The annual 2017 Blue Bell Festival will take place from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sunday, April 17.
The annual gathering at Merrimac Farm, a state natural preserve, offers guests the opportunity to tour the area around Cedar Run, fertile lands where the Virginia Bluebell Flower grows. Guides for the 90-minute tours talk about the flowers but also cover topics such as wetlands, birds, natural habitats, nature photography, and the story of Merrimac Farm.
The first guided tour of the festival leaves at 10:20 a.m. and the last at 3:05 p.m. Each tour has a different topic.
There will be live music at the festival from the Americana Roots by Brett Wine band.
The Prince William Conservation Alliance will show you what critters are living in nearby ponds.
The Prince William Wildflower Society will be making orchid origami flowers, and will teach you what flowers are native to Northern Virginia.
Friends of Potomac River Refuges will talk about the animals that live along the Potomac River shoreline, and the foot they eat.
Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will bring animal skulls and pelts to teach about mammal characteristics, and about hunting in Virginia.
Representatives from the Chapman Mill Historic Site will be on hand to show artifacts found there that rang in dates from prehistoric to the mid 20th century.
The Prince William Soil and Conservation District will be on hand to teach festival goers about its “adopt-a-stream” program.
The Bull Run Mountain Conservancy will be there to teach about mountain habits and how to preserve them.
Marine Corps Base Quantico Natural Resources Division will be on hand to talk about how it works to preserve more than 52,000 acres of land at the Marine base.
With coal ash in the news at Possum Point Power Station near Dumfries, The Potomac River Keeper Network will attend the festival to provide information on its efforts to protect the river and those who live on it during the coal ash clean up.
Historic Prince William will be on hand to speak about the many historic sites in the county.
There also will be a raffle to win a handpainted rain barrel at the event. The proceeds of the raffle go to benefit local stewardship programs.
Merrimac Farm is located at 15020 Deepwood Lane in Nokesville.
