Museum Invites Visitors To Celebrate Sundown During Welcome The Night Event (Photo) -07/10/25
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 10, 2025
BEND, OR — As the sun goes down, creatures begin to stir. Moths begin their nightly pollination journey. Owls glide silently through the trees on the hunt for prey. Stars blink to life as bats dip and dive for insects. On Wednesday, July 16, the High Desert Museum invites visitors to celebrate the transition from day to night in the family-friendly event, Welcome the Night.
From 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm, go on a twilight adventure with community partners, Museum experts and local naturalists to learn about insects and bats, meet an owl and much more. The evening program encourages visitors to explore, experience and celebrate the creatures, both small and large, that thrive in the dark.
As visitors arrive, they are handed an adventure card and map that will navigate them through 17 stations located around the Museum. Visitors can get a stamp at each location before turning the card in for a chance at a raffle prize.
Inside the Museum, visitors begin their journey at the station of their choice. At the Winged Things Crafts station, kids can make moth or bat headbands before heading outside to the Meadow to play a Bat & Moth game. The Twilight Art Station invites visitors young and old to create stenciled twilight art using scratch paper. A local face painter leads a station where visitors can get their faces painted with the twilight creature of their choice.
In the Desertarium, retired entomologist Dr. Jerry Freilich will share with visitors a vast collection of insects and the opportunity to see them magnified.
When it’s time for a bite to eat, the Rimrock Café will be transformed into the Crepuscular Café, featuring food for purchase by Luckey’s Woodsman. A no-host bar will feature alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.
Just outside the Desertarium, at the Red Light Green Light station, volunteers and Museum staff help visitors transition their flashlights and headlamps into night-friendly lights. The adventure continues outdoors as visitors explore the Museum trails.
At Cheney Pond, experts from the U.S. Forest Service will lead a Bat Detectives station that delves into the mystery of bats and their role in the High Desert ecosystem. Learn why bats dip and dive over water and get a closer look at how bat telemetry helps researchers track the movements and behavior of bats.
Nearby, representatives from Pollinator Pathway Bend will take visitors into the world of nighttime pollinators, such as moths, at the Pollination Station. Discover why moths are often attracted to light sources, artificial or natural, which cause them to become disoriented.
“Nocturnal wildlife thrive in a dark habitat free from light pollution,” said Donald M. Kerr Curator of Natural History Hayley Brazier, Ph.D. “Conserving dark skies is critical for nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife who depend on a dark nighttime habitat to survive.”
As soon as the light dims and the sun hides behind the ponderosas, experts from Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory will open the telescopes. At this station, you can learn about the planets and galaxy as you gaze up into the twilight waiting for that first star to blink to life. DarkSky Oregon continues with a closer look at how light pollution affects not only our view of the stars but also the health and wellbeing of nocturnal wildlife.
Two owl encounters will take place at the E. L. Wiegand Pavilion in the Donald M. Kerr Birds of Prey Center. During the 15-minute encounters, visitors will learn from Museum wildlife staff how an owl hunts in the daytime and at night, using its large eyes and keen sense of hearing to surprise prey.
Another stop on the adventure is the Forest at Night exhibition. Located within the Changing Forest pavilion, visitors will encounter animated representations of the High Desert’s nocturnal inhabitants on a large screen. Discover how animals with reflective eyes utilize moonlight to navigate and hunt. Gaze up at an interactive star map and explore the constellations that guide migratory birds. Learn more about the exhibition at highdesertmuseum.org/forest-at-night.
Tickets for Welcome the Night are $10 for adults and children ages 3 and older, with a 20% discount for members. Children 2 and younger are free. Visitors are encouraged to bring headlamps or flashlights as the outdoor trails are unlit.
Learn more about and get tickets for Welcome the Night at highdesertmuseum.org/welcome-the-night-2025.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM:
THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. It brings together wildlife, cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of North America’s High Desert. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence and was a 2021 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. To learn more, visit highdesertmuseum.org and follow us on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
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