Crane Festival

Festival registration is now open!

Audubon's Nebraska Crane Festival will take place March 20-21, 2020, bringing together hundreds of crane lovers from around the country to Kearney, Nebraska, to interact with a wide range of environmental speakers, take part in incredible birding trips, and, best of all, experience the world's largest gathering of Sandhill Cranes!

Registration is now open! Click here to begin your registration.

To assist you through the registration process, please read the following:

Registrations can be done for one or more people. Register each person one at a time, and at checkout you will be able to pay for everyone in your group with one payment.

Note: Registration fee ($150/adult, $60/student, and $20 for child) provides meals at the Holiday Inn for Saturday breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and access to all speakers and presentations plus a free t-shirt. Field trips have separate charges that will be paid along with your registration fee in step 5 below. (There will be a small price increase for all items on March 1.)

The registration fee does not include your hotel room. You will need to arrange for your room(s) on your own. Kearney has lots of places to stay, but rooms fill up fast as the town is busy during March. (Exception: the two overnight prairie chicken trips have lodging included in trip fees.)

1. After clicking the registration link, begin with the first person you are registering by selecting General Attendee (adult) or Student and click NEXT. (Students are considered to be in high school or above.) Children (ages 12 and under) may be added at step 3 below. Fill out the personal information (items in red are required) and click NEXT.

2. Select the field trips you wish to purchase. When finished, or if you do not want to purchase a trip, click NEXT (at bottom of page).

3. To sign up a child, select ADD CHILD, and continue with step 2 above. If you are not signing up a child, click NEXT.

4. Review your choices. If you wish to register another person, select ADD PERSON and begin filling out information for that person. If you don’t know the person's specific information (e-mail address, phone number, etc.), that’s okay, just use your information EXCEPT for the e-mail; each person that you register will need a different e-mail address (you can use a different one of your e-mails if you wish). When all guests have been registered and you are ready to checkout, select FINISHED ADDING PEOPLE to complete registration.

5. Choose your method of payment and fill out necessary information. Click FINISH.

6. You will receive a confirmation e-mail detailing your registration. There are directions in the e-mail that will allow you to modify or cancel your registration if needed. A copy of your registration will be present at the festival check-in booth at the Holiday Inn.

Refund Policy: Festival registration fee (including field trip fees except for both prairie grouse trips) is refundable up to 14 days prior to the start of the festival, but subject to a 5% charge on your purchase total. Note: Field trips are non-refundable after February 15, 2020.

If you have trouble with registration please call our Spring Creek Prairie Office @ 402-797-2301 and ask for Kevin Poague. To receive periodic e-mail updates on festival news and activities, please write nebraska@audubon.org.

Check our website for updates about the festival's line-up of exciting concurrent sessions, field trips, and more (see the drop-down menus above). You may also connect with the Audubon Nebraska Facebook page.

If you can’t make the festival but still want to see the Sandhill Cranes, check out Rowe Sanctuary’s website, https://rowe.audubon.org/birds or by calling Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary, (308) 468-5282, to learn about more crane viewing options.

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