2026 Chicago Beaver Festival

The 2026 Chicago Beaver Festival will be held on Saturday, May 2, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Nichols Park in Hyde Park. This free event will bring our community together to enjoy the outdoors, learn about beavers as ecosystem engineers, and talk about our relationship with the natural world. It will also highlight the animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians that are part of the beaver ecosystem. Many organizations and businesses will be exhibiting and offering fun children's activities and environmental learning opportunities!

Sponsors

• Ecosystem Engineer Level: Beaver Institute
• ​Keystone Level: Forest Preserves of Cook County | Illinois Environmental Council
• ​​​Wetland Level: Prairie State Conservation Coalition | ​Urban Rivers
• ​Lodge Level: ILM Environments | The Insect Asylum
• ​Believer Level: WasteNot Compost | Windy City Bird Lab

​​Exhibitors include: American Indian Center | Argyll Beaver & Wildlife Visitor Center, Scotland | Beaver Institute | Cathey Gardens | Chicago Architecture Center | Chicago Conservation Corps | Chicago Park District | Chicago Parks Foundation | Chicago Environmentalists | conservation@home | Environment Illinois | Forest Preserves of Cook County | Garfield Park Conservatory | Griffin Museum of Science and Industry | Irving Park YMCA Leaders Club | Lincoln Park Conservatory | Mbwakawen Harambee Collective | Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago | Morton Arboretum | Nature Sounds Society | Peggy Lee Franklin | Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum | Prairie State Conservation Coalition | Roots & Shoots-Jane Goodall Institute | Under the Canopy--Illinois Master Naturalists​​ | Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo | Windy City Bird Lab

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Host or Publisher C3 | Hyde Park Neighborhood Club | Illinois Beaver Alliance | Illinois Naturalists