While it may be the doldrums of Sedona’s visitation season, that’s not the case for hummingbirds, with the 11th annual Sedona Hummingbird Festival returning to the Sedona Performing Arts Center located at 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road on Friday, July 25, through Sunday, July 27.
The event coincides with eight different species of hummingbirds being in Sedona and is the peak of the birds’ migration through the Verde Valley.
“The Sedona Hummingbird Festival is presented by the International Hummingbird Society. It’s three days of hummingbird-related activities, and I believe our festival is unique in a couple of ways,” Executive Director Alice Madar said. “One is that it’s presented by a nonprofit conservation organization, and the other is that it is [singularly] focused on hummingbirds.”
SPAC is the hub and offers free admission to the Hummingbird Marketplace, which features 30 vendors selling hummingbird-related items such as art, food, jewelry, photography, feeders and remote imagery equipment.
New for 2025 is a native plant sale taking place on Saturday, July 26 from 9 a.m. until all 130 locally grown plants are sold.
“All of these plants were chosen because they should grow well here in Sedona, and they’re nectar rich to attract hummingbirds,” Madar said. “We’ll be selling them at good prices because we want it to sell out. We want people to take them home, enjoy them and bring hummingbirds to their yard … and we expect them to sell out quickly.”
While advance online ticket sales have closed, and the breakfast and gala dinner have sold out attendees may purchase tickets at the door for the morning hummingbird garden tours that includes shuttle transportation to the off-site locations, bird banding demonstrations, field trips and this year’s lineup of 16 speakers.
“With more than 360 species in the Americas the hummingbird family is among the most varied bird families in the world, surpassed only by tyrant flycatchers and tanagers,” Steve Shunk’s program description reads for when he takes the stage at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 26. “Learn how and why hummingbirds evolved their unique characteristics and why there is such a variety of species — many having evolved to specialize in living in a very tiny area.”
Tickets for the speakers are $20 for a single lecture or $60 for a Friday and Saturday combo package or $50 for the Sunday lineup. Each presentation lasts 45 minutes and is followed by 15 minutes for audience questions.
Kids Day also returns on Saturday, July 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free crafts and live animals.
“We have a few more exhibitors this year at Kids Day. Sonoran Reptiles will be there with their live animals, and Heritage Park Zoo from Prescott will also be there with live animals,” Madar said. “We’ll have Moonlight, the screech owl, representing birds of prey. … We have some local nonprofits participating, like Butterfly Enthusiasts of Northern Arizona, Northern Arizona Audubon and Tucson Audubon. Crafts and activities will be provided by Community Library Sedona and … there’s also a mural that kids can help paint.”
The photo contest is also back for its second year. Attendees can enter their hummingbird photos by bringing prints to the contest desk at SPAC Thursday, July 24, between 1 to 5 p.m. or Friday, July 25, from 8 to 10 a.m. Entry is $5 per photo with a maximum of three entries with multiple categories. The winners receive full-access tickets to next year’s festival including all activities.
The International Hummingbird Society was also recently awarded $6,000 by the Sedona City Council on July 8 as part of the Small Grants Program to help put on the festival, during the meeting council also approved a proclamation “Celebrating the Anna’s Hummingbird as the Official Bird of the Sedona Hummingbird Festival” for 2025.
“Starting last year, we decided that each year we would have a festival bird … that we [will] give particular focus to,” Madar said. “Last year, it was Rivoli’s hummingbird, which can be seen in Oak Creek Canyon. Now, we are also mounting an effort to have Anna’s hummingbird recognized as the official city bird for Sedona.”
During the festival Madar said IHS will be circulating petitions for residents and visitors to express their support for permanent designation by the city in order to build support for the change, Madar added no timeline has been set to bring the matter before council.
“Our mission is to educate people about hummingbirds and work internationally to protect them,” Madar said. “The festival is one of our major venues for providing education, but we also work year-round through our website by answering calls and emails to educate people about hummingbirds. With the money we raise, we support conservation projects in South America. This year, we provided funding for two projects in Chile, and they need ongoing support to keep going. People can support us by attending the festival and by going online to donate to the Hummingbird Society.”
The festival is “a summer activity you can do in the air conditioning, and it is a wonderful, joyful community event,” Madar said and added that parking has not historically been an issue for the festival. “Everybody who comes is smiling, relaxing and having a wonderful time sharing the joy that hummingbirds bring to them.”
For more information about the 2025 Sedona Hummingbird Festival visit sedonahummingbirdfestival.com. Remaining tickets for special events will be available for purchase at the door and questions can be directed to festival@hummingbirdsociety.org or (928) 284-2251.
