The festival will take place July 29 and 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days at Panama Rocks — 11 Rock Hill Road. Both new and familiar activities are scheduled this year.

“One of my personal favorites, falconer Jonathan Clarkson will be back with his live flight demonstrations,” Jonathan Weston, owner of Panama Rocks, said. “The art and craft show will be there, as will the food vendors, some old and new.”

Vendors will have items such as painting, ceramics, woodworking and blacksmithing. New this year, Weston said, are new vendors who make handcrafted jewelry that cannot be found anywhere else in the area.

There will be a few other new art and craft vendors, and one new food vendor. A new animal presentation will be Jungle Terry. Returning food vendors include Camaraderie BBQ, Labyrinth Press, SuperFresh! Organic Cafe, and Another Guys Fries.

The Wild America Nature Festival will return at the end of July, complete with familiar and new arts, crafts and food vendors. Submitted photo

Weston said he is most looking forward to the new animal presentations, the falconry, and the new arts and crafts vendors, along with the atmosphere that the festival brings.

“Overall, I am looking forward to the atmosphere of the festival,” Weston said. “It’s an incredibly fun event, and I hear from everybody every year that everyone involved has a great time. More than that, I see people walking around with smiles on their faces and it helps us to celebrate nature.”

Weston said the festival provides ways to learn more about animals and nature.

“They learn about the outdoors and nature around them, which is very important because our ecosystem is in peril,” he said. “We need to be aware of what we have and appreciate it.”

Weston said the festival also allows for people to have fun outdoors and provides small businesses and artists a place to sell their items.

Additionally, Weston said each year he hears from people of all ages that they have a great time and look forward to coming back next year. He encouraged everyone to come out this year and shop at the art and craft vendors.

“Not all of them are from the local area, so you might not be able to find items like this anywhere else,” he said. “They have high quality items that make great gifts.”

Weston also praised the food, saying that the festival is unique and has a high standard of what is offered; it is a requirement that every vendor at the festival has at least one locally sourced dish. This makes it harder to bring in food vendors, but Weston said it makes the food a higher quality.

In the future, Weston hopes the event will be able to expand to more days and maybe even some night time events. He also hopes to be able to partner with more organizations each year. Besides the Audubon, Panama Rocks is also partnering with Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy this year.

“We want to partner with organizations in the area that will help people connect with nature,” Weston said. “We want to help people build connections and continue to bring in phenomenal arts and crafts people, and we hope that overall people will come and have a wonderful time.”

Admission can be purchased with reduced rates online at wildamericafest.com, or tickets can be purchased at the gate. Parking on the street is free or parking in the field is $5, and all parking proceeds go towards the Audubon Community Nature Center, which Panama Rocks is partnering with this year.