This event has been cancelled for 2020. We hope you'll join us next year!

West Coast NEST is excited to host this unique experience partnering with many local organizations and businesses, bringing together fun, immersive learning with quality dining on a west coast delicacy! Learn from expert local knowledge holders and visiting seaweed experts alike while you enjoy Seaweed Stories, forage, prepare, and dine on delicious healthy Pacific Seaweeds. 

Stay tuned for registration information!

Photo taken by Bridgette Clarkston.

Update from Event organizers: " With great reluctance we have decided to cancel this year’s festival. The COVID 19 outbreak is leading to a huge amount of uncertainty and it is extremely difficult to confirm the participation of our special guest experts and volunteers who would need to travel to get here. Ultimately, health and safety concerns are at the top of our mind."

The protected forests, expansive mudflats, long sandy beaches, and rocky shorelines of the region create the right combination of habitats to draw over 40 species of shorebirds to the area, including the largest migratory concentrations of Whimbrels anywhere in British Columbia, and impressive flocks of Western Sandpipers, Dunlin and more. The threatened Red Knot is also a regular visitor each spring, as well as Rock Sandpiper in winter. In past years, local bird expert Adrian Dorst listed at least 30 species of shorebirds!

The Tofino Shorebird Festival celebrates this impressive annual migration with a series of educational birding activities throughout the region. Local and visiting experts participate in the festival, offering guest lectures, birding workshops, boat trips and much more! This is a great opportunity to experience the largest wildlife migration in the region, learn about these impressive birds, and understand why this is one of the very best places in western Canada for bird watching.

Stay tuned for the full schedule of events.

The Carving on the Edge Festival offers opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of the coastal traditions of carving with the goals of encouraging the growth of the carving community and of building much-needed cultural bridges. Programming includes exhibits, forums, evening programs, workshops, demonstrations, cultural presentations and canoe tours.