Ohio Bat Fest

Ohio Bat Fest comes to Ohio State University on Saturday, October 24, a full day dedicated to bat conservation and education. It's a free event, and it runs from 12 PM to 5 PM, so you can drop in whenever you have a gap in your Saturday.

If you've ever spent a summer evening watching bats dive for bugs over a backyard or a park, this is exactly the kind of thing that puts a name to what you're seeing. The whole day is built around two things: conservation and education. Conservation is the practical side—the work of protecting bat populations and the habitats they need to survive. Education is the part where you get to understand why that matters. Between the two, you'll get a sense of how these animals fit into the local ecosystem and what's actually going on with them in Ohio.

Because it's a festival rather than a single talk or a guided walk, you can move through it at your own pace. You can spend an hour talking to the people who know the science, or just drift in and out over the afternoon. It's held on the Ohio State campus, so it's right in the middle of Columbus, and since it's free, it's an easy one to bring along a friend or a couple of kids who are curious about the wildlife that usually stays hidden until the sun goes down.

Ohio Bat Fest is at Ohio State University on Saturday, October 24, from 12 PM to 5 PM. Admission is free.