Nature Festival & Spooktacular

The Nature Festival & Spooktacular takes over the North Austin Community Garden and the YMCA Pedestrian Pathway on Saturday, October 24, from 3 PM to 6 PM. It's one of several events making up the city's Roots & Wings Festival, which runs across Austin from Saturday, October 17 to Sunday, November 1, with activities hosted by four community gardens tied to the City of Austin Community Gardens Programs.

The Nature Festival side of things is all about trees, pollinators, and the shift into fall. Austin Forestry leads tree climbs, and there's a live butterfly release. You can adopt a sapling or a pollinator, take a garden tour, or work on hands-on crafts. There's also interactive drumming, face and wing painting, and a long list of local partners on site: TreeFolks, Monarch Sanctuary Project, Keep Austin Beautiful, Seedy Society, Austin Nature & Science Center, Austin Resource Recovery, Beevo Beekeepers, and A New Start Wildlife Rescue & Rehab.

The Spooktacular, hosted by the YMCA, adds a fall twist to the afternoon with bounce houses, trunk-or-treating, a maze, games, and popcorn. The music comes from Civic Arts, with Aztec dancers opening the afternoon and a local DJ playing songs about trees, water, birds, and the natural world.

It's free and family-friendly, and if it rains, everything moves indoors. You'll find it at the North Austin Community Garden and YMCA North Austin, 1000 W. Rundberg Ln., Austin, TX 78758, on Saturday, October 24, from 3 PM to 6 PM.