Chrissiesmeer Crane Festival 2017

The sixth annual Chrissiesmeer Crane Festival was held from 23 – 24 June 2017. Credit needs to be given to Charmain Bouwer of U and Me Creative, who was responsible for the venue, logistics, marketing and bookings. The crane festival was born after George Archibald visited this small town situated in the Mpumalanga Highveld of South Africa. Since then it has flourished and has grown each year. It is an opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of cranes and other threatened species and their habitats from the area.
Ursula and Steven were responsible for the crane field trips, the talks, presentations made and the community and learner involvement. People thoroughly enjoyed the Birds of Prey flight show given by the Dullstroom Bird of Prey Centre and there was something for everyone to enjoy. The African Crane Conservation Programme team, other EWT colleagues, assisted throughout the day at the EWT stand and with the kids activities. This included the colouring of Grey Crowned Cranes masks and pin the crown on the Crowned Crane. About 150 people attended the festival on the Saturday. The three field trips were once again the highlight of the festival and very good feedback was received. For the second year in row, we spotted a family of Blue Cranes in the same area with 80 Grey Crowned Cranes.