¡Festival de aves!

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Bird Festival was a sunny success on May 20th, with over 1,200 visitors. While a warm, dry day certainly helps with turnout, we can also attribute a collaborative effort between the Urban Refuge Support Team, Friends of Tualatin River Refuge, and Refuge Staff to reach out to Spanish-speaking communities of the Portland Metro Area. The event drew more people and more cultures than ever before.

With a rapidly growing Latino population in Oregon, the Refuge has been developing new outreach strategies over the last few years, particularly to its premier annual event. Outreach for the 2017 Bird Festival represents the most comprehensive effort to date, focusing on marketing and outreach, as well as welcoming elements at the Festival.

Marketing and outreach included:

• Announcements on Spanish-language television and radio outlets featuring a Latino family that has previously visited the Festival
• A 22-minute radio interview on Bustos Media that included the same family
• A 2-minute feature interview with Jenny (URST) and Seth (Friends) that aired on Univision’s “En Comunidad” morning show
• Spanish-language web content and printed materials
• Coordination with a nearby church and library that serve a large, Spanish-speaking community

On-site welcoming elements included:

• A shuttle bus running between the Refuge, church, and library throughout the day
• Spanish speaking volunteers at the welcome table and on all wagon rides
• Interpreters at various activity stations
• Spanish-language education materials
• Free pan dulce offered to all Festival visitors (a big, yummy success!)

If you’re interested in learning more about this effort, we encourage you to download the Bird Festival Outreach & Welcoming summary, which contains video links and audio files to television and radio spots. Also, feel free to reach out to Kim at kim_strassburg@fws.gov.