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Learning Festival

Join top researchers, educators, purveyors, guides, and fishers to immerse yourself in a multitude of ocean-related enterprises at the core of a sustainable economic future on the Mendocino Coast.


SATURDAY


Free Shuttle

Ditch your car and hop on MTA shuttle.

Sponsor: Mendocino Transit Authority

Download Bus Map

Coast Guard 47′ Motor Lifeboat

The U.S. Coast Guard is one of our nation’s six military services. The Station at Noyo River is a multi-mission surf station, with an emphasis on search and rescue, law enforcement, and environmental protection. Step on board one of their lifeboats and meet the men and women who serve on it.

Time: 9:00 AM – Noon

Meet: South Harbor

Sponsor: US Coast Guard

Art Explorers Opening Reception, “The Ocean is Life”

Art Explorer’s is a creative arts program primarily serving adults with developmental disabilities, and committed to “provide a fun, nurturing, non-judgmental and artistically stimulating environment for creativity to thrive.” Their space at 333 N Franklin Street is magical and a must experience for all.

Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Meet: Art Explorers, 333 N. Franklin St.

Sponsor: Art Explorers

Abalone & Coffee at the Slacktide Cafe

Come visit Noyo Center’s newly acquired facility in Noyo Harbor and learn about our plans for Blue Economy research. Enjoy a cup of coffee and pastries on our deck during a brief presentation on our plans, including an abalone broodstock program.

Time: 9:00 AM – Noon, Presentation at 10:00 AM

Meet: Slacktide Cafe, 32430 N. Harbor Drive, Noyo Harbor

Sponsor: Noyo Center for Marine Science

Hare Creek Beach Stewardship

Stewardship is open to all ages and experience levels. Stop by to pull invasive plant species, maintain the trail, and take in the beautiful scenery.

Time: 10:00 AM to Noon

Meet: Hare Creek Beach (park at Mendocino College Coast Center)

Sponsor: Mendocino Land Trust

Noyo Harbor Fish Market

Come down to the South Harbor! The fishing fleet will be selling their catches right off their boats, with a host of local vendors selling wares in Grader Park. Live music, too!

Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Meet: South Harbor Grader Park

Sponsor: Noyo Harbor District

Cycle Coastal Trail to Ten Mile

Join the SOB’s Seniors on Bikes on one of their daily rides, along the Noyo Headlands Trail and MacKerricher State Park Haul Road. Special stops along the way highlight Learning Festival activities.

Time: 10:00 AM 

Meet: Skunk Train Parking Lot

Sponsor: SOB, Seniors On Bikes Club

Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center: Whales, Water & Wildflowers

Walk the beautiful coastal trail, look for whales as you enjoy the season’s wildflowers in bloom, and end up at the Crow’s Nest, Noyo Center’s foothold on the ocean. See our touch tank aquarium, sea lion skeletons and natural history exhibits.

Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Meet: Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center: End of Jere Melo Way (Cypress Street runway)

Sponsor: Noyo Center for Marine Science

Blue Zone Project – Coastal Mendocino County Kick-Off Event

Discover how to get involved in transforming Mendocino County into a community where healthy choices are easier for everyone! Learn how Blue Zone principles can lead to a longer, better life! Stop by and enjoy free family-friendly activities, giveaways and prizes.

Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Meet: Cypress Street Meadow

Sponsor: Adventist Health

Coast Center Mendocino Collage Open House & Specimen Exhibit

The doors of Mendocino College’s Coast Center are open to all. Come walk the hallways, peek into classrooms, familiarize yourself with their specimen collection and peer through microscopes.

Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Meet: Mendocino College

Sponsor: Mendocino Lake Community College

“Mini” Big Time

Coastal Dancers showcasing regalia from the ocean, Grass Games demonstration and informational booths highlighting the language of Northern Pomo. 

Meet: Mendocino Coast Campus

Time: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Organizer: Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo

Borrow-A-Buddy

We love our four-legged friends! Take a shelter dog on a fun local field trip. You’ll have a loving buddy for the day and if you hit it off… possibly longer! Learn more from the Mendocino Coast Humane Society at Adventist’s Blue Zone Celebration.

Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Meet: Cypress Street Meadow, Noyo Headlands Park

Sponsor: Humane Society

Discovery Center – Kelp Exhibit

Come see Noyo Center’s beautiful keep exhibit and view underwater video footage of our nearshore habitats in the Discovery Center’s 360-degree geodesic Ocean Immersion Dome.

Time: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Meet: Noyo Center for Marine Science – 338 N. Main

Sponsor: Noyo Center for Marine Science

All Aboard Adventures with Captain Tim on the Sea Hawk

Captain Tim has worked out of the Noyo Harbor for over 40 years and donated four chartered boat excursions to students to support community engagement in the Learning Festival. Thank you, Captain Tim. 

Visit: www.allabourdadventures.com

Sponsor: Captain Tim and the Sea Hawk

Open Mic Night

Bring you songs to Larry Spring Commons for a an open mic night hosted by Karlyn DeSteno with Magpie Pizza served in the Riverboat. Entrance by donation

Time: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Meet: Enter through the gates beside 225 E. Redwood Ave.

Sponsor: Spring Commons

S’mores & Stories Around The Fire

Point Cabrillo Light Station invites you to toast marshmallows while listening to stories exploring the rich history of our area. Thank you Beachcomber for sharing your fire pits!

Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Meet: Park at end of Glass Beach Road and walk over Pudding Creek Trestle

Sponsor: Point Cabrillo Light Station

Night Skies & Telescopes from the Coastal Trail

Amateur astronomers gather at Otsuchi Point to see what deep-sky wonders emerge.

Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Meet: Cypress Street access to Noyo Headlands Park


SUNDAY


Free Shuttle

Ditch your car and hop on MTA shuttle.

Sponsor: Mendocino Transit Authority

Download Bus Map

Coastal Birding with the Audubon Society

Birds are everywhere to be found, no matter where you live. Come explore the Noyo Headlands Trail, meet our local birds, and make new birding friends. 

Time: 9:00 AM – Noon

Meet: South of Glass Beach

Sponsor: Mendocino Coast Audubon Society

Free Guest House Museum Open House

The Fort Bragg Historical Society invites you to visit the Guest House Museum where local history is cherished and preserved.

Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Meet: Guest House Museum, 343 N. Main St.

Sponsor: Fort Bragg Historical Society

Cycle Coastal Trail to Ten Mile

Join the SOB’s Seniors on Bikes on one of their daily rides, along the Noyo Headlands Trail and MacKerricher State Park Haul Road. Special stops along the way highlight Learning Festival activities.

Time: 10:00 AM 

Meet: Skunk Train Parking Lot

Sponsor: SOB, Seniors On Bikes Club

Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center: Whales, Water & Wildflowers

Walk the beautiful coastal trail, look for whales as you enjoy the season’s wildflowers in bloom, and end up at the Crow’s Nest, Noyo Center’s foothold on the ocean. See our touch tank aquarium, sea lion skeletons and natural history exhibits.

Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Meet: Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center: End of Jere Melo Way (Cypress Street runway)

Sponsor: Noyo Center for Marine Science

Coho Salmon & Pudding Creek

Coho salmon are the rarest species of salmon in California. Come learn about local efforts committed to restoring habitat and fish passage along Pudding Creek with our local chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU).

Time: 11:00 AM – Noon

Meet: Pudding Creek Trestle

Sponsor: Trout Unlimited, Redwood Empire Chapter

MacKerricher Tide Pooling with Katharine Gabrielson

Explore the rocky intertidal zone at MacKerricher State Park, one of California’s Marine Protected Areas – and say hello to the mussels, barnacles, and anemones that cling to the rocky tidepools.

Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Meet: Laguna Point, MacKerricher Park

Sponsor: CA State Parks

Discovery Center – Kelp Exhibit

Come see Noyo Center’s beautiful keep exhibit and view underwater video footage of our nearshore habitats in the Discovery Center’s 360-degree geodesic Ocean Immersion Dome.

Time: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Meet: Noyo Center for Marine Science – 338 N. Main

Sponsor: Noyo Center for Marine Science

Blue Zone Project – Coastal Mendocino County Kick-Off Event

Discover how to get involved in transforming Mendocino County into a community where healthy choices are easier for everyone! Learn how Blue Zone principles can lead to a longer, better life! Stop by and enjoy free family-friendly activities, giveaways and prizes.

Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Meet: Cypress Street Meadow

Sponsor: Adventist Health

Guided Plant Walk with CA Native Plant Society

Plants are the foundation of our ecosystems, and CA has more plant species than any other state. Join Professor Teresa Cholar on a guided plant identification to learn about plants of the Mendocino Coast. 

Time: 12:30 PM

Meet: South end of Pudding Creek Trestle

Sponsors: Mendocino College & CA Native Plant Society

Explore Otis R. Johnson Wilderness Park

Walk seven forested acres of park in the middle of Fort Bragg and learn about forest and watershed ecology from local experts.

Time: 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Meet: Otis R. Johnson Wilderness Park

Sponsors: Tess Albin-Smith and Doug Albin