2026 Events Schedule

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!

Pollination Play & Story Time at The Hive

Audience: Public (Youth)
Location: The Hive (Mahomet, IL)

Get ready to wiggle, giggle, and buzz your way through a magical morning at The Hive! Through storytelling, movement, and imaginative play, children will discover how bees, flowers, and sunshine work together to help gardens grow & food reach our tables. Then take home a little honey stick as a sweet reminder of the quiet kindness bees offer with the diligent work they do.

NOTE: This is a free community class, but tickets are required due to limited space. Get your tickets on The Hive’s website.

Art Lab: Create Your Own Herbarium

Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Anita Purves Nature Center (Urbana, IL)

Attendees will learn to book-bind and create their own herbarium and learn about plant preservation and collection development with representatives from IGB and INHS.

We will also go on a nature walk guided by APNC staff during the event and learn about native plant species.

This event will be held again on Monday June 29, 2026.

Garden Speaker Series: Pollinator Pockets

Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Museum of the Grand Prairie (Mahomet, IL)

Celebrate Pollinator Week with a presentation about landscaping that supports ecosystem health. We will learn how to design pollinator-friendly spaces at whatever scale you have to work with. Then, take a guided walk through the Mabery Gelvin Botanical Garden to catch a glimpse of some plant-pollinator interactions.

In person and virtual option available. Register by June 22 to receive details about attending virtually. No registration required for in-person.

Register for the virtual session on the Champaign County Forest Preserves District Pollinator Pockets page.

For questions, call (217) 896-2455 or email mduerksen-balk@ccfpd.org.

Pollinator Walk & Talk at the Champaign Farmer’s Market

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Champaign Farmer’s Market (Champaign, IL)

Connect with your community and nature with Illinois Extension’s Walk & Talks series. Each session features a short interactive lesson or activity, followed by a refreshing walk on paved paths. This session will take place from 2 PM – 3 PM at the Champaign Farmer Market.  We’ll stroll the downtown area to take in all the beautiful blooms while discussing pollinators and their importance to our plants and the planet.

This program is free, but registration is required so participants can be made aware of meeting details. Please click here for registration.

For reasonable accommodation to participate or to register over the phone, please call 217-333-7672 or contact Rachel Mannen at rmannen@illinois.edu or Emily Harmon at ebaine@illinois.edu.

Build Your Own Pollinator with The Idea Store

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Champaign Farmer’s Market (Champaign, IL)

Join The Idea Store at the Champaign Farmers Market for a FREE craft event: build your own pollinator! They bring the materials, you build the pollinator to take home. 

Pollinator-Inspired Recipe Demonstration

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Champaign Farmer’s Market (Champaign, IL)

Check out the Champaign Farmer’s market from 3-6 pm in downtown Champaign for some local food.

At 5 pm, there will be a live cooking demonstration from Illinois Extension using pollinator- inspired ingredients. We will have resources available about pollinator connections to our recipe ingredients, as well as Illinois Extension resources and programs focused on pollinators. Big Grove Tavern will have samples available to try!

Talk With a Beekeeper at The Hive

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: The Hive (Mahomet, IL)

Curious about how we “came to bee” and what the hive is doing this time of year? Join us for a relaxed talk about bees, beekeeping, and the important role pollinators play in our world- then roll a small beeswax candle to take home as a reminder that when we share our light, it spreads and we can Bee The Solution.

NOTE: This is a free community class, but tickets are required due to limited space. Get your tickets on The Hive’s website.

Pollinator-themed Board Games at The Scratching Post

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: The Scratching Post (Champaign, IL)

Celebrate Pollinator Week at The Scratching Post! Learn about pollinators, pick up a seed packet, and play a pollinator-themed board game! While supplies last, stop in to pick up a pollinator-friendly catmint seed packet. The Scratching Post has 10 pollinator-themed board games which will be available to play. Game passes are $5/person – stop in to play a game or email info@scratchingpostcafe.com if you’d like to reserve a table.

Learn more on the Scratching Post’s website.

Bugging out with Bugscope

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Beckman Institute Room 1005, Southeast side of the building (Urbana, IL), Bugscope Zoom Link (Virtual)

Come see pollinators like you’ve never seen before. The Beckman Institute’s Bugscope team will simultaneously host an in-person & hybrid Bugscope sessions which will feature looking at insect pollinators & pollen using a scanning electron microscope.

In-person activities will consist of looking at specimens with a light microscope & scanning electron microscope. Every 30min, groups will be able to see the scanning electron microscope in action. Online participants can join the session anytime between 2-5pm via zoom and participants can ask questions about what they are seeing on the microscope and insect pollinators in general. We hope to see you there!

Learn more on the Beckman Institute’s Bugscope page. For questions, email bugscope@beckman.illinois.edu or call (217) 265-8164.

Secret Life of Bees at The Hive

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: The Hive (Mahomet, IL)

Step into the secret life of bees and discover fascinating facts about how honeybees see colors, communicate, and navigate the world around them. This eye-opening look inside the hive will leave you seeing flowers, gardens, and the world…through the eyes of the bees! Take home a free-bee as a reminder of the secret life of bees. 

NOTE: This is a free community class, but tickets are required due to limited space. Get your tickets on The Hive’s website.

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!

Pollinator Week Night Hike

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Meadowbrook Park Windsor Road entrance (Urbana, IL)

Join entomologist Sreelakshmi Suresh and Illinois Extension Educator Karla Griesbaum for an evening stroll to learn about nocturnal pollinators and conservation.

Learn more on the Urbana Park District event page.

Science Talk: When Bees Get Buzzed and Wasps Get Wasted—Insects and Alcohol

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: The Literary (Champaign, IL)

Join us at The Literary for a Science Talk featuring U of I Entomology department head May Berenbaum and her lecture, “When Bees Get Buzzed and Wasps Get Wasted—Insects and Alcohol.” Discover the ways insects interact with fermented foods and alcohol, and what these behaviors reveal about ecology and evolution.

Family Visits to the Hive

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Pollinatarium (Urbana, IL)

Family Visits at the Hive start at 9am, 10am, and 11am. Each visit to the hive is organized in 1-hour blocks (15 min. suiting up, 45 min. looking at hives). Maximum 6 people at a time.

For more information, contact uibees@life.illinois.edu or visit the Pollinatarium’s website.

Pollinator-Themed Resources

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Common Ground Food Co-Op (Urbana, IL)

Stop by Common Ground in Urbana to grab pamphlets regarding native plants, planting times, and pollinators!

Bingo, Crafts, and Observation Hive

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Pollinatarium (Urbana, IL)

Join the Pollinatarium for bingo, crafts, and a visit to the Observation Hive! For more information, contact uibees@life.illinois.edu or visit the Pollinatarium’s website.

Mead at the Museum

Audience: Public (Adults, children may attend when accompanied by an adult)
Location: Museum of the Grand Prairie (Mahomet, IL)

Whether you’re a nature lover, history enthusiast, or curious foodie, Mead at the Museum offers a unique and memorable experience as we celebrate Pollinator Week! See honeybees at work in an enclosed beehive, sample delicious honey from The Hive Honey Beetique, purchase mead from TreeHive Meadery, enjoy spirited storytelling rooted in local history, bask in the beauty of pollinator plants with a tour of our botanical garden, and more!

This program is crafted to be enjoyed by adults. Stay tuned on our social media for a full schedule of activities. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information, visit the Champaign County Forest Preserves District Mead at the Museum page.

For questions, call (217) 586-2612 or email jbien@ccfpd.org.

BeeBlitz

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Meadowbrook Park (Urbana, IL), Pollinatarium (Urbana, IL), Virtual

This is an informal bioblitz event for tracking bee demographics in the Midwest hosted by BeeSpotter! 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.

The times listed are for folks wishing to join us in Champaign-Urbana, but you can go BeeBlitzing any time this weekend!

Learn more about the BeeBlitz.

Gardening for Butterflies

Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Urbana Free Library (Urbana, IL)

Learn how to attract and support pollinators using native plants. 🦋 “Gardening for Butterflies” is a presentation by Diane Wilhite and Gary Russell on the value of native plants and what you can do in your home garden to attract and support pollinators. There will be time for questions at the end!

Diane Wilhite is a Master Naturalist and long-time volunteer with Grand Prairie Friends and Champaign County Forest Preserve. She chairs the annual native plant sale held every year by Grand Prairie Friends in April – May. 

Gary Russell is a Master Naturalist and long-time volunteer with Grand Prairie Friends and Urbana Park District. He is a birder and butterfly lover, applying many techniques to attract both in his home garden full of native plants. He also helps with the annual native plant sale held by Grand Prairie Friends, watering the plants as they grow in the greenhouse.

Learn more about this event on the Urbana Free Library website.

Pickerelweed planting demo and discussion

Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Meadowbrook Park (Urbana, IL)

Join Illinois Extension and Urbana Park District to learn how establishing the right “weed” for your pond or wetland can help support native bees, including a local endangered bee, the Pickerelweed Longhorned Bee.

Learn more on the U of I Extension event page.

Art Lab: Pollen Party!

Audience: Youth/Families
Location: Urbana Free Library (Urbana, IL)

In the lead-up to National Pollinator Week (June 22–26), patrons of all ages are invited to take part in a variety of pollination-themed crafts at this drop-in style event. Join us in creating nectar guide flowers, staining, observing, and drawing pollen under a microscope, and drawing or sculpting your favorite flowers and pollinators.

While you work, scientists from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology will be present to help with the craft and answer questions about pollinators. Facilitators will be available throughout this drop-in event for you to come and go as you please. Come learn more about the importance of pollinators while creating art inspired by them!

Learn more on the Urbana Free Library event page.

Art Lab: Create Your Own Herbarium

Audience: Public (Adults)
Location: Anita Purves Nature Center (Urbana, IL)

Attendees will learn to book-bind and create their own herbarium and learn about plant preservation and collection development with representatives from IGB and INHS.

We will also go on a nature walk guided by APNC staff during the event and learn about native plant species.

Kids Kits: Summer Berry Jam-sicles

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Champaign Farmer’s Market (Champaign, IL)

The Land Connection gives away 100 Kids Kits at the last farmers market of each month. These kid-friendly meal and snack kits use local ingredients from your favorite market vendors.

This month, in honor of pollinator week, the kit is Summer Berry Jam-sicles featuring jam made from locally grown and foraged fruits from Berries and Flour. Visit the Kids Kit booth on 6/30 to secure your kit!

National Moth Week

Audience: Public (All Ages)
Location: Anita Purves Nature Center (Urbana, IL)

Celebrate National Moth Week at the Anita Purves Nature Center with a series of evening programs exploring the hidden world of moths. Activities throughout the week include night hikes, live moth trapping demonstrations, and presentations on the fascinating moth species of Busey Woods.