The California Honey Festival, set Saturday, May 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Woodland, will focus on honey, bees, plants and pollination.
"UC Davis will have a slimmed down version this year," said Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute, and a co-founder of the event. Launched in 2017, the Honey Festival hasn't been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the events on tap Saturday:
- The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center will showcase its honey tasting wheel and offer free honey tasting.
- The California Master Beekeeper Program will staff two educational booths. Visitors can examine a bee observation hive, check out the beekeeping equipment and peer through microscopes. Kids' activities are also planned.
- The Bohart Museum of Entomology of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematolgoy will showcase bee diversity in its specimen drawers. Its live "petting zoo" will include Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks) that folks can hold, said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.
- The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden will address pollinator needs and gardening.
- The Woodland Public Library will offer a children's reading hour.
- Uncle Jer's Traveling Bee Show will provide educational performances.
- The UC Davis Bookstores booth will contain honey, books, and other gifts for sale.
- Visitors can don a bee costume and get their picture taken in the UC Davis Pollination Park, a collaboration with the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
Harris said the festival will include live music, a beer and mead garden, and about 100 vendors selling everything from food to plants to arts and crafts. Admission to the festival is free. The first festival drew some 30,000 visitors.
An after-party is planned at The Hive, owned by Z Specialty Food, Woodland. Advance registration is required. Access https://zspecialtyfood.com/event/california-honey-festival-after-party/
(Note: This year the UC Davis Bee Haven, operated by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won't be able to participate due to scheduling conflicts, said academic program management manager Christine Casey.)