Upcoming Events
Closing Celebration: Speaker Panel & Seaweed Happy Hour
Closing Celebration: Speaker Panel & Seaweed Happy Hour
Join us for the closing event of KelpFest! with a program about Urchin Aquaculture and Ocean Foodways. Our panel of presenters includes Severino Gomes from the Kashia Band of Pomo; Grant Downey, Commercial Urchin Diver and Harbor Commissioner; Gabe Tsuruta, Bodega Marine Lab; Luke Gardner from SeaGrant/Moss Landing Marine Lab, and Corine Pearce from the Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo. Noyo Center Executive Director Sheila Semans is our host-moderator for the program, which will begin at 5 pm. Tristin McHugh, Kelp Project Director with the Nature Conservancy, will close out the program with a quick update on Kelp Forest Recovery work on the North Coast, and a toast to 2024 KelpFest!
Seaweed Happy Hour follows with some tasty organic bites prepared by local Chef Zenith Hilliard, Minus Tide wines and local beer from Anderson Valley Brewing Company, and an opportunity to meet our guest speakers. After the reception, we hope you will support the local Blue Economy and visit some excellent restaurants in the harbor or in town.
Capacity: 50
Fee: $35
Register online at Eventbrite.com
Noyo Center Marine Field Station
32430 N. Harbor Drive
Fort Bragg, CA
Photo Urchin Barren by Abbey Dias
Open House at the Urchin Ranch
Open House at the Urchin Ranch
Visit the Noyo Center Marine Field Station in Noyo Harbor and learn about the organization's land-based urchin aquaculture system, or urchin ranch. While you are there, see the underwater photo and video installation featuring the work of Abbey Dias and Patrick Webster, taste wild and farmed uni, and learn more about the fascinating purple urchin from Noyo Center educators.
Donations welcome.
Noyo Center Marine Field Station
32430 N. Harbor Drive
Fort Bragg, CA
Photo Urchin Barren by Abbey Dias
Low Tide Seaweed Walk with Josie Iselin, Larry Knowles, & Julie Drucker
Low Tide Seaweed Walk with Josie Iselin, Larry Knowles, & Julie Drucker
Saturday, June 8, 7:00 am - 9:30 am
World Ocean Day
MacKerricher State Park
The day begins with a low tide seaweed walk at MacKerricher State Park with Josie Iselin, Larry Knowles and Julie Drucker. Josie Iselin is a visual artist, writer and designer, author of The Curious World of Seaweed, and is the co-director of a collaborative known as Above/Below, working to bring the recognition afforded the forests on land to the kelp forests below the ocean’s surface. Larry Knowles is a Fort Bragg resident and long-time commercial seaweed harvester, being the proprietor of Rising Tide Sea Vegetables. Julie Drucker is the founder of Yemaya Seaweed Company, specializing in wild, hand-harvested seaweed on the Mendocino Coast. Our artist-educators will share their knowledge and experience in seaweed gathering and give us an in-depth understanding of the delicate intertidal ecosystem.
Capacity: 25
Fee: $35 (includes Seaweed Science Social in the afternoon)
Register online at Eventbrite.com
MacKerricher State Park
24100 MacKerricher Park Road
Fort Bragg, CA
Urchin Festival
Urchin Festival
The 2024 Mendocino Coast Purple Urchin Festival is June 7th to June 16th and celebrates the delicious, spiky, undersea creatures. Local restaurants get creative in the kitchen with purple urchin, including the outstanding fest feast held at Little River Inn Saturday night.
Find out more at urchinfest.com.
Film Festival Gala
Film Festival Gala
Friday, May 31, 5-7 pm
Mendocino Art Center
for film festival members only
Always a not-to-miss event, the Film Festival Gala is the fun and festive opening event for the Mendocino Film Festival, this year held at the Mendocino Art Center. Enjoy live music and the convivial atmosphere with nibbles from local culinary talent and lovely wine, beer, and more from area wineries and brewmasters. For film festival members only, this annual gala is a guaranteed good time!
Mendocino Art Center
45200 Little Lake Street at Kasten Street
Mendocino, CA 95460
Kelp! Art Exhibit & Festival Opening
Kelp! Art Exhibit & Festival Opening
Saturday, May 18, 4 - 7pm
Mendocino Art Center
Celebrate the start of North Coast KelpFest! and the opening of the festival’s ongoing art exhibit, featuring local and regional artists applying their creativity and skills to exploring the story of bull kelp. The opening will host a dance ceremony by The Yuki Dancers, as well as an introduction of the artists and a brief explanation of the history of the kelp bed at Portuguese Beach and Big River. Notable chef from Bewildered Pig, Janelle Weaver, is working together with Lynn Derrick (aka Queenie) from the Botanical Gardens, and U’ilani Westly and Monique Sonoquie from Xa Kako Dile: to create delicious bites from the sea. Local beer and wine from Mendocino breweries and wineries will be served.
Featured artists include Leila Alhemali, Derek DiOrio, Pat Doyle, Siobhan Elder, Suzanne Frazier, Christina Harkness, Diza Hope, Mariko Irie, Josie Iselin, L. Frank Manriquez, Corine Pearce, Raymond C. Rice, Christian Saucedo, Laurie Sawyer, Margaret Seelie, Doug Smith, Monique Sonoquie, and Marjo Wilson.
The menu includes Musabi (nori-wrapped rice and spam), Miso Deviled Eggs, Sea Palm & Potato Salad, Country Pâté on Crostini with Furikake Mustard, Lemon & Ginger Chewnami Cookies, and Bull Kelp Sparkling Water Infusion.
All artwork is for sale through MAC. Entry is free but registration is required since space is limited. Donations welcome.
Register online at Eventbrite.com
Mendocino Art Center
45200 Little Lake Street at Kasten Street
Mendocino, CA 95460