Jump to date:
Want to browse events by audience or location? Explore events here.
Ongoing
Champaign-Urbana Pollinator Quest
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Champaign-Urbana, Virtual
For the week of Pollinator Week, join East Central Illinois Master Naturalists and Champaign County Master Gardeners to use iNaturalist to observe, identify, and record pollinators or any insect throughout Champaign Urbana.
To participate, visit the Champaign-Urbana Pollinator Quest iNaturalist page.
Rare Books Display
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Urbana, IL)
Stop by and check out some rare books on pollinators on display at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library! The library is open from 9:00AM – 5:00PM Monday-Friday from June 12 – June 27 (closed June 19 in observance of Juneteenth).
Pollinator Book Displays
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Champaign Public Library – Children’s Dept. (Champaign, IL), The Literary (Champaign, IL), Confluence Books (Carbondale, IL), Carbondale Public Library (Carbondale, IL), Elkhart Public Library (Elkhart, IL), Highland Park Public Library (Highland Park, IL), Martinsville Public Library (Martinsville, IL), Allerton Public Library (Monticello, IL), Funk ACES Library (Urbana, IL)
Looking for a good read about bees, butterflies, and beyond? Local Extension educators have put together a list of their favorite pollinator-related books from practical gardening guides and fascinating science stories to beautifully illustrated kids’ books and field guides. These books will be on display at various libraries across the Illinois during National Pollinator Week.
Seed Exchange and Gardening Books at The Urbana Free Library
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: The Urbana Free Library (Urbana, IL)
Come get free seeds from The Urbana Free Library’s Seed Exchange to take home, plant, and grow. The Seed Exchange has seeds for vegetables, herbs, and flowers, including native pollinators. The Seed Exchange also accepts donations of harvested or store-bought seeds, including partially opened packets.
Need help with gardening? Check out the library’s collection of books on gardening and pollinator-friendly gardening.
Art Coop Dave Monk Prints Display
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: art coop, inc (Urbana, IL)
Art Coop, located inside Lincoln Square in Urbana, will have a pollinator themed display and coloring sheets for kids to color in person at a table out front with coloring supplies!
When Champaign-Urbana lost David “Prairie” Monk, we lost a devoted preservationist, teacher, and artivist. His work carries on through those he inspired, the prairie lands he restored, and, through his photography and screenprints.
Art Coop was gifted a number of Monk’s prints and we want to share them with you! Hang one in your classroom. Use it as the basis for a screenprinting unit, or a unit on artivism. Help us keep the mission and the message going in whatever way best suits you and your students. Stop by Art Coop during Pollinator Week, June 6-22, 2025, and pick up a print!
Friday, June 6
10:00am – 12:00pm
Tours at Loda Prairie: Human Pollinators for the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Loda Prairie Nature Preserve (Loda, IL)
Tour the Loda Prairie Nature Preserve, where site stewards and volunteers hand-pollinate the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid every year in hopes of success for this endangered Illinois species. Site Steward Beckie Green will offer private tours of the prairie. Registration required.
Saturday, June 14
12:00pm – 3:00pm
Nation Pollinator Week Information at the Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration at Douglass Park
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Douglass Park (Champaign, IL)
Stop by and talk to the City of Champaign about their draft concepts of the Downtown Plan. Get information on pollinators, review and weigh in on pollinator-friendly goals for Downtown Champaign, and get a Downtown sticker or temporary tattoo.
For more information, contact: Lily Wilcock, City of Champaign lily.wilcock@champaignil.gov
Monday, June 16
7:00 – 8:00pm
Master Naturalist Continuing Education Seminar
Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Champaign Extension Auditorium (Champaign, IL)
1 hour in-person and virtual seminar based on pollinators. This seminar is created for Master Naturalists, but is open to the public.
Tuesday, June 17
1:30 – 2:30pm
Get to Know Native Bee Neighbors (IL Extension 4 Seasons Webinar)
Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Virtual (USA)
When was the last time you invited a wild animal over for a meal? It’s probably more recent than expected. Native bees are wild animals often overlooked in favor of larger animals or suffer from being mistaken for another insect. Learn how to identify some valuable pollinator neighbors, where to look for them, and what they can do for everyone.
6:00 – 7:00pm
Vermilion County Master Gardener Continuing Education Program – Pollinator Pockets
Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Danville Public Library (Danville, IL)
1 hour in-person seminar, part of a monthly series. Ryan Pankau will be talking about pollinator garden design and Extension programs and resource related to pollinators. Free event but registration preferred.
Wednesday, June 18
7:00 – 8:00pm
Preposterous Pollinators – the little-known and less loved insects doing the work that bees and butterflies can’t
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: The Literary (Champaign, IL)
May Berenbaum, U of I Entomology department head, will give a talk about the less-known (but no less important) pollinators that rarely get the same buzz as the more well-known and well-loved pollinators.
8:00 – 9:00pm
Nocturnal Pollinators Educational Hike and Sheet Lighting [POSTPONED; RAIN DATE PENDING]
Due to inclement weather, this event is being postponed to a different day. We will post details when the event’s date has been rescheduled.
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Anita Purves Nature Center (Urbana, IL)
1 hour hike to enjoy the natural world at night and set up a sheet lighting activity to attract night pollinators such as moths and beetles that we can view and identify. We can record observations to the Illinois Pollinator Week iNaturalist Community Science Project, Pollinator Quest. We will also learn about how humans are affecting these under-appreciated pollinators as we hike through the woods. Bring a flashlight and your favorite bug spray (we will also supply some). Wear good hiking shoes and long pants!
Thursday, June 19
10:30 – 11:30am
Extension: 4H Fayette County Gardening Club Pollinator Week Lesson & iNaturalist
Audience: Private to 4H, Youth and Parents
Location: Vandalia Little Community Garden (Vandalia, IL)
1 hour lesson and Bioblitz activity. Any minor can sign up to attend the gardening club, of which this event is a part. Registration required.
7:00 – 8:00pm
Pollinator Trivia Night
Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: 25 O’Clock Brewing Company (Urbana, IL)
Buzz on over for a night of fun and facts at our Pollinator Trivia Night! Join us at 25 O’Clock Brewing Company for four rounds of pollinator-themed trivia (10 questions each).
Friday, June 20
10:00am – 4:00pm
Pollinator BioBlitz
Audience: Public (13+ preferred)
Location: Ballard Nature Center (Altamont, IL)
Introduction to iNaturalist, short guided walk, and table with experts ready to help with identification.
Drop in for Pollinator/BioBlitz presentations at 10 AM and 2 PM! Sreelakshmi, entomologist and Horticulture Extension Educator, will be available the whole time to answer questions, help with ids, and lead short walks to find pollinators. Join a statewide community science project to help our local pollinators!
Saturday, June 21
9:00am – 1:30pm
BeeBlitz
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Meadowbrook Park (Urbana, IL), Pollinatarium (Urbana, IL), Virtual
Informal bioblitz event for tracking bee demographics in the Midwest. Nature lovers in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio are invited to get outside and snap pictures of honey & bumble bees for BeeBlitz. Then, upload your findings to BeeSpotter, the citizen science project run in collaboration between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Entomology and the Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education.
9:00am – 4:00pm
Garden Walk
Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Idea Garden (Urbana, IL)
All day event touring local gardens, typically 6 private gardens and 2 public planned and implemented by the Champaign County Master Gardeners. The event centers on the Idea Garden in Urbana, IL. We have a large vendor fair, tabling and outreach opportunities or demonstrations!