British Birdwatching Fair

The British Birdwatching Fair or Birdfair is an annual event for birdwatchers, held every August at Rutland Water in England. It is described as the birder's "Glastonbury".

A large number of suppliers of binoculars, cameras, books, clothing and other birdwatching equipment, plus artists and tour companies, display and sell their wares, and there are lectures and other attractions.

The first fair was held in 1989. All the organisers' profits are donated to a charity, Birdlife International. Prior to the 2008 Fair, visitors had contributed £1,488,000 to international bird conservation. The 2009 event attracted 22,800 people and raised £263,000 for BirdLife's work in saving critically endangered birds around the world.

On other continents is replicating this experience, the most important is the South American Bird Fair Web Site

Themes

Each year the Birdfair has a different fundraising theme; a list of these is as follows, with the approximate amount raised:

• 1989: Stop the massacre campaign, Malta (£3,000)
• 1990: Save Spain's Donana National Park (£10,000)
• 1991: Danube Delta project, Romania (£20,000)
• 1992: Spanish Steppes Appeal (£30,000)
• 1993: Polish Wetlands Project (£40,000)
• 1994: Project Halmahera, Indonesia (£45,000)
• 1995: Moroccan Wetlands Project (£47,000)
• 1996: Ke Go Forest Project, Vietnam (£55,000)
• 1997: Mindo Forest Project, Ecuador (£60,000)
• 1998: Threatened Birds Programme (£120,000)
• 1999: Rescuing Brazil's Atlantic Forests (£130,000)
• 2000: Save the Albatross Campaign (£125,000)
• 2001: Eastern Cuba: a Caribbean Wilderness (£135,000)
• 2002: Sumatra's Lowland Rainforests (£147,000)
• 2003: Madagascar's Fragile Wetlands (£157,000)
• 2004: Saving northern Peru's dry forests (£164,000)
• 2005: Gurney's Pittas and their forest home (£200,000)
• 2006: Saving the Pacific's Parrots (£215,000)
• 2007: Preventing Extinctions programme (£226,000)
• 2008: Preventing Extinctions programme

External links

• Official website