Bats and Bluegrass Festival 2026
Grab your friends and family and join us for a day of music, nature, and bats!
Bring your lawn chairs and the whole family!
We sold out in 2025 - so get tickets early to guarantee entry! Registration will open in Spring 2026.
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 2026. 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.
Check out some of the fun we had at the 2025 Bats and Bluegrass Festival!
