Pollinator Week Events in Charlotte - pollinator walking tours, Moth Night, movie night, more...

National Pollinator Week is from June 17 to 23, 2024. It’s an annual celebration of pollinators, including bees, butterflies, bats, birds, moths, beetles and more.

City of Charlotte is partnering with local, regional and national organizations to present a week of fun, educational events.

Learn more here about the City of Charlotte’s National Pollinator Week celebration, and keep reading here to learn just a few of the events.

All the events are free and require pre-registration. Follow the links below to register.

Design Your Own Landscape for Pollinators
Thursday, June 20, 2024
5:30 to 7 p.m.
City of Charlotte Landscape Management
701 Tuckaseegee Road, Charlotte, NC
Free (but registration is required and space is limited)

The Charlotte Piedmont Chapter of Wild Ones is hosting a workshop for Charlotte area residents and landscape professionals to discuss native pollinator habitat creation and designing your landscape with pollinator conservation in mind. This workshop will be held in the education room at the City of Charlotte Landscape Management Facility and is open to novices, expert home gardeners, landscape contractors and anyone else who would like to learn more about pollinator friendly gardening and landscaping.

This class will explore the essential steps and principles for transforming your outdoor space into a haven for pollinators such as bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and more. We will begin by understanding the crucial role that pollinators play in our ecosystems and the threats they face. Then, we delve into the specific needs, including food sources, nesting habitats and water requirements. With that understanding, we will cover the basic principles of landscape design with an emphasis on biodiversity, ecological balance and beauty. Finally, we will discuss plant selection, seasonality and layout to maximize the effectiveness of your landscape.

Pollinator Garden Walking Tour
Saturday, June 22, 2024
9 to 11 a.m.
Historic Elmwood/Pinewood Cemetery
700 W 6th Street, Charlotte, NC
Free, but registration is required

Join the City of Charlotte for a pollinator habitat walking tour starting at Historic Elmwood Cemetery and ending at Third Ward pollinator garden. We will discuss pollinator habitat creation and maintenance, plant selection, resources and more! The walking tour will be mildly strenuous and will cover a loop of about 1.5 miles total. Parking is available at Elmwood Cemetery, where the walking tour begins. Please bring plenty of water and sunscreen, and wear your comfortable walking shoes.

Moth Night with Charlotte Wildlife Stewards
Thursday, June 27, 2024
8:15 to 11:30 p.m.
Reedy Creek Nature Center
2986 Rocky River Road, Charlotte, NC
Free, but registration is required

Join Charlotte Wildlife Stewards and Lenny Lampel, Natural Resources Supervisor with Mecklenburg County (resident insect expert), for an exciting night of mothing. As the sun goes down, we will have lights and sheets set up to attract our native moths, and you’re certain to see some moths you’ve never seen before. Not only are moths great pollinators, but they are an important food source for our breeding birds!

In addition to moths, we will likely see other species of nocturnal wildlife too! It’s fantastic fun for all ages! Download the iNaturalist app to help you identify the moths, and of course, Lenny will be there to help us identify everything and tell us more about the moths and critters we find.

Movie Night and Pollinator Tour at Landscape Management
Friday, June 28, 2024
7:30 to 10 p.m.
City of Charlotte Landscape Management
701 Tuckaseegee Road, Charlotte, NC
Free, but registration is required

Locked down during the coronavirus pandemic, acclaimed wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn set out to record all the bee species in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England. Filming with one-of-a-kind lenses he forged at his kitchen table, he cataloged more than 60 different species, from Britain’s largest bumblebees to scissor bees the size of mosquitoes. Over long months, Dohrn observed how differences in behavior set different species apart. He eventually got so close to the bees he could identify individuals by sight, documenting life at their level as we have never seen it before.

The City of Charlotte will host the film screening at the Landscape Management facility on Friday, June 28. Come early and join us for a tour of the Tuckaseegee Arboretum and Gardens (TAG) pollinator habitat at 7:30 p.m. The film screening will begin at 8:30 p.m. Bring the whole family for a fun “backyard” movie night with games, free popcorn and refreshments!

Circular Saturdays: Pollinator Edition
Saturday, June 29, 2024
1 to 4 p.m.
Innovation Barn
932 Siegle Avenue, Charlotte, NC
Free, but registration is required

The Innovation Barn in Charlotte hosts Circular Saturday events where their circular economy operations are open for the public to tour and learn about. During this Circular Saturday, Charlotte Wildlife Stewards volunteers will host an educational table with a live flower dissection demonstration and information about The Butterfly Highway: our statewide conservation initiative that aims to restore native pollinator habitats through a network of backyard and large-scale pollinator pit stops.

Find more Pollinator Week events.