Festival of Spring
GV User

DECATUR, Il. (WAND) -- The Macon County Conservation hosted its 40th annual "Festival of Spring" event in honor of Earth Week.

Last year was the first year that the event had to get postponed due to COVID-19, but the Conservation district was glad they could bring back the event for the community.

"This year, we're still being cautious and doing things responsibly and we wanted to make sure that we offered this event for people. We wanted to some education and some fun for the public," Nature center manager Alysia Callison said.

The 'Festival of Spring' event had a variety of nature-related activities people could check out. Volunteers did what is called 'bird banding' -- a way for people to research and document birds, a clean-up event at the Sangamon river and hiking activities. 

"We put a ban on a bird which has a specific number and no other bird in the U.S. has this number and so if we were able to recapture this bird, we would be able to identify the bird. So, I think my favorite part is being able to hold the bird and have that interaction with them," Millikin University biology student and conservation district volunteer Lauren Artime said. 

Ultimately, the goal of the event is to raise awareness for the environment.

"It's just really cool to see those people come out and still be apart of the community even though they may not be still working here or just giving everyone that knowledge about nature and how cool it is," Artime said.

"I hope people takeaway a greater understanding and appreciation of nature and the environment because that's what it's all about earth day. Just get them thinking about why nature is important and maybe how they can help," Callison said.

You can find a full list of upcoming spring programs at the conservation district on their website.