7th Annual Pollinator Parade

Maine Audubon & Birth Roots present: the 7th annual Pollinator Parade & Picnic!

At Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, Maine on Saturday May 13 9:30 to 12:30 🐝🐛🦋🐞🐌

🐝 What to expect:

Calling all families who want to play an important role in an important parade – by assembling adorable pollinator-themed costumes!

Help two local nonprofits celebrate, raise awareness, and call attention to the vital importance of our pollinators and the vulnerability of their habitats by dressing up as a bee, butterfly, ladybug, hummingbird, bat or other favorite woodland friend for some family activism!

The Little Pollinator Parade activity areas are organized with toddler & preschooler development in mind. (The early years of the Pollinator Parade were geared toward a school-aged audience. The Little Pollinator activities cater to a younger audience, but with that in mind, all are welcome!) Families will move at their own pace through the activity stations, exploring in a child-led, self-guided-tour-style.

🦋 Ticketing:

One $30 family ticket = one vehicle. That is, your ticket represents your parking spot, “family” is defined as people traveling in the same vehicle. If your party is large enough to need 2 parking spots, then you will need two tickets.

🐞 Important Note on Parking:

Parking at Gilsland Farm is finite and to some degree, fragile. The ticketing format is designed to minimize impact on the wildlife sanctuary, both in terms of cars parked and foot traffic – to keep the number of vehicles and humans at a manageable level. Thank you for understanding (and for carpooling).

🐛 Rain or Shine:
Events like the Little Pollinator Parade & Picnic require hours of preparation to organize. While tickets purchased are fully transferable to another family (as in the instance of illness), tickets are nonrefundable, even in the event of uncooperative weather. Thank you for understanding that the Little Pollinator Parade is an outdoor festival that does not have a rain date and is a “rain or shine” event.

🐌 Photography Release:

In order to share the important message of this family-centered event, Maine Audubon and Birth Roots photograph the colorful costumes and activity area genius of our community partners so we can tell the story of local families raising awareness about the vulnerability of pollinator habitats. By purchasing a ticket you are acknowledging that participation in this event includes the possibility of being photographed and your release of the images for our storytelling and communication purposes.

Event Schedule:

🐌 9:30 to 10:00 am Arrival and get oriented (Parking lot opens at 9:30am)

Many children benefit from extra time to ease into a costume after they arrive (also costumes and carseat buckles are often at odds). Get to know Gilsland Farm, pond, woods, gardens, and orchard

🐞 10:00 – 11:30am Activity Area Stroll

Explore the pollinator-themed games, challenges, activity stations provided by our creative community partners!

🦋 11:30am – 12:00pm Seventh Annual Pollinator Parade!

We will need dozens of butterfly families, dozens of bee families, dozens of ladybug families and more – (pollinators and their friends). Join in the 2023 Pollinator Parade by marching in costume through the Maine Audubon campus – ringing bells or chimes, blowing bubbles and holding signs to welcome spring and bring attention to the vulnerability of key pollinator habitats. Dressing up for the parade is highly encouraged for both children and adults! Could be as simple as wings and antennae, or as elaborate as you have energy for!

🐝 12:00pm – 1:00pm BYO Picnic

Participants are invited to stay and enjoy a BYO picnic on the grounds. Picnic tables are limited, so bring a picnic blanket and please be prepared to pack out any waste.