The Wadden Bird Festival is organized annually in May. The festival is an initiative of the Bird Information Centre Texe and Dunes of Texel National Park. With a bit of luck, you'll spot more than 170(!) different types of bird during your time at the festival, including special ones like the citrine wagtail, the bee-eater and the griffon vulture.

Spread your wings

‘There's a secret bird watcher in everyone’; that's the organisers' motto. With this in mind, the festival is a very low-threshold event. Whether you have never done any bird watching before or do it on a very regular basis, the festival’s excursions cater for every level of visitor – and are always led by an experienced guide. The proceeds of all of this excursions will go towards helping to protect the birds.

Visit a birdwatching point

You will be able to go along to a number of birdwatching points during the Wadden Island Bird Festival too. Volunteers at each birdwatching point will be pleased to tell you all about the bird species to be found there and also how the nature reserves are managed.

Bird market

Take a look at the bird market in the Kikkertstraat and at the Waterplein in De Cocksdorp. Various stalls with utensils for birdwatchers, artworks and second-hand books. The proceeds from the books go to the charity. The market is open on Saturday.

The optics show

If you go on an excursion, enjoy it and feel like you'd like to do some (more) bird spotting on your own, you'll need a good pair of binoculars. At the Wadden Island Bird Festival, you'll be able to test out various binoculars in the great outdoors and ask professionals for their advice too.

We’re sure that you’ll agree: the Wadden Island Bird Festival is a real must!
Click here to see which accommodation is still available.