Back to All Events

Bats & Bluegrass Festival

  • Illinois River Watershed Partnership 221 South Main Street Cave Springs, AR, 72718 United States (map)

Bats and Bluegrass Festival 2025

Purchase Tickets on Eventbrite

Experience the magic of the karst Ozarks at dusk!

Bats and Bluegrass returns July 19th to IRWP’s Watershed Sanctuary in Cave Springs. This year marks 20 years of conservation for the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, and we’re celebrating with live music from Sons of Otis Malone and Bouse, hands-on watershed education, nature hikes, scavenger hunts, nature journaling, and the seasonal emergence of Gray Bats from the Sanctuary's cave. Relaunched to a sold-out crowd in 2024, this signature event is a vibrant blend of local culture, conservation, and community.

We have some bites for humans served up by:

  • Wicked Wood Fired Pizza

  • Monster Food Truck

Partners for Bats and Bluegrass

  • Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists

  • Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

  • Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission

  • Arkansas Department of Health

  • US Fish and Wildlife Service

  • Wild Birds Unlimited

  • Boston Mountain Grotto

  • Know the Flow, our friends at the U of A Cooperative Extension

  • Gearhead Outfitters

  • Post Pediatrics

  • Ozark Roots

  • City of Cave Springs

Sponsors of this Event

  • BBB Septic

  • Waste Management

  • Freese and Nichols

Grab your friends and family and join us for a day of music, nature, and bats!

VOLUNTEERS ENTER FREE, SIGN UP HERE: Bats and Bluegrass Volunteer Form - Volunteers will have access to an exclusive volunteer lounge with snacks and drinks, IRWP swag, and volunteer shifts end at 8 PM so you can also enjoy the emergence and music.

Join us at the IRWP Sanctuary in Cave Springs for our annual fundraiser event again on Saturday, July 19th, 2025!

If you want to play a key role in coordinating this event, please register to volunteer here!

Bring your lawn chairs and the whole family!

We sold out in 2024. Get tickets early to guarantee entry!

OUR SPONSORS

More on Bats and Bluegrass

Bats and Bluegrass has long been IRWP’s signature celebration—a uniquely Ozark event where conservation meets culture. For years, it brought our community together to experience the magic of a special summer evening of education, live music, and the stunning natural phenomenon of bat emergence. As IRWP focused on boots-on-the-ground watershed work, and later navigated the impacts of COVID-19, the event took a pause.

In 2024, we relaunched Bats and Bluegrass—and it sold out. As dusk settled over the Watershed Sanctuary, guests relaxed under the stars with bluegrass humming in the background. Suddenly, flickers interrupted the night sky: the endangered gray bats, emerging by the hundreds from the cave they use as a maternity site on the property. It was a breathtaking reminder of what we’re all here to protect.

We can’t wait to host you again in 2025. All proceeds from this event directly support IRWP’s overhead costs, including the care and maintenance of the Watershed Learning Center and Sanctuary—ensuring it remains a low-cost, accessible venue for environmental programming, partner use, and community gatherings for years to come.

Previous
Previous
July 17

Spring Creek Volunteer Day

Next
Next
July 22

2025 Arkansas Agriculture, Forests, and Water Conference