at noon, followed by an auction with Cakes by Karen and announcements at 1 p.m.  On Sunday, following the official welcome at 10 a.m., Don King of Second Nature will perform solo to be followed by the Mount LeConte Jug Band, Wings to Soar, Live Raptor Show, raffle, and auction with Cakes by Karen.

Vendors and educators will also be available at all locations. The cafeteria, which opens at 7 a.m., will be in operation throughout the day with food items for purchase. More information on the festival is available on the TWRA website, TNWildlife.org.

Public parking is not available at Hiwassee Refuge. Visitors must park at the Birchwood Community Center and take the shuttle to wildlife viewing areas. The Cherokee Removal Memorial is adjacent to the refuge near the Tennessee River. The Hiwassee Refuge and Cherokee Removal Memorial are open to the public year-round, and visitors are welcome during normal operating hours.

Beginning in the early 1990s, the recovering population of eastern sandhill cranes began stopping at the Hiwassee Refuge on their way to and from their wintering grounds in Georgia and Florida. TWRA has been managing the 6,000 acre refuge for more than 60 years for wildlife and waterfowl. It provides sandhill cranes a combination of feeding and shallow water roosting habitat.