Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Festival of the Cranes tickets are still available

John Bertrand Friends of the Bosque del Apache

It's Festival week in Socorro. Banners and lawn signs proclaiming the festival's arrival have blossomed along California Street and on the Plaza. The 21st Annual Bosque del Apache Festival of the Cranes, which opened Tuesday, Nov. 18, continues through Sunday, Nov. 23.

The festival itself is free. It's not too late to get tickets for most of the 119 special festival events, according to festival coordinator Robyn Harrison. Tickets will be available daily, starting at 9 a.m., in the Macey Center lobby and at the hospitality tent on the refuge plaza. Check the festival Web site at friendsofthebosque.org/crane for a full listing of schedule of events and ticket status.

Live wildlife and other exhibits and demonstrations at the refuge Visitor Center and the Plaza on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m., are free. The refuge Wildlife Tour Loop will be open every day of the festival, from daylight to dark, to view morning fly-outs and evening fly-ins of the flocks, and the daytime interaction of birds and predators.

On Friday, Socorro presents its historic open house, which includes an arts and crafts fair in the Finley Gym Complex, tours of galleries and museums, and the Social on the Plaza. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the Macey Center auditorium will rock to Latin rhythms as the Otero Dance Company celebrates Latin dance.

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