The Radford Visitor’s Center will be celebrating its third annual Vulture Festival at McHarg Elementary School on Saturday, Feb. 20. The festivities will take place at different times and places during the day and the event is free and open to all ages.

To kick off the Vulture Festival, the public is invited to meet at 6:45 a.m. at the corner of Wadsworth Street and Sundell Drive in Radford to watch the vultures rise from their roost and begin their day.

From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., Clyde Kessler, a preeminent guide with Radford’s new birding tour company, Radbird, will be leading a walking tour from Sundell and Wadsworth to Wildwood Park.

At 2 p.m., the festival continues at McHarg Elementary School, 700 12th Street in Radford where you can meet a real turkey vulture, Radford’s own Buttercup. Noted local author, Rick Van Noy, will be reading from his book, A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids with Nature through the Seasons. There will also be a variety of other activities, including a photo contest, dissection of owl pellets, and a pinecone bird feeder craft activity. Merchandise and refreshments will be available.

For more information, please contact the Radford Visitor’s Center at 540.267.3153 or info@visitradford.com.